Lake Murray Triathlon

THe night before the event I ate 3 huge burritos or soft tacos and much more at about 8 pm.

I got up at 2 am by the grace of God.  It took me until 4 am to get it all ready and into the car.  I hoped that the little worn out car would get me there.  That was goal one. I drove down I-385 and I-26 with no problem.  Then into Newberry and down route 76 into Prosperity.  A quaint little town.  I got to Dreher Island State Park at around 5:30  am.  Plenty of time to prepare.  I went down to the boat ramps just before 6 am and contemplated swimming in the lake.  My second goal for the day was to survive the lake swim.

At 6am the packet pick up opened up and I got mine and my timing chip.  Went back to the car and got the bike together and put my numbers on helmet, bike and shirt.  Took my stuff to the transition area.  Talked to Al Olivetti of Go tri Sports about renting a wetsuit for $30.  Thought about it and knew it would be an advantage (increased floatation)to have one but decided to go without. I figured that the experience would be tough but mainly because of the crowd and being disoriented not from the "cold" (77F) water. I ran easy from about 7:20 to 7:35 for some warm up.

At 7:50 we all headed to the boat ramps and listened to the announcements and then to Leighton Lord who is a triathelete and is running for Attorney General.  Then the national anthem.  The open males went first then age groupers 35 and below I think..  Then us age groupers 40 and older got in.  I just walked down the ramp and hoped for the best.  The wind was light or none at all and thankfully the lake was fairely calm. We tread water and moved out to the dock end and waited. A guy on my left said "please dont kick me in the face". 

At about 8:08 am we were off.  I hit my stopwatch. I mainly did breast stroke for a while as we all got going.   Then I would try to do freestyle and I would get bumped and get all disrupted and kind of freak out.  Guys would come up on you and swim on top of you kind of.  I kept looking out to the bouy all the time to make sure I was headed for it.  The water was murky and you could barely see your hand in front of you as you swam.  At the first turn it was crowded and I did breast stroke.  From then on I did back stroke and side stroke, but not a lot of freestyle.  Free style is the fastest, but also is harder to breath and such. I kept working and wishing for it to be over.  The ladies that started several minutes after our group were coming up on us and then there was more bumping and crowed conditions.  After the second and final turn I made another attemp to do free stroke and head towards the boat ramp.  Had trouble making it out without vision correction.  Just follow everyone else.  I made it to the ramp and struggled to get my legs moving up it.  I hit the stopwatch and it said 18 minutes something.  I would find out later that I was 161 out of 220 guys in my swim time.  I stank at this segment in a way but I was glad just to have survived my first open water experience.

Run up the ramps into the parking lot to the bike and change.  I was a little cold and tired. Got on my socks, shirt, sunglasses and helmet.  I forgot to put on my heart rate monitor chest strap but not a big deal. I would later realize I had lost my nose plugs after I had gotten out of the water.  Maybe they fell off in the lake and I didn't even realize it. Anyhow I ran with the bike  to the line where you were allowed to get on.  I struggled with my shoes which were attached to my pedals already.  I got going and soon felt incredibly cold.  The water was evaporating off me as I rode.  I started passing other riders as I got going.  I think I downed a powerbar gel.  I kept passing riders.  These were men and women that were much better swimmers than I was.  I was constantly passing people as I rode.  I now think I must have passed hundreds of riders over the 16 mile course.

I would later find out that I was 35th fastest male on the bike segment and averaged about 22 mph.  My homemade aerobars and helmet cover got comments.  One guy thought maybe they were not so bad after he saw me pass by him.  I did the 16 miles in about 43 minutes which was ahead of my estimate of 48 minutes.

Got to the transistion area about 1hour and 5 minutes into it and dismounted ran into my spot and changed into my running shoes.  I laced them up and tied them up.  Real triathletes have speedy zip laces or velcro or otherwise real quick ways of getting their shoes on. 

I started my run with the feeling that I now had enough time to make my goal of 1 hour and 30 minutes.  I thought I could do the 5K in about 25 minutes.  The first mile was done in 6:45 so I knew I was doing ok and needed to be careful and slow down the pace a little.  The 2nd mile was a 7:40.  I was hurting but I kept on trucking.  I wanted to stop and rest but knew that was just my body talking.  As I came near the finish line a guy sprinted past me somehow.  Why did he save his energy to the end and not meter it out? 

I crossed the line as a guy announced my last name (wrong pronunciation).  I knew they would be hounding me for my timing chip right away so I spotted a guy and just sat down on the ground as he took it off.  I stayed down there a minute or two before I could get the strength to get up.  I had finished in under 1 hour and 28 minutes.  Beat my goal.  Satisfied.

As I reflect on the event I remember thinking I am not going to do this again soon.  Maybe not soon but I will again after a good long "rest".  I wonder how to get faster on the swim mainly but also on all the segments.  The swim in open water will need some work.  A wetsuit (if legal), better vision correcting goggles, practice in open water, improve my swim technique and speed are some  ideas.