2015 Reston Olympic Triathlon

I don't want to be here.  I'm uncomfortable, I'm stressed and I'm tired. It's 5:20am, it's dark, it's cold and raining.  I'm sitting in my car in the South Lakes Parking lot.  I just want to turn off my phone so Bursch can't reach me and go home.  I miss my bed.

That's how my day started, Sunday September 13.

I was thinking about a dream I had last night where I was swimming with the mass hoards around the 1500m lake course.  The turns were crowded.  I was in the middle of the pack, getting kicked and slapped and slowly sinking.   More swimmers were over me, I couldn't get to the surface.  My stress climbs to uncomfortable levels as I sit in the car, in the dark, in the cold, in the rain.  I just want to go home ... then the phone rings.

Bursch asks, "Where you at?".  I'm in the parking lot.  "I'll be there in 3 minutes".  This call did wonders to calm me down.  The sun started to break, the rain stopped,

Bursch and I got our gear together and headed to the run transition area.  After setting up there, we rode our bikes down to the swim area for the first stage of the Olympic Tri.  An Olympic triathlon consists of a 1500m swim, a 24 mile bike and a 10k run.  We've been training all summer specifically for this event.  We are prepared.

I met my buddy Rich Spencer at the transition area.  He's a regular at these events, and harder ones.  Rich knows what he's doing out there.  Funny story with Rich as he transitioning from the bike to the run.  He couldn't find his shoes.  Oh yea, the guy who just happened to ride up before him was trying to put them on his feet!  I'm thinking this doesn't happen often.

The swim portion turned out to be not quite like my dream.  Although there was some bumping in a few spots.  I swam pretty strong and ended up with a 28:16 time ranking 109 out of 455.  Pretty darn good for me.  I took the turns tight, with my head up, keeping myself from getting banged on too much.  Wisps of my dream creeping in my mind.

A quick transition and I'm on the bike.  I'm comfortable on my bike.  I've ridden enough miles to gauge my effort and feel comfortable throughout the course.  Fast descents, decent pace on the flats, and a standing attack on the hills.  I did hold back a bit because I didn't know what to expect on the run.  My time of 1:21:34 isn't horrible, ranking 198 out of 455.

The run is my true nightmare.  I'm not a good runner.  Never have been, never will be.  I don't train much for the run because I'd only hurt myself if I did.  That's what has happened in the past.  I trained with a handful of 2 miles run, plus the 5k last week in the Wakefield Sprint Triathlon.

A 10k run is an ordeal.  6.2 miles of pounding on the ankles, knees and quads.  A sport designed for little people, skinny people, light people ... none of that describes me.  To my amazement, the first mile wasn't an agonizing affair of my body telling me to stop.  Dare I say, it felt "fine"?  This "fine" feeling never went away, mile 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and even the final 1/4 mile around the South Lakes High School track was a "fine" affair.  I'm not questioning how this happened but I sure am thankful.  As expected, I had a blazing 1:02:17 time, ranking 306 out of the 455.

With Rich Spencer (he's fast)

I have a certain amount of pride and satisfaction in being able to complete this Olympic distance.  What I don't have is an overwhelming desire to do it again.  So yea, I'll take my 203rd place and go home.  More sprint tri's are certainly in my future, as they are far more manageable. My only real disappointment today is not getting a finishing photo with my buddy Bursch.  He improved his time over last year so he's happy. Garmin Statistics Link to overall times