Lake to Lake Triathlon 2019
In the winter Sam asked if I would be interested in doing a triathlon. Not a sprint triathlon mind you, but an Olympic distance with a daunting 1500 M swim. I’m wouldn’t call myself a swimmer. I mean I could swim to save my life, but never learned proper form etc.
Also I’d never road biked or owned a road bike or thought I would enjoy road biking (too many cars!).
Surprisingly I enjoyed training for both swimming and road biking. I especially enjoyed the summer months were I was the only one at the outdoor pool.
I wish I could have trained more, but that’s probably how you always feel about these things.
The day of the race was the day after the Summer solstice. And it was 50 degrees and had been raining for 24 hours straight. I thought they may cancel it but they said as long as there was no lightning, the show must go on.
I was feeling pretty nervous about the swim in the bad weather. So I didn’t sleep well the night before. The next day we drove up in the pouring rain. It lessened to a drizzle as we set up our bikes and put or wetsuits on.
It took longer than we thought to get registered and get settled. So as soon as we were down in the water they announced that it was time to start. So much for warming up and getting used to the water!
Every time I tried to dip my face in the water it felt like I was dunking my head in a bucket of ice water. The water must have been 50 degrees. I’d put my face in instinctively suck in cold water.
My goggles were deeply tinted for swimming outdoors in the sun. The contrast of temperatures would make them fog instantly. It was unnerving to not be able to see.
It was the longest hour and five minutes of my life. I side stroked and back stroked most of it. Swimming from kayak to kayak. By the end I had been in the water so long I had my own personal kayak escort. I wasn’t the only one. I saw a few people get pulled from the water next to me which I think only added to my nerves.
But I eventually made it and survived. I was really happy when my feet touched the mud.
As I exited the water, the world started spinning. I got really light headed. I’m not sure if it was from being in the cold so long, or just craning my neck for so long, but I sat down on the ramp to avoid passing out.
I was happy to get on the bike.
The bike was amazing. Through beautiful country roads, up to Horsetooth reservoir then back down to Loveland.
The only challenge on the bike were the freezing toes. Especially on the downhill, and there were some great downhills where you were just flying. But everything was so wet and cold that my toes were just numb from cold.
I stopped halfway and took off my soaking wet socks hoping that would help. I’m not sure if it did. I kept thinking that if I finish this bike I have nice warm socks waiting for me.
It took a few miles on the run for my feet to regain feeling. Then there is the burning feeling when something that was numb starts to “un numb”.
The run was the best part. I was happy I was able to hit my target pace the first few miles, then even pick up the pace the last few miles. Everybody was so nice as we would pass each other we would say “good job”. I was also happy to see the finish line.
After that we ate breakfast burritos in the cafeteria and then awards and home. Brian won 3rd place in his division.
It was a day to remember.
