Tri Fever

WARNING: THIS IS A FIRST PERSON ACCOUNT OF A REAL EVENT. THE PRONOUNS I AND ME ARE USED ALOT. SORRY!

Years ago I adopted, rather foolishly, a lifestyle that I was willing to try most anything at least once within the dual realm of legality and safety. My list is long but is it is getting shorter. This past weekend, I can check off yet another one of my improbable and dreamy Walter Mitty-like pursuits, I did a triathlon.

For some time now I have been perversely interested in how far I can push my physical limits. For me, participating in a triathlon seemed to be a natural progression for this type of warped thinking. Triathlons are all about pain and suffering. Sure there is some joy to it all but that comes when you finish the race. Everything before, including the training, is punishment. But there are different levels of triathlon punishment, I took the one more traveled. I did the Sprint Triathlon.

As far as I know there are three main triathlons. The Sprint, the Olympic and the Ironman. Bad-Badder-Baddest. All three races have a common denominator: swim, bike, run, hence the name, triathlon. It's a three sport timed race event divided into age and sex groups, aka waves.

The Sprint Tri is a half mile swim, followed by 12.4 mile bike and concludes with a 3.1 mile run. The Olympic Tri is double the sprint distances. The Ironman Tri is...gulp, 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike and are you ready for this...a full marathon, 26.2 miles. Needless to say, the most popular, a relative term, triathlon is the sprint. It's shorter distances appeals to everyone silly enough to do a triathlon. The average time is just short of 2 hours. The least popular for good reason is the Ironman, it's simply a body destroyer. The average time for the Ironman is 12 plus hours of nonstop torture. Next time ESPN airs clips of the Kona Ironman in October check it out. They start in the early morning and some folks don't finish until Conan O'Brien comes on the tube.

So, I traveled up to Steamboat Springs, Colorado from Denver. Steamboat is a beautiful Rocky Mountain hamlet just south of the Wyoming border. The event was staged at the Steamboat Lake about 25 miles north of Steamboat Springs. Surrounded by mountains and blue skies, I entered the first phase of the tri with my wave group in the cold water with full wet suit and full of other old chumps like me all looking puzzled while silently asking, "what the hell am I doing here?"

Gun sounds and we're off. Guys and gals swimming over one another. Kicks to the head and sides were commonplace (first picture above). Fortunately, 500 yards out, the swim became more tolerable. Fast forward... about 90 minutes later and feeling totally spent after the bike and run portions over the rolling landscape of Northern Colorado, I crossed the finish line hearing my family yelling my name. I finished (second picture above). Two of my most favorite words. The other two...thank God. For God had a hand in me finishing.

There you have it...a report from the field of one of the true athletic phenomenons spreading across this country. Triathlons are huge events and getting bigger everyday. They are attracting lots of folks across the age spectrum. The group with the largest growth seems to be women in their thirties. I was impressed with all of the 400 kindred souls that joined me on Sunday past. They are all winners in my book even if they are a bit loony including yours truly. Why do they do it? The reasons are as plentiful as the stars. God bless them all.

Tri's may be a bit extreme but it's better than dreaming on your couch with remote in hand eating bon-bons. Now about that next crazy thing to do on my list....