The Good
The alarm sounded at 4:20a.m. The old people stir. I mean Jan and I wake up. Coffee, god where is the damn coffee! I look out the window and by 4:45 people are already walking to transition for body marking and dropping off bags. We leave around 5am. How many triathletes can fit in an elevator? This should be on a math test;
"If you have an 8x8 elevator, that can hold 2,000 pounds, and it is race morning, each athlete weighs an average of 160 pounds, but, it is race morning, the hell with the 2,000 pounds, how many can squeeze in?"
Answer - Get me out of here, I don't like elevators, especially a crowded one that smells like ointment!
Jan checks her bike in transition and meets other tri people. I wait patiently for her to come out, since the swim start is 3/4 mile away and it is first there, first in the water, not a mass start since they changed the course. Well, maybe I wasn't too patient. Finally we start the long walk. The girls join us. Jan gets in line, a long serpentine line. But, many, many athletes join her and the line continues. The officials say everyone will be in the water within 30 minutes, jumping off the dock one at a time. This is not possible. I say an hour. Augie and his son Jeff arrive. That helps calm Jan, and me.
The pros start at 6:50, a mass start of about 50-60 athletes. At 6:55 the amateurs begin, crossing the timing mat and gently nudged by an official, one swimmer jumps too the left, one in the middle, one to the right. The official is moving them fast. The athletes either jump in, holding their nose, or dive in. This is moving quickly. These guys know what they are doing. Once again I am amazed by the volunteers and the race organizers. You know some of them, many, were up all night and/or started very early in the morning. By 7:27 everyone is in the water! Wow.
We all head down to the finish line and wait. Jan comes out of the water, a 1:22, 2.4 mile swim. Nice, very nice. About 8 minutes faster than we expected. We learn later she is in 27th place in her age group out of 76. Not too shabby.
Onto transition and the bike.
"If you have an 8x8 elevator, that can hold 2,000 pounds, and it is race morning, each athlete weighs an average of 160 pounds, but, it is race morning, the hell with the 2,000 pounds, how many can squeeze in?"
Answer - Get me out of here, I don't like elevators, especially a crowded one that smells like ointment!
Jan checks her bike in transition and meets other tri people. I wait patiently for her to come out, since the swim start is 3/4 mile away and it is first there, first in the water, not a mass start since they changed the course. Well, maybe I wasn't too patient. Finally we start the long walk. The girls join us. Jan gets in line, a long serpentine line. But, many, many athletes join her and the line continues. The officials say everyone will be in the water within 30 minutes, jumping off the dock one at a time. This is not possible. I say an hour. Augie and his son Jeff arrive. That helps calm Jan, and me.
The pros start at 6:50, a mass start of about 50-60 athletes. At 6:55 the amateurs begin, crossing the timing mat and gently nudged by an official, one swimmer jumps too the left, one in the middle, one to the right. The official is moving them fast. The athletes either jump in, holding their nose, or dive in. This is moving quickly. These guys know what they are doing. Once again I am amazed by the volunteers and the race organizers. You know some of them, many, were up all night and/or started very early in the morning. By 7:27 everyone is in the water! Wow.
We all head down to the finish line and wait. Jan comes out of the water, a 1:22, 2.4 mile swim. Nice, very nice. About 8 minutes faster than we expected. We learn later she is in 27th place in her age group out of 76. Not too shabby.
Onto transition and the bike.
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