EWU Triathlon

Continuing with the theme of 2013, this race took place during a torrential downpour. 

*Total gully-washer rain.

I am a person who loves positive so I am going to turn that rainy frown upside down and say that it wasn’t that bad. We were super fortunate because the transition was inside the gymnasium. How insanely awesome is that?  We all got to stay dry before the race, and our gear wasn't rained on for hours, lucky!

More luck for me, Sarah came to the race to cheer, take pictures, and help out.  It was nice to have there. J  As if that wasn’t enough, she made me a really delicious, gluten-free pasta dish with veggies and chicken.  It was delicious. Plus, everyone in the top 10 owes her a thank you for helping us get onto the run course.  

I will also add that my new favorite show is "Call of the Wildman" on Animal Planet.  It was a perfect rainy day show, hilarious!

*His name is "Turtleman" and he captures pest animals in over-the-top, hillbilly ways.

*Some people had to use chairs as bike stands...

*...but not me, I brought my own bike stand.

*If only this were video, you'd see a sick robot.

*A big thank you to Hammer Nutrition, "Fuel Right, Feel Great!"

The swim was a 500-meter swim, two people per lane, no frills or thrills. I swam comfortably, had a great swim, and exited in 3^rd place.  I exited right next to 2^nd place, but the lead swimmer was long gone.  The fact that he was so far ahead of us begs the question, “Did he count his laps correctly?”  Did you catch that, for the first time ever in a race, we had to count our own laps, a challenge in itself.

*Splash coming...

*Exit pool, enter T1.

*Murder Machine leaving the hangar.

Anyway, super swimmer was long gone by the time I made it through transition one and onto the bike.  I quickly caught 2^nd place and set my sights on the black dot in the distance.  As the Murder Machine plowed through the wet roads the spray carried grit and dirt all over me and my ride.  I rode most of the bike portion while spitting out the road grit coming off my front tire up into my face and mouth.  

I watched the lead shrink and by the halfway point of the bike I was right there.  On the way back I made the pass.  Soon after, Brown passed me and took the lead.  He had a great ride on his Specialized Transition and led our group into transition two.  Great job to him to catch and pass us all on the bike, wow.

Equally impressive was his transition two.  I was probably 30 feet behind him going into transition two, but he was in his shoes and gone before I even made it my bike rack.  By the time I was out of transition he was out of sight with probably a 20-30 second lead.  I had really cold fingers and my shoe fumbling cost me 2^nd place, I was finally on the run in 3^rd place, and it was pouring rain. Sweet!

I caught the 2^nd place runner on the first hill and caught a glimpse of Brown.  He was doing a good job. He put it on us in the bike, so now was my time to repay the favor J.  It took probably a mile for me to finally catch him as we pounded down a hill.  I held the lead for probably a minute before Alex, running like the wind, swept to the lead.  He is a heck of a runner and by the time we neared the finish he was out of reach.

*Come on, fumble fingers!

My favorite part of the whole day was from mile 2.5 to the end.  I knew that Alex was too far ahead to catch so I settled in content to hold 2^nd place.  But then, like music to my ears I heard foot steps and breathing. “Niiiiice!!” I thought to myself.  3^rd place had busted his guts and caught me, we were now running together.

I get excited typing this because these are the moments I love more than anything in a race.  We ran side by side as the distance to the finish diminished.  I was fully content on letting him dictate if we were going to surge now or sprint it out at the end.  I was lovin' it, man vs. man to see who wanted it more. These moments don’t happen very often, but win or lose I live for them.

Our feet splashed as we continued to run.  I was tired, but I wasn't hurting.  With about a quarter mile to go he surged, I felt it, and we zoomed to the finish.  I knew he had run super hard to catch me, and when he surged the thought “it’s too soon” went through my head.  I fell in behind him, all I had to do was cover his move.

“Patience, not yet, Bryan,” I continued to follow right off his hip.  With about 100 yards to go to I had covered his final surge and he eased off. “Wait, wait, wait….Now!” I accelerated around him with my counter-strike.  I saw the finish line close, with every exhale a mixture of rain-water and air misted.  I ran through the finish line securing 2^nd place, and thinking “Man, that was fun!” 

*Gettin' a lil' mud on the tires.

I shook Alex’s hand and congratulated him on winning, I had a good laugh with 3rd place, Kevin Prozek, about our battle, and gave Brown a high five as he finished up soon after.  Sarah took one for the team to get some run pics, but we didn’t wait long before getting back inside.

I had so much fun at this race.  The way the top 5 jockeyed around the lead in the rain made for a really interesting race.  Regardless of place, days like this are victories.  So proud of everyone, we all did a great job.

By the way, I am really proud of my kit. I saw these shoes at the store and like a lightning rod the I-have-a-kit-that-matches-those-shoes spark ignited!  Small victory, I am simple, yet complex man. J 

*Omg, those shoes were made for this kit, it ain't no crime to match. 

Thanks for reading.