We arrive at Compo Beach in Westport, Connecticut at 6:20am. Lots of early morning action. Fellow competitors pulling gear out of the backs of their cars. Everyone stretching and suiting up. Sign-in at the registration tent. The atmosphere was calm with a pervasive background buzz.
I had to mount a new tire right before the race because I had blown the one the night before - bad luck. With the organizers shouting instructions over a loudspeaker, we strapped on our timing chips, set up our bikes in the transition area, zipped up our wet suits and began a parade with 200 other competitors down the beach to the swim start. Spectators joined the 7:30am parade toward the sun rising over the Sound, cheering us on. We all waded out along the breakwater, with our fluorescent green swim caps on, nervous laughter, a little quiet chatter, and lined up for a straight half mile swim along the crescent shaped beach. The wind was calm and the water flat.
The swim went well. I was jostled and pawed a bit in the beginning but ultimately the 27th man out of the water. As I tore off my wetsuit, I ran to the transition area I had carefully set up, rinsed the sand off in a footbath, toweled down and sneakered up quickly.
Glasses and helmet on, I pulled the bike over and started to trot it out of the area. But the back tire wasn't rolling. I looked down and there was a quarter-sized bubble of inner tube escaping from a gap between the tire and the rim. I had done a less than spectacular job remounting the tire on the rim that morning and now I was to pay. Within seconds the escaped bulge of tube filled with high pressure air and exploded, the gunshot-like sound ringing out over the spectators lined up opposite the transition area. A small "Ooooh" escaped a group of them. I stood there momentarily frozen, thinking I was done for the day.
As I lifted my head, another competitor looked over and asked "Do you need a spare tube?" I thought to myself: No, it's all over, then looked up at him and said "Yes". He reached in his saddle pack and threw me his spare. What a guy!
It took me 10-15 minutes to change that tire and get back on the course. The short bike ride went well, with some of my slower fellow riders cheering me as I sped by them. The run was gruesome and slow, with some walking early on, but again, a little chatter here and there with fellow runners, some seemingly struggling even more than I was. I found one woman running with her coach, who provided her a constant stream of encouragement and updates on course position. Their pace was just a little more than I could handle but I decided to push and see if I could hang on to them into the finish.
Crossing the finish line and seeing Karen and the boys there, friends and their families, crowds of spectators, sensing the camaraderie of competitors, and the gorgeous morning all added up to an exhilarating experience unlike anything I had ever had before.
Maybe it was right then I knew I wanted to do that again, but with perhaps a little more preparation under my belt. Over the next few days, I realized, although I had done some "preparing" before, going forward, there would be "training".
Part 4 on beginning training in a few days. Thanks for reading and in the mean time, if you are able, please visit my American Cancer Society fund raising web 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 thanks to the friends who have contributed already we've achieved over 90% of goal so far! Thank you!
I had to mount a new tire right before the race because I had blown the one the night before - bad luck. With the organizers shouting instructions over a loudspeaker, we strapped on our timing chips, set up our bikes in the transition area, zipped up our wet suits and began a parade with 200 other competitors down the beach to the swim start. Spectators joined the 7:30am parade toward the sun rising over the Sound, cheering us on. We all waded out along the breakwater, with our fluorescent green swim caps on, nervous laughter, a little quiet chatter, and lined up for a straight half mile swim along the crescent shaped beach. The wind was calm and the water flat.
The swim went well. I was jostled and pawed a bit in the beginning but ultimately the 27th man out of the water. As I tore off my wetsuit, I ran to the transition area I had carefully set up, rinsed the sand off in a footbath, toweled down and sneakered up quickly.
Glasses and helmet on, I pulled the bike over and started to trot it out of the area. But the back tire wasn't rolling. I looked down and there was a quarter-sized bubble of inner tube escaping from a gap between the tire and the rim. I had done a less than spectacular job remounting the tire on the rim that morning and now I was to pay. Within seconds the escaped bulge of tube filled with high pressure air and exploded, the gunshot-like sound ringing out over the spectators lined up opposite the transition area. A small "Ooooh" escaped a group of them. I stood there momentarily frozen, thinking I was done for the day.
As I lifted my head, another competitor looked over and asked "Do you need a spare tube?" I thought to myself: No, it's all over, then looked up at him and said "Yes". He reached in his saddle pack and threw me his spare. What a guy!
It took me 10-15 minutes to change that tire and get back on the course. The short bike ride went well, with some of my slower fellow riders cheering me as I sped by them. The run was gruesome and slow, with some walking early on, but again, a little chatter here and there with fellow runners, some seemingly struggling even more than I was. I found one woman running with her coach, who provided her a constant stream of encouragement and updates on course position. Their pace was just a little more than I could handle but I decided to push and see if I could hang on to them into the finish.
Crossing the finish line and seeing Karen and the boys there, friends and their families, crowds of spectators, sensing the camaraderie of competitors, and the gorgeous morning all added up to an exhilarating experience unlike anything I had ever had before.
Maybe it was right then I knew I wanted to do that again, but with perhaps a little more preparation under my belt. Over the next few days, I realized, although I had done some "preparing" before, going forward, there would be "training".
Part 4 on beginning training in a few days. Thanks for reading and in the mean time, if you are able, please visit my American Cancer Society fund raising web 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 thanks to the friends who have contributed already we've achieved over 90% of goal so far! Thank you!
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