1st Tri becomes 2nd Tri

I have now officially started and finished a triathlon, and have a much better idea of what the fuss is about and also about the challenges of the sport.

The Heart of Texas triathlon series is run each summer here in San Antonio, overseen by John Purnell of Run A Way Athletic Club. Last Sunday was the second of the series of five mini-triathlons, paving the way for the Heart of Texas Triathlon Championships in September. As I mentioned in a previous post, this event was recommended to me by Shelly Campbell and also by Phil Arno, a musician acquaintance of mine for many years, and a 5 or 6 year veteran of triathlon.

As soon as I pulled into the parking lot at Ft. Sam Houston at the ungodly early hour of 6 AM, I ran into Phil. “I looked at your website,” he said. “With all your running background, you should do very well.” “We’ll see,” I said, though I feared his prediction might come back to haunt me. Maybe it’s just me, but it seems to me that those triathletes who don’t regularly run marathons (actually Phil has done his share) seem to look at marathoners with some degree of awe. I must admit that as a marathoner, I look in similar awe at the real swimmers and cyclists. I guess it all adds up to triathlon being an equalizer, of sorts.

The Heart of Texas Triathlon No. 2 consisted of a 300 meter swim in a 50 meter pool, a 10 mile bike ride on a 2 mile loop, and a final 2 mile run, with some hills. Considering I had been previously training for the CapTexTri sprint distance (750 meters, 20 k bike, 5 k run), the Heart of Texas should have been the proverbial “no problema, man.” But cut me some slack. It was still my first Tri, and I started out with a poor swim. I got nervous, forgot what little form I have, and struggled somewhat. The bike ride gave me a chance to get my lungs back and my heart-rate stabilized. In retrospect, this might have been my strongest suit, though I by no means burned up the course. However, I did pass a few while the sprinters were busy lapping me.

Everyone has told me time and again: “Practice your bricks. Practice your bricks.” According to Wikipedia, “the term brick has multiple claims of origination/derivation. Among those is the derivation from a partial anagram of Bike-Run. Also, it may simply be a descriptive term for how your legs feel for the first part of the run.” I have generally interpreted it as principally referring to the transition from the bike to the run, and it is something I practiced, though obviously not enough. By the time I transitioned to the run, I was operating at a deficit. And who would be the athlete just coming in for the finish as I was about a quarter mile into the run? Phil Arno. And at that point I was walking up the hill. There was a look of consternation on Phil’s face, and I have no idea how I must have looked to him. But I got it back together and did most of the run, running. My unofficial time was 1 hour 15 minutes and some seconds. (Phil finished first in our age category of 55-59 with a time of 59 minutes.) In the true spirit of Triathlon (these people are infinitely supportive), Phil was there at the finish line to congratulate me on finishing my first tri. Also in the spirit of support, Phil gave me some pointers for the “next time.”

And there will be a “next time.” And that next time I will be a little wiser and a lot more practiced in BRICKS. Also, one other note regarding the future. I am enjoying sharing these posts with you, and reading what feedback has come. If you are game for it, I’m certainly willing to keep writing. But hey! Help Zetta and Shelly out. I sure would love to hear more voices on this blog.