Mining the Soul: A My First Tri Race Report

Friday was the day it finally hit me. I'm sitting at my desk, lost in thought, watching traffic meander around I-285 in Atlanta, and I started to get excited. A nervous kind of excited. Dude! I thought. Tomorrow you are going to be doing a triathlon, and I thought to myself, "Holy crap!!" What have I gotten myself into? It wasn't hard for me to shift my mind back into its comfort zone. I knew that I had trained hard. I was ready. The only thing left was to ride this thing out to the finish.

The day had worked itself out perfectly. Jimmy was in Savannah for his playoff game, and Matthew was going to his sixth grade dance. That gave me plenty of leeway to head over to Lake Lanier to pick up my race packet. I mosied out of work around 4:30 PM. Packet pickup was between seven and nine. I wanted to make sure I had plenty of time to get there. Traffic in Gwinnett County can be brutal. It ended up being moderately heavy, and I arrived at Lake Lanier around 6:15. I went ahead and found the conference room where registration was taking place. I surprised the volunteers and race director when I popped in early, but they were kind enough to give me my packet. The race director was a really nice guy. He gave me some personal one on one instruction and deftly fielded all my questions regarding the race. On the way out, I ran into an incoming triathlete. I provided him with directions and reciprocated his have a great race attitude and good bye. Triathletes rock! Even when they are strangers.

Originally, I had intended to have a dinner of champions, a McDonald's cheeseburger, some fries, and a sweet tea, on the road. Due to the fact that I had managed to pick up my packet early, this opened all kinds of other options. On the way back to the dance, to pick up Matthew, I decided at the last minute that Sushi was a great idea for a pre-race dinner. At the last minute, I swung into my favorite Japanese restaurant and had a nice dinner. It was just what I needed, light yet filling. I wanted to be "hungry" going into the race. After picking up Matthew at 9 PM, it was time to head home to get ready.

About three months ago, I bought a book on how to train for a triathlon doing four hours a week for six weeks. While I decided not to follow that particular plan, I did learn a lot from the book, and I used the book's check list to get ready for the race. I went to pump up my tires on Bags, and suddenly, I realized that I had no idea what pressure was recommended for these tires. A little research indicated the pressure was 110 psi max. Crap! I thought. I've been riding around on them with only like thirty-five pounds of pressure. Suddenly, I got nervous about over filling the tires. I could see myself waking up in the morning and having two flats. Or, worse yet, hitting a bump during the race and going flat. I've never changed a flat before! I decided to compromise and pumped my tires up to 80 psi and said a quick prayer to the bicycling gods that they wouldn't blow. My fears proved unfounded. They did fine. Once I was satisfied that everything was in one place, ready to go, I finally hit the bed at midnight.

Around two AM, the thunderstorms rolled through. I tried hard to relax. I knew that I was only going to get five hours of sleep at best. My alarm was set to go off at 5 AM. I fully expected to get less, and I was OK with that. This was going to be my day. I would have fun with NO sleep. It was easy for me to relax, and once the noise died down, I drifted back off into a restful sleep.

The alarm woke me promptly at 5 AM. I wanted a full hour to get ready to leave. I had to have my coffee, my breakfast, and otherwise get ready to get down to business. Dee Dee and I packed up the car, loaded a half asleep Matthew, and took off for Lake Lanier. The trip over was smooth and uneventful. We actually got there a bit early, but that was OK with me. As I pulled into the parking lot, I thought, Wow! There's a ton of people here and bikes of all shapes and sizes were hanging off the back of people's cars. There were tri bikes, road bikes, hybrids, mountain bikes, and even a few comfort bikes. I later learned that participation in this race jumped from seventy to over three hundred participants in just one year!

After parking the car, I went to the chip table to pick up my race chip and get marked with my 187. I then unpacked the car and headed over to transition to get set up. Transition was like 25% full when I got there. I decided to pick a place in the rack right next to the gate.


The space was open, and I thought, why not? I really didn't want to dodge a bunch of folks getting in and out of there. After setting up in transition, we took a walk down to the swim course to check it out. Four hundred meters didn't look all that bad!

I went back to the car to get my wet suit and proceeded to the start of the race. Once there, I slipped into my wet suit and got ready to go.


