Requirement fulfilled

I had a pretty good weekend. I started with getting my PSA results back. I am at <0.5 which is where I need to be on the “cancer free” scale.

As some of you may already know, it is a law that all prostate cancer survivors must compete in a Triathlon. Well, I have complied with the law and have fulfilled the requirement of “tri”ing to kill myself after surviving cancer.

The quick summary – I am glad to have finished.

The swim, by far was the funnest part. I started in the last wave, and have never been hit and kicked so much in my life. There was a feeling of frenzy in the water as everyone struggled to get out of the pack and into open water. This worked for me for a while, but didn’t last for too long. As I approached the first turn buoy, all the other swimmers converged in order to cut the turn as close as possible (obviously an attempt to shave off precious seconds from their swim time).

Harder to deal with was passing the slower swimmers, and those who just stopped and we treading water. I almost hit a couple of those, but everyone was pretty nice and courteous – I heard a lot of “oops, sorry, did I just break your nose?”

Coming out of the water wasn’t easy due to all the big rocks. I accidentally kicked one and fell over (I’m so graceful). I didn’t realize it at the time, but I must have hit that rock pretty hard, because my toes are all black and purple now.

The bike portion would have been easier if not for the wind. Just as I hit my first mile on the bike, I could see the first two “elite racers” coming back (having already completed their ride portion). I am amazed at how fast they were moving. They would be long finished with the entire race before I even started my run.

The best part of the bike ride was being on “closed” roads. After the endless climbing out, I was treated to some pretty sweet down hill. I was able to get up to 32mph, but I could have go faster if the road was better. All in all, it was fun.

The run kicked my butt. I should have been much better prepared. It was obvious I should have done much more work on my “core” because after the first mile, my back was killing me. There were so many people who yelled words of encouragement – thanks to all of you, it really does help. In addition, Dane and Laura (some friends of ours who did the tri with me), came back out onto the trail at mile 4 to accompany me. They have both done numerous triathons, 1/2 and full Iron Man races, and kept me company telling me about all the crazy stuff that happened to them in the past – they were very funny (thanks guys).

In the end, I want to do it again, but with a better time (doesn’t everyone say that?).

I have come to the conclusion I love open water distance swimming (strange, I know), but I find it peaceful.

I’m a little sore today, but not too bad. I was treated like a king after the race by all my girls – I have a great support group!

Coming up next: The Four Bridges 1/2  Marathon? (maybe not)