triathlon
So Saturday morning I woke up at my parent’s house, loaded my personal affects into the suburban and went and dropped my kayak at Sunrise and my bike at Guy West Bridge. I then went by my apartment changed and liberally applied sunscreen. (I understate the role of my mother in all that, she drove) I then went back to my parent’s house where my concerned and loving mother gave me breakfast, I had peanut butter and honey on multigrain bread (a food I think of as "rocket fuel") and a large glass of OJ. Then Mom dropped me off at the starting line, I lined up towards the back of the group and stretched a bit.
At the starting line I was pleased to discover that there was a moment of silence for the Sacramento sheriffs officers who died last week and an invocation. I also said a prayer, mine was much shorter and simpler; "Heavenly Father please bless me not to hurt myself and not to embarrass myself, in Jesus name amen." Then the race started, the mass of people gradually accelerated over the next 1/4 mile and I found myself pacing off a guy in a tee shirt that said "Cebu Cafe" after a mile I started to move forward gradually. After a few miles I began to regret the amount of orange juice I had for breakfast and at some points thought I would see it again. I spent most of the 5.82 mile run with a guy in a cycling jersey that said "Bella Vienna" he had a GPS gizmo that told us how far we had to go and his pace seemed to match what I could do, it was also his first Eppies the difference he is 20 years older than me, but I am okay with that.
Actually the running leg was not nearly as bad as I had thought it would be. 5.82 miles is the longest I have ever run, but after running 3 miles I found that it hurt every bit as much to walk so I just kept running. The best part of the running leg was the people who would spray you with the hoses from their back yard, now that is an act of love. The worst part of the run is seeing the lead cyclist pass in the other direction while you still have MILES left to run.
After running is biking and that was my strongest leg, in the fist few miles I passed a lot of people who had been stronger runners than me. The hardest part of biking is being thirsty, I should have packed my own water but didn't. I actually left the bike path and dismounted to use a drinking fountain around the half way point. That was about the same point I saw the first kayaks at. As I got near the end of the bike leg I heard Jordan cheering for me that felt was the best part of the bike leg.
After dismounting from the bike I discovered that my legs really hurt, not how I had known they would hurt but a painful chaffing that made me walk across the bridge funny. I also made the mistake of not stopping and finding water before getting in my kayak. The Kayaking killed me. Everyone and had passed biking caught up pretty quick. I found it very hard to make myself paddle at that point, and with my shoes on inside the boat I could not get comfortable, in fact I couldn't even get my center of gravity where it should have been. I was pleasantly surprised to see much of my family on the banks of the river cheering me on as I went past Ancil Hoffman Park. I wish they had brought drink. The kayaking was MUCH harder than I had thought it would be. Shortly after seeing my family, at the risk of not only capsizing but also being disqualified I removed my shoes. This helped immensely and I was able to keep going.
When I came up to the point where you get out of the boat I asked an official if I needed to put my shoes back on before getting out of the water. He told me not to worry about it and so I hoped out and ran as fast as my sore legs could carry me the last 100 ft to the finish line. I finished in JUST under 3 hours and I am okay with that. The apple and bottle of water and bottle of Gatorade and other bottle of water at the finish line where great however I could only eat 2 bites of the BBQ chicken sandwich.
My Family picked me and my gear up a few minutes later and took me home, I had done it.
Yeah, me one great big check mark on my things to do this year list. I might even do it again next year.
At the starting line I was pleased to discover that there was a moment of silence for the Sacramento sheriffs officers who died last week and an invocation. I also said a prayer, mine was much shorter and simpler; "Heavenly Father please bless me not to hurt myself and not to embarrass myself, in Jesus name amen." Then the race started, the mass of people gradually accelerated over the next 1/4 mile and I found myself pacing off a guy in a tee shirt that said "Cebu Cafe" after a mile I started to move forward gradually. After a few miles I began to regret the amount of orange juice I had for breakfast and at some points thought I would see it again. I spent most of the 5.82 mile run with a guy in a cycling jersey that said "Bella Vienna" he had a GPS gizmo that told us how far we had to go and his pace seemed to match what I could do, it was also his first Eppies the difference he is 20 years older than me, but I am okay with that.
Actually the running leg was not nearly as bad as I had thought it would be. 5.82 miles is the longest I have ever run, but after running 3 miles I found that it hurt every bit as much to walk so I just kept running. The best part of the running leg was the people who would spray you with the hoses from their back yard, now that is an act of love. The worst part of the run is seeing the lead cyclist pass in the other direction while you still have MILES left to run.
After running is biking and that was my strongest leg, in the fist few miles I passed a lot of people who had been stronger runners than me. The hardest part of biking is being thirsty, I should have packed my own water but didn't. I actually left the bike path and dismounted to use a drinking fountain around the half way point. That was about the same point I saw the first kayaks at. As I got near the end of the bike leg I heard Jordan cheering for me that felt was the best part of the bike leg.
After dismounting from the bike I discovered that my legs really hurt, not how I had known they would hurt but a painful chaffing that made me walk across the bridge funny. I also made the mistake of not stopping and finding water before getting in my kayak. The Kayaking killed me. Everyone and had passed biking caught up pretty quick. I found it very hard to make myself paddle at that point, and with my shoes on inside the boat I could not get comfortable, in fact I couldn't even get my center of gravity where it should have been. I was pleasantly surprised to see much of my family on the banks of the river cheering me on as I went past Ancil Hoffman Park. I wish they had brought drink. The kayaking was MUCH harder than I had thought it would be. Shortly after seeing my family, at the risk of not only capsizing but also being disqualified I removed my shoes. This helped immensely and I was able to keep going.
When I came up to the point where you get out of the boat I asked an official if I needed to put my shoes back on before getting out of the water. He told me not to worry about it and so I hoped out and ran as fast as my sore legs could carry me the last 100 ft to the finish line. I finished in JUST under 3 hours and I am okay with that. The apple and bottle of water and bottle of Gatorade and other bottle of water at the finish line where great however I could only eat 2 bites of the BBQ chicken sandwich.
My Family picked me and my gear up a few minutes later and took me home, I had done it.
Yeah, me one great big check mark on my things to do this year list. I might even do it again next year.
posted by a.lost.boy | 9:14 PM
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