As I was shuffling around, trying not to be nervous, I noticed my blogger pal Sarah standing with her hubby. I was really excited to see her! Sarah is the first blogger that I finally got to meet in person. We had a somewhat awkward moment when I gave her a hug, but it all worked out for the good, and I evidently did not embarrass her too bad! Be forewarned my blogger friends! If I meet you in person, you are likely to get a vicious hug at any given moment. (Don't worry, if you happen to be a dude, we'll go out in the woods and kill something later ;-) We chatted with Sarah and her hubby for a little while, then the race director gathered everyone together for the start.


He gave out some pre-race instructions and announced the next timers would be going off shortly. They were supposed to go off at 8:15, but we were running behind. The RD announced that any first timers that wanted to go off in the first wave could choose to do so. I opted to join them. I needed to get Matthew to his soccer game! LOL. The first wave lined up at the start. The RD gave us the old "On your mark! Get set! Go!!!" and we were off.

I ran down the beach into the water. I closed my eyes and dove. Everything went black.


Put your head into the water and swim, Wes! Swim!
I am swimming! but why does she keep backing away from me?

The water was cold! It sucked the air right out of you. It didn't help either that my goggles immediately started leaking. This would NOT have happened had I not lost my pair of clear goggles the week before. I arched out around the pack and started swimming. I had probably gone about thirty meters, out into deep water, when I realized that this just wasn't working for me.

I am now flailing my arms uncontrollable, trying to catch up with my aunt. I can barely see her through the murky waters. My mouth opens of its own accord and I inhale a lung full of water. As I start to black out, I am jerked from the water and wrapped in a big hug. I lay my head on her shoulder and cough and sputter, to young, to traumatized and hurt by the whole episode to hate her for what she did to me.

As I realize that I am in trouble, I take an angle towards the shore. I flip over onto my back and swim that way for a little ways so I can catch my breath. Once I feel better, I roll over and try freestyle again. I manage to go fifteen or twenty meters before I have to stop and stand up. I just can't find my rhythm. No matter how hard I try, I just can't seem to get comfortable. I proceed to breast stroke and freestyle my way to the second buoy. I managed to bump into a few people during the swim. Fortunately, I did not kick anybody, nor did I get kicked. I got out of the way of a few people that were faster than me, and anytime I touched anybody else, I let my body go limp and moved away from them. Without much further excitement, I rounded the second buoy and headed to shore. As I walked up on the beach, I noted the time on my watch: 9:18. I was surprised. That was faster than what I had expected.

After climbing up the stairs from the beach, I met Dee Dee. She was carrying my sandals. I put them on my feet and began the quarter mile walk/run to the transition area. I unzipped the back of my wet suit and got my right arm out. As I struggled to get the left arm out, I realized that I had forgotten to take off my watch. Damn! I was a bit tired and frustrated, and now I had to shove my arm back through the wet suit so as not to damage it. If it had been mine, I would have just ripped it off. It isn't mine, so I didn't. I finally climbed the hill to transition and made it to my bike. I finished stripping off my wet suit in no time flat. This time, I remembered to remove my timing chip BEFORE I pulled my legs out. Don't make the same mistake twice! That's my motto.

As I sat on the ground, I managed to get my socks, shoes, shirt, and sun glasses on without much problem. I opted for the long sleeve technical shirt as it was still a bit chilly that morning and damp too! As I stood up to leave, I realized I had forgotten to put my bike shorts on. I dug around in my bag, located the shorts, and slipped them on over my jammers. Suddenly, I realized I couldn't find my timing chip. I looked all over for it. Picked everything up, and it was no where to be found. Then, I realized that the velcro had stuck to the back of the velcro on the wet suit. OMG! What else could possible go wrong in T1? At that point, I was ready to get on the road. I slipped Bags off the rack and headed out the gate for my ride, never realizing that I had left my race belt with my Bib on it in the bag. Good thing it wasn't a necessity! Fortunately for me, I had my race number on my arm, on the back of my leg, on my helmet, and on my bike. There was no mistaking who I am :-)


As bad as I felt the swim went, I soon put all such thoughts behind me. I hammered the bike! I was passing tons of people, mountain bikes, hybrids, road bikes, you name it. Guys, gals, old and young fell behind me. I must have passed a couple of dozen people. I think maybe half a dozen roadies passed me on the course. The route was relatively flat, but there were some pretty steep baby hills. A few people were walking them, but I never did. I stayed in the saddle and powered up the hills. I made sure to wave and thank all the policemen as we ran through the intersections. They were busy holding up traffic for us. About a mile before the turn around, there was a cyclist down. He got into a contest with a van, and the van won. He was lying up against the fence, being assisted by a police officer. The lady was looking sad and nervous standing by her van, and the dude's steed was in two pieces on the side of the road. What a shame.

