Anyhow, on October 6th, 2013 I competed in a cute little triathlon in Hermosa, CA called the Day At The Beach. It was a quarter mile swim in the ocean, a ten mile bike ride and a three mile run. Easy, right? Yes, easy for someone who can swim. It's not that I can't swim. But I would consider it more not drowning than swimming. You see my parents were not swimmers - not outdoorsy types in the least - and I found out only recently when I complained about this fact that they both had traumatic experiences in large bodies of water. Hence, they did not teach me to swim. My grandparents did and only because they had a pool and needed me to be water safe. So when I got the hair-brained idea to participate in a triathlon, which, hello, involves swimming, I signed up for swimming lessons at the YMCA in order to learn how to properly swim and use my breath and body effectively.
So after months of training, mostly swimming, both in the pool and the ocean, I was ready to go. I allowed myself 30 minutes to complete the swim and ended up doing it in 16.
I was thrilled to just finish and I wasn't last. The two women doing it with me, a long time girlfriend and her sister, are very athletic, especially the sister who routinely does iron man contests, 100 milers and has even swam the Catalina Channel (26 miles one way from mainland Los Angeles). Intimidating? You betcha. She says she does it because she can in the name of all of those who can't through no choice of their own. I wish I were so energetic.
It was a great day. I finished in 1:44:04 a little more than I had hoped but a little better than I had planned. Here are a few snaps to commemorate the day. The best one is of the 92 year old man at the finish line. What an inspiration to us all.
