I don't normally take pictures of my naked left arm, but when I do, it's of lucky # 196.

Friday night, I went to bed, nervous and excited.  I woke up at about 6:40 AM and started to move my gear out to the van.  After Wendy got some things together for the girls (Roxie and Reagan), we drove up to the triathlon.

We were a little late getting there, so I scrambled to set up my transition area.  The transition spaces were so close together, that I couldn’t see a place to put my bike.  I started to stress out, walking my bike up and down the designated isle, trying to figure out what I should do.  I finally squeezed into a very small space and put down my towel underneath my bike, along with my transition bag.

There, I pulled on my wetsuit over my legs and up around my waist and ran down to the starting point.  I found Wendy and the girls and kissed them good-bye.  It was then that I realized that I’d missed the start of the Olympic wave (my wave).  I pushed passed all of the yellow caps, who were about to start the sprint and made my way quickly to the water’s edge.  Not knowing what else to do, I jumped into the water and started swimming- alone.

The shock of the cold from the water instantly triggered my asthma.  It sort of startled me.  I’ve only been swimming for about 3 months.  Generally, I’ve been swimming in a pretty controlled environment.  The Lehi Legacy Center has luke-warm water and lots of ways to survive (ropes to hang on to, people to dive in after me, and the ability to stand in most of the pool.)  Here I was cold and my stroke looked something like a zebra flailing underneath a crocodile as it rolls its prey to death.  Pretty much almost exactly like that.  I tried to concentrate, to get my stroke back.  Instead, I’d swim for about 5 seconds, look up, realize that I’d spun 90 degrees this way or that way and correct.  It was a waste of energy, not at all how I’d practiced, and must have added about 87 miles onto my swim.  I hated the whole thing.  I was approached by several people in canoes who asked me if I was drowning.  They actually used words like “Keep it up, buddy” or “You’re doing great”, but I knew what they meant.

Not shown- my dear, picture-taking wife, Wendy.

When I exited the water (part of me wants to go back to the previous paragraph and further describe the misery of the swim, but I think I got my point across), I couldn’t even run.  I felt like an idiot, but I had to walk.  Every time I wanted to run, my body rebelled and forced me back into a walk.  I finally managed to sort of trot over to my transition area.  I couldn’t help but notice that I was the only one in transition.  Apparently, my competition (they did not return the favor when describing me) were was long gone, probably already having finished the whole race, into tomorrow morning, brushing their stupid tomorrow teeth.  I was a little grumpy.

Somehow I remembered to put my helmet on before leaving the first transition (you will get penalized or disqualified or lashings or something, if you don’t).  I clicked my feet into the pedals and started biking.  I have only had one real solid bike ride, since buying this bike (since my LDS mission 14 years ago, really).  Within half of a mile of my ride, I realized that I’d left my Garmin back at the transition.  It was too late and I pressed forward, with no way to tell how fast I was going or how long this leg would take.

There were long stretches of hot asphalt and there were hills.  The sides of the road were littered with the carcasses of several bikers who had been relegated to fixing a flat tire or adjusting their spandex.  I pressed on, taking long drinks of Gatorade and still trying to get my asthma under control.  I practiced staying “in the drops” of my handlebars when going downhill and tried to not stand up too much when biking uphill.

At the 10 mile mark, I was happy to follow the signs that told me to turn around.  There was a point in the return back, when I got going downhill so fast, that I couldn’t stop.  I was genuinely frightened and tried to figure out how many times my body would roll if I were to somehow become dislodged from my bike.  Everyone passed me.  I have a lot to learn about biking.

When I reached my transition area, again, I made sure to grab my Garmin and have it start searching for satellites while I changed into my running shoes.  I had only experienced one other practice transition from bike to run.  It wasn’t pretty then and it wasn’t pretty now.  I sort of limped and hobbled until my legs realized what was expected of them.  Eventually (withing about a 1/2 mile), I found a pace and started running.  I drank at every aid station and pushed my way back up those same hills I’d been biking.  When I reached the three-mile mark, I decided that I was going to make it.  Even if I had to walk the entire rest of thew way, I’d be ok.  It turned out that I didn’t have to.  I ran most of the way, only walking for about a minute at a time to get some of my energy back.

