But I didn't finish last

For those of you that didn't know, I did my first triathlon this past Saturday. For those of you that did know I was going to do it, it happened this past Saturday. I'm pretty sure that those who did know about it and those that are just hearing were/are thinking something along the lines of "Geez, is Adam crazy? Has he looked at himself in the mirror lately. There is no way he will be able to do something like that!" Well you know what, you were right. However I did it anyway.

Let me take you back to the beginning of how I ended up in the predicament. It was just over a month ago, while Cristina and I were in Guatemala. I had some emails from a few of my best friends, whom I know at the time were planning on doing the tri. These emails came in good fun, yet with some mild mockery and gentle encouragement. They said things such as "come on Adam, lets not be tri virgins anymore" and "if you don't do this Adam, you will be the only one of our relay team (from high school swimming) not in it." A part of me wanted to jump on board and say yes right away, but the butterfly's in my stomach, just from the thought of it were screaming NO! I don't own a bike of any sort, so I told them that if they could find me a bike, I would do it. I knew there was a possibility of them finding me one, but there was the same chance that they wouldn't. Thanks to Ryan I was no longer without bike. His dad had one that might be considered an older style road bike that he said I could use. At that point I had to enter, even though my gut was still screaming NO don't do it, it's a trick! Needless to say, I signed up. The second I signed up I thought "Oh crap, I need to start training. I only have 4 weeks to get ready for this."

The tri consisted of a 750 meter (820 yards) open water swim, 20 km (about 13 miles) bike ride and a 5 km (just over 3 miles) run. For me, the swim was the least of my worries. Swimming has always come natural to me, once I realized that I wasn't scared of it. 820 yards, even in open water (Jordanelle reservoir) is nothing to me. It was the bike and run that terrified me. I don't think I have been on a bike since the middle of my mission. So that's about 11 years ago. And running, my philosophy is why run when you can drive. I hate running! Other than playing soccer a few years ago, I haven't ran for any significant distance or time since 2003 when I was still in the Marines, and for those 8 years I hated the running and wasn't even good at it then. 4 weeks is not long enough to get in enough good training for this, but I did my best.

I'm pretty sure a lot of you reading this are thinking that I'm a wuss and this doesn't really sound that hard. Well you're right, I am a wuss and it shouldn't be as hard as I am making it out to be.

The first 3 weeks of training went rather well. I was consistently increasing my distance on the run as the pain slowly decreased from sitting on a bike. Then came the week before the race. I'm not quite sure what happened. My body started aching constantly, I couldn't eat and my sleeping was almost nil. I couldn't do anything. Come to find out I was so stressed about this stupid race that I was causing all these problems myself.

It's race day and I'm standing at the edge of the 70 degree lake, shaking. Not because the lake is freezing but because I've scared myself to that point. I jump in the water... now I'm shaking because the water is so cold, but my nerves leave almost instantly.

When I signed up, I had 3 goals in mind. 1st, to just finish. B, to not finish last and 3rd, to beat one of my friends. 2 out of 3 isn't bad. On the swim, I was one of the first 20 or so out of the water in my age group. Beating one of my friends out of the water by about 2 minutes. Then came the bike. About 2 miles into the bike my buddy passed me and I didn't see him again until the end. The course was what they called a "false flat". It looked flat but if I stopped peddling I would slow down. That went on for about 8 miles, but the last 5 was pretty much down hill. A nice rest to get ready for the run. It turns out that I can walk 3 miles. OK, so I didn't walk all of it but I did walk some. Which I didn't feel to bad about since there were quite a few people walking. As I crossed the finish line, it was a great feeling. I had just accomplished something that I figured I would probably never do, even though I really wanted to. I didn't win the race but I didn't finish last either.

I have to thank my good friends Ryan, Nate and Clyde for talking me into this. Among all the naysayers who had bets against me, they always boosted my confidence and helped me finish. And for Cristina and my Aunt Jody for coming out to watch and support all of us in this. Sure it was hard but I can see myself doing it again next year.