Dennis's Amusements: The Ironman wannabe

On May 4th, I entered the St. George triathlon as a super underdog to come out on top. By all assumptions, I guess I did not really compete for the coveted top overall finisher prize for the US National Pro Championships. But, that was okay, because I was just excited to be able to be in the race. I think it was due to the novel experience for me of my first time entering an "Ironman." This triathlon was a Half Ironman which is 1.2 miles swim, 56 miles bike and 13.1 miles run. Don was supposed to do it with me, but he did not register in time.

So, I ended up doing this triathlon all by my lonesome...with another 2167 athletes. My overall time was a lethargic 6:26:26. My swim time was 38:34. The bike time was 3:19:47. And, the run time was 2:17:07. I felt I did well on the swim, okay on the bike, but horrible on the run. I was expecting to come in under 6 hours, but I guess it was okay for having done a 30-mile run race the weekend before. In hind sight, had I been smart or at least thinking straight, I would not have signed up for the run race because I really wanted to do well on this, my first Ironman. On a positive note, though, the race was so awesome and fun. I would love to do another. I ended up coming in 1183rd place overall.

Coming out of the water

The hard part with the swim is the mere fact of quantity. With nearly 100 people starting at the same time, you are always jockeying for position and it is hard to get into a rhythm. Pool swimming is so much easier and calmer because you're not fighting against other people. The wet suit makes you more buoyant so you use less energy in that regards and it makes you a little faster because you are more streamlined. However, I prefer the sleeveless because it frees up your arms a little more. It took me until about halfway through the swim to finally get into a rhythm so I felt I could have gone faster and done better, but I was okay with it because I came out of the water feeling good and not sick. My motion sickness wasn't a factor this day...yay

I had the energy on the bike but not the power or the speed. As seen in the picture, I do not have a time trial bike. So, when I top out at 40 mph down a mountain, other people are flying by me like I'm standing still. It's the same thing on the flats. Really the only time I passed people up was on the climbs, which weren't a whole lot. The time trial bikes are designed differently to allow you to use your quads more and not sitting up straight as much. You're positioned differently to get more speed. Overall, I did about a mile per 4 minutes which isn't too bad and averages out to only 17 miles per hour. I should have been around 21-22 mph, but on this type of course, it was respectable

I came out on the run and did good for about, oh, the first quarter mile. I felt I had the energy, but then I soon realized my lower legs were shut down. They were so tight because of the run race from the week before. All I could muster was a speed walk for the first 4 miles. The legs finally loosened up enough to do a slower run for the next 4 miles. I was finally able to get my pace down to the 7 minute/mile for only the last 5 miles. Funny, I felt the best on the run at the end. In fact, the last 1.5 miles, I probably passed up nearly 100 people after finally being able to kick it in gear. Lesson learned...don't sign up for another event a week before the prime event.

Something cool, awesome and inspiring was that I encountered a gentleman doing the tri who did the run portion in his fireman gear. It was amazing. He must have been so extremely hot, but to see him carrying all his fireman gear and to be decked out in the uniform was pretty awesome and inspiring. He won a lot of people's admiration and was saluted by nearly everyone I saw. Way to go!