Victim of a Wrong Turn...

I consider myself to be a smart man, certainly capable of following directions. Unfortunately, following directions became my undoing at the YMCA Triathlon... The race started with a half mile swim in the YMCA's Pool. Not a big deal for me as I enjoy the simplicity of pool swims. A clever foreshadow of my fate came on lap 18 when I should have exited the pool, but I didn't see the last lap kickboard and swam a little extra.

On the bike it was business as usual. I typically ride at the same speed whether I am tired or fresh. This occurance always sets me up as being ready to run or being fatigued from riding too hard. None-the-less, I cruised the 20k course with no one in sight...including volunteers. I came into transitions feeling fresh. I always like the speed and effieciency of the the bike segment. Aero helmets and race wheels always make you feel really fast. I navigated the last segment on the a bike on descended into the YMCA parking lot. A quick side-saddle dismount, bike rack, and helmet for visor exchange and I was off and running, feeling good.


I knew I had a big lead on the other racers, but I wanted to see if I could throw down a sub 20 minute 5k. After running on a dirt trail for about a kilometer I encountered a four was crossing. I felt it wasn't marked as it should be and I wound up taking the wrong quad. Don't get me wrong, the segment I ran was pretty cool. I ran through a huge tunnel, by an industrial plant, and around a baseball complex. The clincher is none of these structures were intended to be included on the run course. Who knows how I made my way back on course but I actually completed the entire 3 mile run course...plus the mile and a half that I ran extra, as if the race was hard enough.

Throughout the run it felt so long, as if time was dragging, I would later find out why. As a side note, I encountered another racer that was taking a wrong turn as I passed them, I quickly righted them...is there a theme here? After miraculously finding my way along the run course, I spotted the finish. I pushed the pace and sprinted to the finish line.

At the results ceremony, I was enlightened to the fact that my 5K run time was 29 minutes (due to the fact I ran 1.5 miles extra) by running that extra mile and a half "for fun" I managed to lose all of my 6 minute lead that I had accrued with my swim-bike combination, which put me second place overall by 14 seconds...Seriously. By no means do I hold anything against the race organizers, they did the best they could, but to get second because of that is pretty bad. Needless to say, that one took awhile to get over. I don't know if I will ever let it go until I go back and collect what I deserve...There is always next year I guess.