My First Triathlon

I can't believe I've never done a triathlon before. I like swimming and biking and running. Hmm wonder why I never did one before. Well I like swimming in warm water, the Caribbean, further south like off of Mexico or Nicaragua, the Mediterranean, but not the cold waters off of our coast. (I did happen to get a wetsuit yesterday, at a huge discount. It was worth every penny of it, believe me) I like biking, as in mountain biking. I bought my first road bike, used from Craig's List a few weeks ago, but it needs to go to the shop for a few adjustments, very neccessary adjustments. So I really don't have a clue when it comes to road bike racing, even though I do like the Tour de France, if I have a DVR that is, I couldn't watch it otherwise .And running, I mostly run to stay in shape, in fact besides the various races I've been doing I haven't run for weeks. I enjoy it to a point but I certainly don't see myself as a runner.

Oh, so that's why I've never done a triathlon before This one, The 2008 Arrowhead Day at the Beach Triathlon, was a pretty short and easy one, ideal for one's first Tri. And weighing in at 207lbs, and being over 40 and riding on a mountain bike put me in a comfortable start wave.

The swim was only a quarter mile but the 60 degree water made it seem much longer. The bike portion consisted of three laps to equal 10 miles and this is where I got passed like I was sitting still. My mountain bike with dual suspension and fat nobby tires was really slowing me down.
My feet were numb for the first 2 miles out of the 3 miles we had to run. And my time showed it. But all in all, it was a great experience. I came in with a respectable 1:21:57. Not bad for an over the hill Clydesdale. Big thanks to friends Melisa and Tyler Patton for getting me to do this race and hurray and congrats to them running it as well.



This shirt does make me look fat. But it is time to slim down and all before the holiday season rolls in.




Tyler Patton, fellow racer, at times co-woker, and friend all the way back to highschool.




Yes, I love you too, Ty.