“Good luck to you all,” says the man. “I don’t know any of you, but good luck!”

So exclaims a guy beside me in the water, prior to the start of the Triathlon. The first two waves have already started the swim; my wave, the “first-timers” and young males, has about a minute before the start. We, the people in the area, wish the nameless man good luck.

Snyder, Tappendorf, Voda, Tyler, and I are in the water. It is surprisingly warm in Hawthorn Lake. We wear wetsuits ostensibly for warmth, but their greater benefit is added buoyancy (and therefore greater speed). With an air temperature in the mid 50s and overcast skies, the 72-degree water feels downright balmy.

Up ahead, we can make out Krystal’s figure. Well, no, not really. She is in the second wave, two-and-a-half minutes ahead at this point. Her person is indistinguishable from the rest of the black-wetsuited, blue-capped competitors.

“Thirty seconds,” booms the public address system.

Nervous? I am shivering, but not from cold. What the hell am I doing in the water? Why am I doing a triathlon? I never would have guessed, even four months prior, that I would be doing anything like this. Me, a person who is obviously not athletic, testing my endurance in this multi-hour epic — what was I thinking when I signed up?

The chatter is still around. Friends wishing friends good luck, strangers wishing strangers the same good luck.

“Five seconds.”

Everything is eerily quiet. Time slows down to a near standstill. I’m aware only of what lies straight ahead of me. It’s like the world is taking a deep breath.

I mentally count down the final seconds. Four. Three. Two. One.

“Go!”

Go go go! Start swimming. Don’t get kicked! Make sure my goggles don’t fall off; I don’t want to lose a contact lens. Swim faster! No, not that fast; I have a long ways to go. Oops, too much kicking. Most propulsion is from my arms not my legs, and I don’t want to get my legs tired — yet. Swim. Swim. Swim. Here comes the shore. Get out, get recorded. Now up to the transition area for my bike! Run, run. Whoops; sandal slipped. Careful! Now at the transition area. Glance at Farmer taking photos with my camera. Hey, Tyler and Krystal are still at the transition area. Now, off with the wetsuit. D’oh, it’s stuck around my ankles! Son-of-a… Pull, no, ouch, that’s a cramp. Pulling hard is not the solution. Must figure out a better way. There; now it’s off! Quick, pull the socks and clipless shoes on. Don’t forget the helmet! Rapidly now, to the mount point.

I’m riding! But only one foot is clipped in. And here comes a hill. Come on, come on. Pedal Pedal Pedal. Come on, right foot, clip in! Half-mile down so far. Don’t get flustered! Still not clipped. Clip, darn it, clip! *kick* *slam* There we go; both in now!

Bike bike bike. Up hills, down hills. There’s the leader, passing the other way. Wow! Almost to the turnaround now. There we go; it’s all downhill from here. No, wait, never mind. They’re the same hills as before. And the overall elevation change is minimal. I probably should have trained more for this bike ride.

Back at the transition area. Biking stuff off, running stuff on. Step, step. Ug! This bike-to-run transition is brutal. Do my legs still work? Run run run.

There’s the finish line! Sprint time: give it all I’ve got. There! I finished! I didn’t finish last! I didn’t hurt myself in the process! Goals accomplished.

We all made it.

Check out the photos from the event. Thanks again to Farmer for getting up at 7:00 a.m. on a Saturday to come take the photos of us crazy folk.

Thanks to everybody who helped me and gave me support, particularly Tyler and House. Even though House didn’t compete, there is no way that I would have gotten up to train if he weren’t getting up early to train with me. Thanks to Tyler for the encouragement and the procurement of the wetsuits and sweet bikes.

Yeah, yeah. You all want numbers. Okay, here they are:

NAME              Ag S Rank  SWIM Rank    BIKE Rate Rank     RUN  Pace  Total TIME
================= == = ==== ===== ==== ======= ==== ==== ======= =====  ==========
MARK TAPPENDORF    19 M  189 16:26  205 1:26:52 17.2  118   39:38  7:59    2:22:56
TYLER HICKS-WRIGHT 20 M  175 15:51  221 1:29:11 16.7  142   40:44  8:12    2:25:44
KRYSTALL ALTMANN   20 F  239 19:48  227 1:30:54 16.4  212   46:57  9:27    2:37:38
JEFFREY KEACHER    22 M  222 17:52  244 1:36:21 15.5  253 1:01:16 12:20    2:55:28
RYAN SNYDER        20 M  254 22:10  250 1:38:27 15.1  246   56:43 11:25    2:57:19
MARK VYVODA        23 M  242 21:04  256 1:47:52 13.8  245   56:40 11:24    3:05:36

(Complete results)

I had a great time. I will do it again next year (after improving my run and bike, of course). I think more training would have been helpful, particularly with the bike and run. The bike ride was the longest I have ever completed — my bike training over the past few months was nearly nil.

Take advantage of opportunity. Do something you normally wouldn’t do. I did, and I’m better for it.