Accenture Chicago International Triathlon 8/29/04
Executive version:
My first triathlon was the international distance event at the Chicago Tri and happened under a good set of stars. A wild and wacky trip turned into a celebration for a feat that had been all but impossible just a few weeks back. Swim 0:38:03, rank 1968: Bike: 1:22:15, rank 1955; Run: 1:05:54, rank 3053; total with transitions: 3:18:42; rank 2659 of ~3800
General musings:
Man, triathlons are strange, funny beasts :-). Similar to what I had thrived on in my former days as an ultramarathon runner, triathlons are about the thrill of conquering adversity, but beyond that they have much less in common than I had anticipated. The pleasant familiarity and seductive boredom of long-distance running is replaced by a fresh sense of never-ending excitement in anticipation of the next thing to prepare for. It delivers a pure, systemic sense of exhaustion rather than the more defined fatigue of select sets of muscles and you get to play with a sheer inexhaustible assortment of very expensive, very colorful doo-hickies. One wonders whether this sport could have ever developed in a world devoid of Velcro, fluorescent paint, and video-games :-). Moreover, triathlons are about worship of the pure, human athletic form with an exuberant abundance of handsome members of humanity, chiseled bodies that would do Michelangelo proud, and a minimalist approach to covering various dingly bits. What can I say – It was a rocky road that got me there, I stuck out like a sore thumb, but it was worth it and I had a ball.
The details:
Sweety Mooi, little unit Sebastian and I arrived in Chicago on Friday night where we met up and stayed with our old friend Dave. Saturday we hit the expo, went for a long walk along the beachfront, and I tested the waters with a little swim. I am glad that I did because I realized that the cold water and the excitement would encourage me to go out way to fast and it would take a concerted effort to seriously hold back at the swim start. All dials in the green and assured in my decision to go without a wetsuit, I laid out my stuff for the next morning, and headed to bed early. As always before a major event I slept horribly and I listened to the wind and rain rattling the windows for much of the night.The morning dawned and I was ready, anxious and uncertain with respect to my sanity. Oatmeal, then onto the bike, past Lincoln Park Zoo and down the beach front towards the transition area. At “The Drake” I realized that this would be a different kind of day. Where gently ripples had gurgled onto the shore the day before, ferocious waves were now crashing onto the wall at the edge of the water, sending fountains of white foam high above my head. Another wave broke, covered the bike path, washed under my bike, and deposited seaweed onto the spokes – we are going to swim in this? Yikes
At the transition zone I checked my bike and laid out the stuff that I would need later on. Clueless about triathlons I watched intently other people’s preparations and I copied as much of it as possible. We were then ushered out of the area and I headed over to the swim start. Fortunately the swim area was in a protected section of the yacht club so the water was choppy but there were none of the large waves that I had feared. I was to start in group 22 and time quickly passed as I watched competitors line up, jump in, and start. The color of the cap for our wave of swimmers was pink but I felt secure in my masculinity. I became less sure when a high-pitched yelp escaped as my privates submerged in the cold waters of Lake Michigan. Wow, the lake wasn’t that cold yesterday. Based on one of many wise suggestions from the Tri-list I decided to not start my watch but to go with how I was feeling instead … the "bleep" happens and we were on our way.
While watching others from shore it appeared that there was quite a bit of traffic in the swim lane, but man, the next 40 minutes had more in common with full contact martial arts than anything else. I was in the midst of things, giving as much as I was taking, until I came up on somebody from behind, got kicked in the head, breathed in a wave, stopped to cough and get air, and was dunked and swum over by a series of subsequent people. Wow, I am usually not easily freaked out but this did it. I won't play with the men, I then rather stuck to the outside edge as much as I could which worked a lot better. I started to relax, got into a decent rhythm, and moved along well. Whenever I caught up to somebody I would add a few harder pulls and breath to the side facing away from the swimmer until I was back in the clear. In one place I wondered why it suddenly got dark in a hurry and quickly got my answer as I crashed my head into the boat marking the edge of the swim lane. As we reached the end of the swim, a lady yanked us out onto the platform. I looked around and I was pleased to see that I had finished together with some seriously buff looking specimens of our species who were wearing the same color lid as I. With a pleased giggle I picked up my glasses and proceeded to the transition zone.
It took me some time to find my bike in the maze of racks and as I got ready I noticed that others had the transition down a lot more efficiently than I did :-) Eventually I donned my bike stuff and I was ready to head out. Going north a stiff breeze was in our face and, as a credit to the endorphins, I was still managing a decent clip. I felt great to have finished the swim strong and I thought about how special it was for me to be there at all. A few weeks earlier I wasn’t even able to move my left arm properly, I was facing the prospect of not being able to do sports again (see Human Interest Story), and yet here I was now in the midst of my first triathlon, and I clearly was not floundering - yet. I passed quite a few more beautiful bodies on very expensive hardware while some real speedies shot past me in a way that I would not have regarded as possible on a bike. After the turnaround I too was flying now with the wind at my back. A wave to Mooi and Sebastian at the pedestrian bridge. Halfway in I noticed that I had paid too little attention to rehydrating after my swim and that I needed to take care of my energy levels. I used the second loop to catch up on my physiology, drink a bunch, get 2 energy gels in, and recover for the last leg - the run.
With the running I had the most previous experience to draw on but it was also the part most affected by my complete lack of training. I really just managed to retreat into my trusted long-distance mode, my mind went pleasantly blank, I barely noticed the large number of runners who passed me, and I shuffled along until I woke up with the finish in sight. Cool, I did it and actually it feels like I kicked some ass - even if it was only my own lardy one :-)
this won't be my last one if I can help it ...
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