So the story goes: triathlons are hard. I did not expect to be in so much pain. My knees and ankles stopped being able to take running after mile 6 of the 1/2 marathon portion of the race. I wanted to run the entire way, mostly because i was ready to be finished and I felt like I had the energy to run, it just hurt too much to do it. I walked 7 miles to finish. The bike ride kicked my ass much more than I thought it would. As usual there was a fierce headwind from the north that you had to fight on the way out to the Pigeon Point light house. I have never been so happy to turn around and go the way I came as I was when we turned around at mile 25 of the bike course and started coming back to Santa Cruz. Tailwinds are magnificent. The swim was my favorite part. I did the 1.3 miles in 37 minutes. That felt smooth and relaxed and fun. We had a beautiful sunrise and calm glassy conditions. I felt like a was in an easy rhythm and my breath was really comfortable. I am considering doing more open water swims in the future.
I have to give props to every volunteer and member of the Ironman
organization. The vibe and energy during the entire event was so warm, welcoming and supportive it made being a RANK armature easy. The vibe among participants was equally warm and supportive. It's a good group of crazy mother fuckers who do this shit.
Take home lesson: If a 40 year old dad with no prior triathlon experience, who had never run more than 6 miles in his life, had ad hock training with no coaching or training partners, and who had to deal with a cold and injury close to the event can do a hard thing, dear reader SO CAN YOU. So if your on the fence about the hard thing you been thinking of, just go try it.
im looking at you Dave
I just made the 8 hr cut off.