Short and "Fast".

I'm driving to my second triathlon for the year, the Santa Cruz Sprint Triathlon, with temperatures dropping to 49 and it's drizzling. I can't help but wonder: why did I choose another "thlon" sport? I remember my decathlon in Finland, 39 F. and rain, and the 100 F in France. Why am I doing this to myself again? For you who have never felt the fantastic sensation of completing one of the hardest events in Track & Field, a Decathlon, it can never be justified. However, I will always look for that high you get from pushing yourself to, and beyond, the limit of your capacity.

As I got closer to Santa Cruz the weather got much better. In fact, the cooler weather was much better than the 80+ F. I had at my last triathlon. Everything went smoothly in setting up for the transition, and the warmup felt good. After my last swim workout a couple of days before, I felt confident that I would have a good swim. Having had some goggle trouble last time I had now switched to my old ones to avoid the same mishap this time around.

We are all lined up on the beach, and the gun goes off! It was my first start from land, and it was mayhem. I ran to the water as if I was Usain Bolt and dove in. The cold water didn't faze me and I started to wave my arms like a true swimmer. This lasted for the next 50m, then reality set in (worry) and I started to look for the surf boards around me. "I'm not going to make it" I thought. Finally I calmed down and started my usual slow and steady pace. That was the most eventful part of the whole triathlon. I got back to the beach, and after that horrible swim I started my fight back into the race again. I passed several people on the run back to the transition area, and even more on the bike. The ride was pretty eventless. I made one wrong turn and had to turn around and ride back for a bit, but nothing too bad.

I have always thought that my running would be my best event, but it turns out that most people are good at that. In other words, I'm not as good as I thought. This time, however, I had a good run and it turned out to be my best event for the day. I finished the 5k in 23.07, and got 11th place in my age group.

Now I look forward to the "Big Kahuna" September 12th! My endurance is coming along, and I believe that I'm ready. Follow my blog, and my quest to conquer the Iron Man!!!