The alarm began to wail at 2:45am. It was July 27, 2013 and I was in an expensive yet crappy Quality Inn in Sonoma County, California. I had no right to be there. What was I thinking? Why was I waking up at this ungodly hour to prepare for the 2013 Vineman Full Triathlon – a triathlon the same length as an Ironman (2.4 Mile Swim/112 Mile Bike/26.2 Mile Marathon)?
This day would be my first attempt at a Full triathlon in 3 years, and I didn’t feel prepared. Before the race I faced a damaging bike crash, an airliner crash (Asiana) which completely disrupted my training for 3 weeks before the race, a marriage (and all that entails), commuting between 3 cities, a back that got out of alignment 4 days before the start requiring visits to a chiropractor, moving from Vancouver to San Francisco/Las Vegas, pools that were closed, pools that were so crowded my hour-long swims turned into 15 minutes, rain, snow, sore feet, and runs uphill both ways. Did I really think I had a snowball’s chance in hell of finishing one of the toughest endurance races on the planet and one known for a challenging bike course?
I had no chance… or did I?
Surprisingly, I slept well the night before the race. I didn’t get to sleep until 9pm, but My Wife didn’t sleep at all (for some reason, she took over the nervous-can’t-sleep-before-a-race role). She was already flipping channels on the TV when I awoke at 2:45am to begin my preparations for what looked like a very long day ahead. I may be attempting an Iron-Length triathlon at Vineman, but I’m not one of the fast people. I knew it was going to take somewhere between 14 to 16 hours to finish – if I finished at all. I began my rituals – putting on my already-arranged clothing, HR monitor, hat, socks, compression sleeves, Garmin watch, Timex Watch, consuming my vitamins, drinking breakfast (a pre-made shake of blueberries, whey protein, dark chocolate almond milk, egg, cottage cheese, greek yogurt, and banana), and slipping on my slippers.
No shoes? Nope. Since Vineman has separate T1 and T2 transitions, I left my shoes at T2 the previous day. Now, most people probably have more than one pair of shoes, and I certainly do – only my second pair are dress shoes, and those shoes just plain don’t go with triathlon shorts. So, I was reduced to wearing my flip-flops in the morning.
After finishing my morning routine, carrying the bicycle downstairs and latching it to the car in the dark, checking out, and asking, “Did we forget anything?” about 15 times, we left for the most dreaded part of the triathlon: The Swim.
I wasn’t ready, I hadn’t practiced swimming enough and I suck at it. My entire day could be over in just a couple of hours. After weeks, months, even a year of training – I could fail in the first two hours.
Next… The Swim
