Triathlon is over

Well the triathlon was last Sunday, and I am glad it is finally over.

The weather was perfect. It was a beautiful day with little wind, calm seas, and plenty of sunshine. We got there in the pre-dawn to rack the bikes and prep our gear bags.

We were organized into waves, based on our age, weight, and celebrity status. I was in wave 5, which was 35 to 39 years-old, physically-abled, thin, non-celebrity men without disabilities riding road bikes. (no joke) There were dozens of categories, including larger men and women (aka Clydesdales and Athenas).

We watched the start, first the serious competitors in wave 1, and then celebs in wave 2. I didn't recognize any of the celebs, but, earlier I had seen a guy who played the young soldier in the movie Screamers. Apparently, Jon Cryer did really well in the race.

In my signup kit, they'd given me a silly yellow bathing cap, which I, being a hater of gearheads, did not wear. I found out later that it was mandatory, but, they let me swim anyway. I choked the swim, panicking about half-way through and ended up dog-paddling a huge section of the swim. I really am phobic about the water. I'm not exaggerating. It is not water exactly, because I have no problem with pools, snorkling, body-boarding. Specifically, I am terrified of being in salt water beyond the break without a board. I have this terrible feeling I'm going to be swept out to sea. And sharks. And octopi. And ghost pirates.

The bike was awesome, up and down the rolling hills of PCH. They'd blocked off two of four lanes for the race, and it was great to be able to blast through Malibu without having to fight the traffic. I'd ridden my fixie, because I thought the course would be flatter than it actually was.

I didn't have much left at the run, and ended up with a very poor pace, walking in spots.

Here are the stats:
Swim: 21m 51s for 1/2 mile. Or 43m / mile. I came in #1405th place out of about 1600.
Bike: 1hr 2m 41s for 18 miles. 17.2 mph. I came in #955. Not bad considering I was on a Fixie.
Run: 43m 11s for 4 miles. 10m 47s / mile. I came in #1263. Yeah, I was beat.

Overall: 2hr 18m 55s. 1231th place.

I'm probably going to do it again next year, because I feel that I didn't convincingly conquer my fear of deep water, and that all my technique went out the window on race day.