ALUMINIUM MAN TRIATHLON, September 10, 2005

Foundation

Sandwich

Good

Pretty Good - Relaxed

4 - Very Physically Charged

4 - Very Mentally Charged

Music, Friends/Family, Focus on Race

Excerpt from my 2004 race summary- “the winds kick up to 15-25 knots, and whitecaps are cresting in the opposite direction… . In the first 100m, I must’ve drank about a half liter of water. It was impossible to time your breaths between waves. Spotting the buoys above the waves was tough, too- most of us were doing the prairie dog pop-up, to keep from veering back into the seaweed, or too far out to sea.”

Forecast for 9:00AM on Saturday morning was: Showers and 58 degrees, wind 8-10 mph.

Making the trip with me to The Dalles this year are Tara Brouwer and Diane Myer. Diane made a long journey, coming all the way from Atlanta to visit with Tara and race. Tami from my work would also be competing in her second Aluminum Man, and Dan would again offer his support (and his bike for Diane! Thank you!!)- all together, we had a happy group of 5 people out on the riverside park.

We all went into the morning with a little trepidation, but lucked out with cloudy skies, perfect calm, warm water, with light wind. Tara and Diane were the polar bear twins on the shore, matching swimsuits, and two of just three in their 55 person wave to brave the waters without a wetsuit (thus “Polar Bear Club”).

My first beach start, and with thigh deep water 50 meters out, taller folks had the advantage of running half way to the first buoy. The swim went quickly, and I was careful not to impale my foot again on the shallow rocks.

Due to continued wetsuit changing issues, there were a dozen men that transitioned faster than me and were out in front on the bike.

Out on the course, I slowly ate up pavement and wheels in front of me, playing cat and mouse with a guy wearing nothing but bright, bright, lime-green shorts. (Then again, as I have recently purchased a one-piece tri suit that is yellow and black, I have recently become “The Bumblebee”... people later said that I made “a great target” for them to catch up to...)

Focused now, the race has become a match up of “Lime Shorts” vs “The Bumblebee”... I had strength on the hills, he had strength on the flats. Passed one another 3 times. Out 7 miles, I saw 7 people coming back from the turnaround ahead of me... and I decided to not let Lime Shorts be the 8th. I buzzed past him (pun heavily intended), and headed back towards home.

Up the hills, down the hill, few girls on the bikes now (they started 5 minutes later) up the hill, hello to Tami, down the hill... hello to Tara, back to the flats, head down (missed Diane)... feeling good... feeling strong... and who comes flying past me? Lime Shorts! Dammit!

I kept him within about 10 seconds of me, but with flats leading us back into transition, and running at my red-line, and couldn’t catch up.

Last year, I almost fell over getting off my bike. This year, I unclipped my right foot gracefully, slipped my leg over my bike, and glided in gracefully on my left foot, ready to unclip at the line... and... unclip.... nnnow! Nnnnnooo... ahhhhh it’s stuck! Panic! Tipping over! Ahhh!!! (clip)... whew...

There’s Lime Shorts! Quick! Change... shoes on. Skip the Gu. Go Go Go...

Dan: “Great job Chris! 6th place is two minutes ahead, 7th is 30 seconds!” Two minutes... well, that’s unlikely. But 30 seconds? To catch Lime Shorts? Time to unzip Bumblebee’s top and get to work.

In the first half mile, I closed the gap to about 15 seconds, but couldn’t close the rest. I gave up another 5 seconds as I grabbed some water, and walked around the turnaround... to a surprising fact... I had about 6 guys staring me down, all within 5 to 30 seconds of me. The hunter becomes the hunted! And I’m wearing a ridiculous bumblebee outfit to fuel their fire!!

So I take off, trying to focus on catching Lime Shorts. But the footsteps are behind me. And let me tell you, there is nothing more frustrating than hearing those steps... knowing that you’re going to be passed. As he pulls alongside me, I decided to try to run with him... for about 10 steps… realizing that’s not going to happen... and dropped back into my pace. He goes on ahead, and passes Lime Shorts the way I had hoped to...

So I’m sitting there, a half dozen guys on my heels, a guy 20 seconds ahead, knowing that I’m in 9th place... and my thought process is this:

Bumblebee: “There’s a half mile to go. I’m not going to win this race, and I’m not going to be in the top three. Shoot, I may not even medal in my age group with that many people in front of me. But there’s one thing I AM going to do one thing before I finish- I’m going to beat THAT guy.”

Lime Shorts no longer has a runner behind him... he has torpedo after him. A quarter mile later, with a quarter mile to go, he has the sound of my footsteps from behind. I fall in behind him for a few steps, wait for oncoming traffic to clear, then sprint past. A couple hundred yards later, I glance over my shoulder, and see no one. My legs spent, I cruised down the hill to the finish line.

All smiles and congratulations at the finish, to Lime Shorts, to the guy that passed us both, to the winner, and to the 16 year old prodigy that almost won the whole thing.

Back in the transition, I quickly changed and grabbed my camera, with Tara and Diane coming in from the bike leg. Tara took off from T2 like a rocket. Diane was in a couple minutes later, and back out with a smile. As I’m walking out of transition, Tami comes walking in, after turning in an unreal time on her run, passing 11 women to finish in 2nd place. Back at the finish, Dan helped me photograph Tara and Diane sprinting towards the finish. We even got the announcer to say, “All the way from Atlanta, Georgia- Diane Myer!”

5 - Completely Overachieved

After the race, we headed back to Hood River for lunch, then toured the Columbia Gorge scenic highway to show Diane the falls.

The next triathlon I’m looking at is Black Diamond, east of Tacoma, Sept 25th. Last one of the season, as the full season kicks off for kickball and volleyball.

Hope you all have had a great summer!

Absolutely!

Awesome

Good