Right around that time, September, 2010, I agreed to a bet with Matt and another friend, Nick, to compete in a Mini Triathlon in Westport, Connecticut. I would never have agreed to this, except I learned that it was only a 1/2 mile swim, a 5.5 mile bike ride and a 2.2 mile run. I figured even I could complete that event, and I had already prepared for the Lighthouse Race, so what the hell. I also figured that most triathletes hate the swimming part, and since that would be my strongest part, I might be able to gain some advantage there.
With two weeks to go, I had plenty of time to grab the bike out of the garage, dust it off, maybe get the local bike shop to give it a once-over. Hell, I even had time to go for a few rides. I had always loved to ride and I had a decent aluminum consumer model road bike. It even had over-the-toe clips on it. I was set for the bike.
I felt confident about the swim. In the open water race over Labor Day, I saw a lot of people wearing wetsuits. I decided I wanted the extra flotation advantage and bought a wetsuit on the Internet. I had done some windsurfing wetsuits before, but I had never swum for speed or distance in one.
I didn't have time to do any running but my expectations were already low for that part of the event. Adopting a realistic outlook, I told anyone who asked that I expected to do well in my age group in the water, get trounced on the bike, and left for dead on the run. My objective was to finish and have a little fun.
I did little additional preparation with one exception. Matt, Nick and I did a run through of the event at its Compo Beach location one week before. It was a chilly, blustery day with about 15 knots of breeze blowing on shore, kicking up two to three foot waves. We swam the straight, half-mile course along the crescent shaped beach. I hung back a little so we could all stay together for safety. I knew Matt was a strong swimmer but Nick had only recently been working on his swim at the Y. We got out of the water freezing, laughing and running up to the cars to towel off.
Then we rode the bike course. Now it was Matt and Nick, both more experienced riders than me, who hung back a bit so they didn't lose me. But when we hit the first little climb and they dropped me like I was standing still. Oooph. Later, Nick generously said that it was probably mostly technique that allowed them to climb away from me so easily, and I'm sure he's right. But I was also sure that at 220 pounds, I had a lot more to carry up that incline than they did.
We cleverly decided to skip the run and go for breakfast instead.
The event day came. I picked up Matt at his house at 6am. We piled his bike and other gear into the car. My wife, Karen, and the boys would come later to watch.
I'll post Part 3: Event Day, in a few more days.
Thanks for reading and in the mean time, if you haven't yet, please visit my American Cancer Society fund raising site: http://main.acsevents.org/goto/pmeese, click the RED "DONATE" BUTTON and make a small contribution in support of my entry in The NYC Triathlon. I need your contribution to attain my personal fund raising goal of $3,000 and a BIG THANK YOU to the friends who have contributed already.
With two weeks to go, I had plenty of time to grab the bike out of the garage, dust it off, maybe get the local bike shop to give it a once-over. Hell, I even had time to go for a few rides. I had always loved to ride and I had a decent aluminum consumer model road bike. It even had over-the-toe clips on it. I was set for the bike.
I felt confident about the swim. In the open water race over Labor Day, I saw a lot of people wearing wetsuits. I decided I wanted the extra flotation advantage and bought a wetsuit on the Internet. I had done some windsurfing wetsuits before, but I had never swum for speed or distance in one.
I didn't have time to do any running but my expectations were already low for that part of the event. Adopting a realistic outlook, I told anyone who asked that I expected to do well in my age group in the water, get trounced on the bike, and left for dead on the run. My objective was to finish and have a little fun.
I did little additional preparation with one exception. Matt, Nick and I did a run through of the event at its Compo Beach location one week before. It was a chilly, blustery day with about 15 knots of breeze blowing on shore, kicking up two to three foot waves. We swam the straight, half-mile course along the crescent shaped beach. I hung back a little so we could all stay together for safety. I knew Matt was a strong swimmer but Nick had only recently been working on his swim at the Y. We got out of the water freezing, laughing and running up to the cars to towel off.
Then we rode the bike course. Now it was Matt and Nick, both more experienced riders than me, who hung back a bit so they didn't lose me. But when we hit the first little climb and they dropped me like I was standing still. Oooph. Later, Nick generously said that it was probably mostly technique that allowed them to climb away from me so easily, and I'm sure he's right. But I was also sure that at 220 pounds, I had a lot more to carry up that incline than they did.
We cleverly decided to skip the run and go for breakfast instead.
The event day came. I picked up Matt at his house at 6am. We piled his bike and other gear into the car. My wife, Karen, and the boys would come later to watch.
I'll post Part 3: Event Day, in a few more days.
Thanks for reading and in the mean time, if you haven't yet, please visit my American Cancer Society fund raising site: http://main.acsevents.org/goto/pmeese, click the RED "DONATE" BUTTON and make a small contribution in support of my entry in The NYC Triathlon. I need your contribution to attain my personal fund raising goal of $3,000 and a BIG THANK YOU to the friends who have contributed already.
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