My Triathlon

Part of why I was so busy in September was my triathlon. The morning started out with a huge drop in temperature and a mist of rain. The nuclear power plant uses the water to cool the towers so the water was 85 degrees and since the air was about 65 there was a fog on the water; super spooky kind of swamp thing looking. So it was cold to strip down to the tri suit but the water was warm. I started swimming and could see the first florescent buoy but after I past it I could only barely see the second. I could see the land to swim back but the signs for the finish line were blue and with the fog it was hard to see. I had never done an open water swim before so when I saw the time of 23 minutes for 500 meters I was still proud of myself.

I started the bike but the mist was so thick, I had to take my sunglasses off. Then I got to the hills. It was ridiculous. At any given point you were either going up or down a hill. Almost no flat biking. I was aiming for 1 hour for the 14 mile bike but ended up with 1.5 hours. I couldn't feel my toes at the end.

Next came the run. The last 5k I ran I did right at 39 minutes and I finished the triathlon 5k in right at 41 minutes. Pretty amazing considering all that I had put myself through. I finished the race and that was my goal. I didn't even come in last. There was a 53 year old lady that finished behind me. I have learned that before I do that again, I need to practice more on my bike skills.