I got into triathlons in 2008 when a bunch of my poker buddies told me about this triathlon that they were planning to do. A few years before I met them, they had done this race as a motivator to get themselves in shape. After a few years of expanding waist sizes, getting winded going up the stairs, and still not quiting smoking (for one of them anyway), they had decided that it was time to get in shape again. And so, they had signed up for the Dewey Beach Sprint Triathlon and they wanted to know if I was interested. Well, if you read my first post, you know that this was something I was definitely interested in doing.
I started out by running again. Something I hadn't done seriously in years. I'm still amazed at how winded I was after just one lap around the neighborhood (about 2 miles) on that first day back. I mean, I just breezed through a 10 mile run today and felt great. But those first two miles were tough. Then I took the two older kids (WW wasn't born yet) and rented a bike and trailer and did 10 miles on the NCR Trail. I even ran a 5k or two. Swimming was the hard part, but we belonged to a neighborhood pool and I did a few laps. My interest was starting to become more of a passion.
That year I finagled a new road bike for a birthday present. Our annual vacation to Linwood in Ohio turned into a training camp. I was doing two-a-days, including open water swims in Lake Erie. At the end of our two week vacation, I completed my first race in Ohio, but it was still Dewey that had gotten me started. And all of us made it to Dewey, full of excitement and a little competition. I still remember at registration that year how one of the guys was telling me how the wetsuit he just bought was going to help him beat me (he didn't finish the swim and had left the race by the time we were done).
The Ocean that year must have know that there were some potential triathlon addicts among the 1,000 or so participants. We were blessed with calm seas conducive to fast swims. The sun wasn't too hot and I finished the race in 1:14. It's a short race, 1/2 mile swim, 7.2 mile bike, 3.1 mile run, but, with the exception of my wetsuit wearing friend, we all finished. We enjoyed a great post-race lunch and vowed to be back the next year.
In 2009 we were back, but with a smaller contingent this time. The wetsuit decided that ocean swims weren't for him. One of my sisters went off and had a baby. Another friend had decided that riding his bike upright just wasn't enough fun and was still recovering from a bad case of road rash. Those of us who hadn't been scared off by the rigors or training were in for a surprise when we crested the dunes last year. The sea was angry, but apparently not angry enough to cancel the swim. And so we dove into the breakers. Starting 50 yards up the beach so we could make the first buoy without the current carrying us past it. If you swam too close to the shore, you were constantly fighting the breakers. I heard stories of people getting seasick while they swam. The final buoy blew away down the beach, leading to the following exchange:
Me (treading water and yelling at some lifeguards sitting on their surfboards): Where's the buoy?
Lifeguards: We are the buoy!
All who participated agreed that it was like swimming in a washing machine. The forecast, thanks to Igor, isn't looking much better for the 2010 version of the race. So we'll just have to be prepared for anything. If we go back into the washing machine, at least I'll know what to expect. If they cancel the swim, I may do really well since I've been running a ton in preparation for the Richmond Half Marathon. But maybe, just maybe, the ocean will know what we went through last year and grant us a pardon, for just a few hours, on Saturday morning.
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