First off…how in the world do you all (who blog regularly) find the time to blog!?!?! I’d love to create a history of what I do, and maybe share some wisdom (a very small amount at that); however with a full time job, a wife and four beautiful kids…I’m tapped out! We all have the same 24 hour day, but some of you must be putting in 28 hours into one 24 hour period! Maybe you can blog about how you do it? Who knows…there probably already is a blog about that!!!
08/08/08 was a great day this year.
The start of the Olympics...although I'm no Phelps, I was drawn to his speed in the water. Although I'm no Bolt, I was drawn to his 6'5" frame cruising at an unbelievable pace.
It was also my 37th birthday...or as my wife reminds me...it was the start of my 38th year!
Regardless...it was a beautiful day here in South Eastern Michigan.
Months ago, I got caught up in this B-fit-bday challenge and have been working up to it all year. It was the first year (that I recall) I took a day off of work, just for an endurance event. In fact my boss continued to text me throughout my day asking how my "mid-life crisis endurance challenge" was going. Maybe I was (am) nuts!? In any event, I was off and ready to start the challenge!
My plan all along was for the Gold challenge…swim 3 miles, bike 37 and then run 7. Sure didn’t sound like much when I signed up for the Gold challenge…but then again I probably wasn’t thinking straight! For the furthest I’ve ever swam was 1.5 miles…ahhh, what’s another 1.5 miles amongst friends?!
It started around 4am with a wake up and fueling for the day. As with most of my endurance events (3 ½ IMs, and 9 marathons) I have a predetermined routine in the morning to ensure all systems are firing. The plan was a 3 mile open water swim where ½ my swim I’d be accompanied by two other people training. Post swim, I took off on to a new bike route, then a drive home for the run to include some laps around the neighborhood with my family. All in all it was a lot of fun…and might be the start of an annual event. Thanks Roman…and sponsors. Speaking of sponsors…having my Hornet Juice mix along with my Rudy Project sunglasses made this an even more enjoyable day. The 2XU Tri shorts were a bit dirty so they didn’t make the journey!
The swim started at 6:15a with the sun still considering its move above the horizon. The lake was calm, but that’s an eerie feeling crawling into the lake when the sun isn’t up! I’m more of a boat anchor than a dolphin so I took this endeavour while wearing my full wetsuit. The water was a bit warm, but the comfort (mainly mental) that the wetsuit gives me. Besides, embarking on 3 miles of open water swimming (more than ½ of the distance alone) isn’t the smartest thing to do…unless one has a flotation device. I thought about bringing my water wings, but didn’t want to be made fun of!
In a nutshell, the swim was uneventful and I completed it in 1:59:01. Did I say that 1 ½ miles was the furthest I had ever swum before? The last ¼ mile was pretty rough! While I was in the middle of the lake (mind you it’s a no wake lake until 11a) I was ‘floating’ on my back catching my breath and saw a flock of seagulls circling overhead. I had been in the water at that point almost 1:40 and I was wondering if they were vulchers ready for a fresh breakfast. Then, a week later a friend mentioned that seagulls are just ‘winged-rats’. Don’t know if that made me feel any better or not. Needless to say, I crawled out of the water with respect for long distance swimmers. Speaking of which…did you see the Men’s Marathon swim during the Olympics? They did a 10Km swim averaging around 1min / 100 yards. I think their 10Km time beat my (shorter than) 5Km time. WOW!
The bike on the other hand was a different story. Having never gone 3 miles in the water, I didn't realize how much my legs were going to be fried as a result. Needless to say the fact that I was on a new and hilly course, the wind was blowing (always right off the nose) and having just swam 3 miles...the bike was a little more difficult than anticipated. Do you guys remember the old school Tour de France when they had a stage or two on the coblestones?! Part of my bike was just like that...with every bump (that most of you call pot holes but we in SE Michigan just see as typical bumps) I felt I was about to be thrust into oncoming traffic. I finally finished and it was a good feeling to have 40 miles behind me. 37 miles biking...2:03:47.
I went home, fueled a little and had the family there for my support. My neighborhood has a fine, yet boring, 2 mile loop that was going to be my course for this 7 mile venture. I finished two loops and the kids were stir crazy, so I took them for the past 3 miles. This was the best part of the day...running the last 3 (actually 3.2mi) with three of my four kids. They were on their bikes and wante to do their thing, and I was just ready to be done. However, when we came around the last corner toward our house...that was an awesome feeling watching my kids ride in front of me as I was pulling up the caboose. 7.2 miles 1:06:36.
Total for the day was 5:09:36...I thought I was going for the gold on the first day of the Olympics, and needless to say...I ended up with Platinum (thanks Roman!)!!
Tradition in our family is that on ones birthday you can have cake and ice cream for breakfast. Although it wasn't breakfast...I DID induldge in plenty of cake and ice cream!!!
Until next year's b-fit-bday challenge!!
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