There appears to be an actual spring in my step. Ending the race is always so much fun.

At about mile five, I could see the tent tops of the transition area (now my finish line).  It was inspiring and helped me to push through the fatigue and pain that had crept into my legs and arms over the course of three difficult events.

The last one-eighth of a mile of this race was the hardest, because it just goes straight up.  My legs burning, I passed two more people before I saw Wendy, Reagan and Roxie yelling for me.  It was a welcome sight.  I crossed the finish, they stripped me of the timing chip around my ankle and replaced it with a finisher’s medal around my neck.  Common courtesy for other finishing racers dictates that you sort of move out of the way, so I walked until I found a little space where I could put my hands on my knees and try to catch my breath.

Almost as soon as I stood back up and looked around, I realized that in some strange way, I had actually enjoyed myself.

I’m only 12 hours away from the gun going off and panicking.  Some questions are coming up as the time draws nigh, but as I get the answers (even if that means learning in the middle of the race), I’ll post them.

1. When do I put on the wetsuit?  Do I drive to the race in it, or do I put it on when I get there?
   Answer:  I put it on when I got there.  Worked just fine, had plenty of time.
2. What do I do with my wetsuit when I hit T1?
   Answer:  We draped it over the transition bike racks (good to have your name in it)
3. Why didn’t I buy a floor pump, when I first thought I should?  My front tire is slightly low and I’m not sure what to do about it…
   Answer:  Nothing I could do then.  Needed to have a bike pump.  Rode with a low-pressured tire.
4. How in the heck do you affix the bike number?
   Answer:  Going with the Staple to the Top Tube Method method.  This actually worked great.
5. How do you affix your helmet number when your helmet is not “sticker-friendly” in the front?  Answer:  Scissors and clear tape, my friend.
6. Got this inhaler…is there a place to store it during the swim?
   Answer:  Did what I’d read others do.  I put it on the inside of my wetsuit leg, just above the ankle.  It worked well and I forgot about it during the swim (also, I was lucky to have brought it, because I used it in the middle of the swim).

Well, it’s official.  I’m registered for the St. George Triathlon sprint.  My buddy, Patrick, is going to do this, as well.

So, to catch up:
Monday night was the first night of swimming class at the Lehi Legacy Center.  There were two other people in this class- one who seems to have been swimming for a time, now.  There is also another girl who doesn’t seem to know how to swim at all.  All in all, it was a good night.  I was able to swim 25 meters without too many issues.  I definitely didn’t feel comfortable in the water.  But that the was the point of this whole class.  I want to get to the point that I feel comfortable swimming over long periods of time (like in a triathlon).  At the end of the night, didn’t really feel like I’d accomplished too much.  It felt good to be in the water, since I know that this has always been a struggle for me.

Tuesday night was completely different.  I’d spent all day studying Total Immersion technique, which stresses the importance of, well, not stressing.  Total Immersion, or “TI”, teaches the importance of aligning your body into a straight shaft, much like an arrow.  You learn to sort of roll your body, instead of turning your neck to get air.  TI also teaches the importance of stroke count.  For instance, instead of concentrating on how fast you can swim the length of a pool, you try to see how efficiently you can cover the distance.  By the end of the night, I was able to swim 150 meters, continuously.  The other, more experienced swimmer, wasn’t able to hit 75 (not bragging- that’s just what happened.)

Wednesday night was sort of the highlight of my swimming career (which is currently 3 days old).  The class instructor, after watching me swim a few laps, asked if there was anything else I wanted to learn (like another stroke).  I told her that I was sort of interested in concentrating on my front crawl, since that’s what I’d mostly use in a triathlon.  She told me that I looked great and to keep going.  I spent the rest of the night concentrating on my stroke and form (technique).  My goal, before arriving, was to swim a continuous 200 meters.  I had 300 before I left the pool for the night.

To sum up:  There is really something to this TI technique.  Instead of dreading getting into the water, I am already feeling much more confident about my ability to survive for a period of time in the water.  I suspect that I’ll be able to get to 750 meters, long before the May 15th Saint George Triathlon sprint.  It will consist of a 750 meter swim, a 20k bike ride, and a 5k run.