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"Gena and her wetsuit"
Last July, I found myself once again staring out the water with the familiar race day nerves filling my stomach. This time my view was of a perfectly calm lake in Fairlee, Vermont with orange buoys off in the distance marking the ¾ mile swim of my first international distance triathlon. I’d trained well for this event including swimming twice a week with a coached triathlon group and was confident going in that I was prepared for the event. But…no matter what I tell myself about the rigors of my training program, when I’m suited up on race day awaiting the starting gun the nerves always remind me of the training I didn’t do. Having gone through this a few times, I knew that once the race began the nerves would disappear quickly and I would be focused on the course but knowing that just made me impatient as we stood around waiting for the gun.
I found myself unable to stand still and after talking with some fellow athletes, I strolled back in the crowd to find my friend Gena who was slotted two heats behind mine and loaded up with twice the nerves. “High school freshman” does not come close to describing the fear on her face; I would say the look was closer to that of the Captain of the Titanic when he first looked up to see the infamous iceberg “right ahead.” It was Gena’s first triathlon and while a seasoned marathoner and a strong biker she had made the mistake I had made in my first tri which was to not get enough time in the water. She was petrified! When I found her in the pack and wished her good luck, the only words she could muster were “I’m going to Freakin' drown dude!” Her words were convincing but I knew she would be fine and not because of her swimming technique, but rather because she had listened to one piece of advice I had given her which was to buy a triathlon wetsuit. In her words following the race, “best $250 I ever spent dude – that Freakin' wetsuit saved my life.”
I’m sure she would have survived but since I own a similar wetsuit, I could appreciate her love of the elegant rubber daywear. My swimming form is pretty poor as my legs tend to sink behind me, like towing a couple of heavy anchors as I flounder in the pool. With the wetsuit on, however, the rubber provides enough buoyancy to keep me in a much more streamlined position. I am not only faster in the suit but also much more relaxed and efficient. This purchase has turned the part of the triathlon I dreaded most into something I am starting to enjoy. Granted the training has helped as does having a handful of triathlons under my belt but I do believe, and know at least one other who will confirm this, that the wetsuit was a great purchase towards making the triathlon experience more enjoyable.
The swim at Fairlee was long, 26:59 to be exact, but I felt pretty strong all the way through and as I rounded the final buoy I kicked it in a bit and headed for the beach. Like Pavlov’s dog, my smile widened when my feet hit the sand and I started the jog up to the transition area to get my bike. The 24 mile bike course at Fairlee was hilly – very hilly -- but wisely I had driven up there two weeks before and ridden the course. It helped a lot to have a sense of the length and grade of the hills and to know how hard I could push on each. There is one hill on that course that has sort of a false peak, where you think you are approaching the top only to round a corner and meet up with another quarter mile grind. I was glad to be privy to this information as I met (and politely passed) many riders who were standing on their pedals as I rounded that very corner. Who was it who said “90% of this game is mental, the other half is physical?” Were they talking about triathlon? It was a tough but beautiful bike course and between gasps for oxygen on the hills I did remember to smile and enjoy the moment at least a couple times.
Someday I would like to finish the bike stage of a race before any racer has finished the entire course. I did not achieve that goal in Fairlee as an Olympic hopeful was in attendance and completed the entire course in just under 1:41 where I was done cycling and in my running shoes in 1:49+. The athlete who took the silver that day completed the course in just over 1:50 so assuming the Olympic hopeful is no longer a hopeful this year but in Athens competing for real gold, maybe I will check that goal off the list. My run has improved but is still my weakest event relative to the pack. I have found, though, that I can maintain a respectable pace in the 8ish minute per mile range if I find a pace car to try and stick with. Fortunately, I was caught half way through the five mile run by a women, who coincidentally had helped me set my pace a month before at a sprint triathlon on the Cape. We paced together again and I completed the run averaging just over 8½ minute miles, wrapping up the course in 2:33, and pleased with my result. I then waited at the finish line for Gena, hoping that I would see her to confirm that she had, in fact, survived the swim but hoping not to see her for more than 8 minutes which was the head start I had from going off two heats ahead of her. She did survive and not that we’re competitive but the occasional reminder over the winter of our splits has been a good motivator to get her back to the course again this year. So stay tuned as her check has been mailed and Gena and her wetsuit will be back in Fairlee this July for a re-match. “Freakin' A dude!”
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