On the way back, I got to go down some of those hills that were so much fun going up! As I crested one particularly long steep hill, I lowered myself into an aero position and took full advantage of the slope. As I picked up speed, near the bottom of the incline, I hit a bump and launched my first bottle!!

Keep the wheel straight, Son! Relax. Shift your weight to maintain your balance.
There ya go! You're doing it! Your doing it!

Come'on Dad! Run faster! Wheeeeeeee!

As I rounded the final curve on the home stretch, I pumped my fist in the air, thanked the officers on duty there and hauled butt to the bike finish. When the bike finish came into sight, I found myself racing a van for the entrance to the parking lot ramp way.


I picked up speed and managed to pass in front of the van about 25 yards from the entrance. As I veered right into the ramp of the parking lot, I was going way to fast, headed directly at the camera man taking pictures of returning cyclists. He was standing on the curb but still jumped out of the way. Wise man he was! I used the entire road, including the flat cement portion of the curb to navigate my way into the parking lot. I chuckled about that one, but I almost ended up getting tossed over the handle bars on my bike! If I had hit that curb, I would've been in serious trouble. I passed one more guy on the way to the finish and then used both brakes to come to a screeching halt.

I was a bit wobbly as I got off the bike and walked to my place in the rack. I accidentally knocked another athlete's bike off the rack as I put mine on. I calmly walked over to the bike, and with great reverence, picked it up placed it back in its original spot. I removed my helmet, gloves, and glasses, found my race belt in my bag and slipped that on. I then proceeded to the start of the run, grabbing a bottle of water on the way out. I didn't even get a sip of my sports drink before lift off! LOL. I was very thirsty.

The start of the run was brutal. We had to exit the back end of the parking lot. Picture a bowl if you will. It was like a 45+ degree angle down the hill, about thirty feet, across the back of the parking lot, down some more steps, across a bridge, then back up the bowl on the other side. On wobbly legs, this posed a serious challenge. It also helped acclimate your legs to running, if you survived! In the middle of the bowl, I met up with Dee Dee and Matthew and exchanged high fives with them.


I was so delighted to see that Matthew had come out of the car to see me! I came out the other side in good shape. I started out running/walking quite a bit, and somewhere in the first mile, I settled into a Run 4/Walk 1 rhythm. The run itself was uneventful. I had planned on merely "hanging on" here. I chatted up a few runners, giving them encouragement, and exchanged some mojo with folks that had already made the turn around. Running along and over the lake was very nice, and I enjoyed the run very much. I walked up the final hill on the way back before sprinting down the bowl to the opposite side before the finish.

I just didn't have it in me to run up that final hill, but once I got to the top, I kicked it in for the finish. I was very happy to see that I was coming in under 1:30:00. I wanted to come in under the clock, so I raced around one final guy. I was really, really, disappointed in my finish photos for the half marathon. I was hoping this one would be much better. I wanted to cross the finish line by myself. I raised both my arms up in the air, something Neese taught me, tried to smile, failed miserably, but crossed the finish line to resounding cheers as a happy triathlete.


It would have been nice to hang around and enjoy the festivities, but unfortunately, we already knew that we would be late for Matthew's soccer game. We were just lucky that he was playing an away game, and it was in the same county as the race. On the way to the game, the coach called because the team was short handed. We apologized that the triathlon had run over and we would be there ASAP. I pulled up to the parking lot, dumped Matthew out, and went to look for a parking space. Matthew basically walked right onto the field and started playing.

After Matthew's game, I went home for a nap, then went up to check on the restaurant for a while. Later that night, Dee Dee and I went out to celebrate, and I used adult beverages to fuel my recovery.

All in all, I had a great time at my first triathlon. I learned many things, some of which I will recount in a later post. For now, it is enough to know that I have a lot of work to do. I need to practice on my swimming, especially open water. I need to get a tri-bike! Maybe sooner rather than later, and as usual, my running will continue to improve as I shed more and more of this excess weight.

I feel like the raw material of who I am as a triathlete has been tossed into the fire. We are just going to have to wait and see what the finished product looks like. No matter where my life takes me these days, what ever route it decides to go, I know without doubt that my path lies through the triangle of fire. Swim. Bike. Run. Whether it is one or the other, or all three, it doesn't matter. It's all good, as it should be.

Wes