Accept challenges, so that you may feel the exhilaration of victory. -George S. Patton
I had registered for the LoneStar IronMan Sprint distance as my first ever triathlon, and I felt like I was ready... I had been swimming in the pool 2000-3000 meters a couple times a week. The bike was only 13 miles so that was a non-issue. And even I could manage a 3-mile run. I was really looking forward to the event.
Since I was "racing" (I prefer to call it "participating") on Saturday, and then spectating on Sunday to see a few of my friends compete in the Half-IronMan distance, I went down to Galveston early because I had seen on the BT forum that somebody had set up a practice swim at a private lake. I met a number of new faces from the forum. I figured a short 300-500 meter swim would be good to keep me loose. Little did I know.
Friday night we had terrible, strong winds... they announced 75-mph winds overnight while we Sprinters were in transition setting up. A lot of the signage, tents and general infrastructure had been blown over during the night. The winds while we Sprinters were setting up in transition were still 25-30 mph. Even the water on the bay side of the island was kicking up some decent wave action.
Once I got the bike racked and everything set up like I had practiced, I walked down to the swim start area, which is a dock on the other end of the beach in front of Moody Gardens Hotel. Even during the walk to the start we could feel the winds. As we stood around for the next hour, it seemed like the winds persisted, maybe even got a little stronger. They announced a 15 minute delay, and then canceled the swim entirely. I was pretty bummed out about that. My first tri had just become a du, and I wasn't particularly excited about a measly 13 mile ride - never mind the run I didn't care for anyway. So I decided this event was over for me. I was not going to risk getting hurt in this kind of effort and mess up the Triple Bypass ride. Initially the race crew said it would be a time trial start for the bike, but it looked more like a shotgun blast than anything else. With the cross winds and what a number of us perceived as a golden opportunity to risk getting hurt, I was even more convinced I had made the right decision when we saw at least two ambulances roll in, just while we were walking the bike back to the truck. So I said Thanks, but no thanks and turned in my timing chip unused.
So I headed back toward the other end of the island to unload my bike, pretty disappointed. Somewhere along the way, a momentary loss of sanity struck, and I questioned aloud whether they might have any slots open for the Half-Iron on Sunday. At first my friends thought I had really lost the whole cerebral content, but when we actually talked about it, I had already been swimming the distance in the pool, just not all at once and not in open water; the bike was a given in that it was only 56 miles; and as Briana and Maggie confirmed Sunday morning, the thought was that if I needed to, I could walk the entire 13.1 mile run.
So - after l had emptied the truck and a short nap, we went back to the Gardens. I grabbed the checkbook and walked into the registration/check-in tent and asked my questions. Not only did they have slots, but they were willing to credit my entire Sprint registration fee toward the HIM registration - at the cheap (early) price! With one more look at my friends to see whether they were laughing behind my back, I handed over the money. I even bought a 70.3 cycling jersey, knowing that if I didn't finish, I would never wear it.
After that, it was off for a lunch with the BT folks. Because of my questionable decision to register, we were a little late. We got our food and sat down to eat. A little bit into the meal, Kathy, one of the well-known discussion thread posters that I had talked to along with her husband Friday at the swim, asked who all was in the Half-Iron. When I raised my hand, she looked at me with BIG eyes and said "YOU registered for the Half?" -- yeah, I found it hard to believe too. But after I explained how it all went, it was pretty awesome to get a round of applause for attempting the HIM as my first tri.
Yeah, I know - a lot of buildup... I was in the last men's swim wave, and expected (hoped) to finish the swim in about 1:30. Suffice it to say I was very surprised when I looked at my watch in transition after the swim and saw I was in the water for only 50 minutes! I was passed by some of the speedy women, but I also passed a few men in the wave before me, and at least one in the wave before that! I was feeling pretty good about that.
Onto the bike... I was pretty slow and deliberate getting shoes, helmet, gloves, etc so I could get moving on the bike. You wind out of the park for a half mile or so and then up to the Seawall for a 55-mile out and back. Only then did I realize I had forgotten to put my computer on the bike that morning! I had no clue how fast I was moving. So I put it in a comfortable gear and kept the cranks turning. Passed a number of riders, got passed by still more women. I saw a couple of my friends on the loop, so that was nice. Only after the results were posted did I know I averaged about 17.3 mph. In hindsight, I think I could have gone a little harder without beating myself up but I didn't know what the run would be like... remember my goals - finish, and don't finish last. 3:14 total on the bike.
Back to transition, changing into the running shoes, it was on to the final leg. I did walk quite a bit of it, but I knew I would. Once again, because of the way the run was laid out in a 4-loop arrangement, I saw friends multiple times - mostly as they passed me. What little advantage I had on the swim and bike I gave back quickly on the run, but I didn't care. Lots of Gatorade and water along the way, and lots of inspirational people encouraging you the whole distance. There were even some early finishers up near the finish line cheering on us late arrivals. Almost an identical time on the run and the bike at 3:14 and some change.
So -- 7:29:16 later, I was indeed a very proud, very satisfied Half-Iron finisher. A friend even snapped a pic of me at the finish line. I had asked my friends to not say anything about my participating until I had finished, so she then posted the pic to Facebook... quite a few comments, thank you very much.
It makes you wonder sometimes how things manage to work out, doesn't it? If they had not canceled our swim, I would never have attempted this, but I am VERY happy I did. I will never forget all the positive support, during the race from my racing friends and people I don't even know, and afterward from my cycling family. Thank you all !!
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