Lifetime Fitness Triathlon 2006: Part I

I woke up at 5:45 a.m. nervous. I had not slept well; only getting about 5 hours of actual rest. Within the first few moments of consciousness my mind was already racing with anxiety. I rolled out of bed, turned off the blaring alarm and headed to the shower. Standing there, as the water streamed off my scalp, I began to go through the various stages of the event. I eventually got to task; washing my hair, shaving my chest, and scrubbing my face. Once clean I rinsed and got out. As I stood there soaking wet and starring into the mirror as I brushed my teeth I noticed my left eye twitching in response to my lack of sleep. Before I left the bathroom I bit a piece of plastic off a dental floss cartridge and began to chew on it.

Meanwhile my girlfriend had also woken up and started to prepare breakfast for me while I got dress. The night before I made my request; two eggs sunny side up, a piece of crispy toast with butter, a banana, topped off with a large glass of orange juice. I could smell the eggs sizzling on the frying pan as I slipped into spandex shorts and top; not the most fashionable of outfits. Once dressed, I brought my bike, bag, and other equipment out into the living room to check one last time. I had packed almost two of everything; goggles, running shoes, sets of socks, shammies, power bar, water bottles, cliff bars. As I inspected my equipment and ate my breakfast my girlfriend turned on the morning news. The high for the day was to top out at one-hundred and five degrees with eighty percent humidity, there were to be no clouds in sight.

It was now 6:15 a.m. and Darian and just called to inform me he was waiting downstairs. He had ridden over from his girlfriend’s apartment, a mile away from mine. Our plan was to be ready to ride over to the staging area at Lake Nokomis by 6:30 a.m. By the time I finished eating and inspecting my bike and gear it was 6:30 a.m.; I was holding us up. Darian sat there as patiently as he could knowing that in two and a half hours it was go time. It was 6:40 a.m. before we were on the road cycling over to Lake Nokomis. We thought it would be a good idea to ride over to the site, which was about 4 miles from my apartment, as a way to loosen up. We carried our duffle bags on our shoulders, which slowed us down, and did not arrive at the staging area until 7:05 a.m. We only had twenty-five minutes to register, get our markings, rack our bikes, and lay out our equipment.

The lines were horrendously long in every direction. There were people, bikes, vendors, and security officers everywhere. The registration line was the shortest so we maneuvered ourselves into position and waited. After ten minutes we received our packets, number, and ankle chip. With only fifteen minutes left before the staging area was closed we found row and racked our bikes. Each participate was given a number, a corresponding row, and balloon to follow; ours was Nemo. I laid out my shoes and socks, attached my race number to my race belt, grabbed a cliff bar, and made sure each of my five water bottles were still full. I was wearing glasses but had to leave them in the staging area and rely on my prescription goggles from there on out.

After wrestling my way through hordes of people and bikes I made my way over to the marking area. The lines were still long so again we waited. All the while, there were announcements and sponsorship events going on. The sound of helicopters filled the air as the time passed by. It was now 7:45 a.m. and the professional athletes were to start in fifteen minutes. Over the loud speaker the event MC came on to inform us that due to the weather and expected heat levels the Olympic Course would be shortened. The swim would still be one mile, the bike would move down to twenty-two miles, and the run would by cut in half to a 5k. The adjustment was only made to amateur racers; the professionals and elite-amateurs would solider on. I had been training for six months for an Olympic Course Triathlon; the change did not make me happy.

Following the announcement and our branding of the numbers on our shoulders and calves Darian and I tried to find water and some empty porta-potties. I had to take a shit. I did not think it such a good idea to go through the entire race having not pitched a loaf. So once a porta-potty opened I did what I needed to do and got out of that foul confinement. It was nearly 8:00 a.m. and the professional women were to take off soon. Darian and I headed over to the beach to watch them start. A few minutes later the professional men took off. All in all there were forty-four professionals and nearly all of the top ten world ranking triathletes.

It would not be for another forty-five minutes before Darian and I had to start our race, so we found a patch of sand and began to stretch. Every five minutes or so, a new wave of triathletes would be released into the water to commence their race. The race start times were staggered so as to allow for the race path not to be over crowded. As I stretched I again went through the steps I would soon take. All the while I was still chewing on the piece of plastic. With fifteen minutes left before we were to hit the water Darian and I began to do laps with the other racers in a bay off to the side of the race start. I would swim out into the murky water with my head down trying to get a feel for swimming with a wet spandex jersey on. The water was not terribly cold; it had been in the high nineties and low one-hundreds for the past two weeks. With five minutes left Darian and I got in our respective lines and waited.

As I stood in line my stomach was turning knots. Not only was my stomach in knots my thumb on my right hand started to tingle. I started to chew the piece of plastic faster, as well as tap my hands against my leg. It had been six months of hard training and the day was not only here, but I was standing mere feet from the starting point. My start time was 9:03. At 9:00 I was still chewing the piece of plastic. At 9:01 I had spit out the piece of plastic and was snapping my fingers. At 9:02 I was starring at the arms coming up and out of the lake ahead of me. At 9:03 I was off…