Sunday, July 17, 2005
MY TRIATHLON EXPERIENCE
Well, it hasn't rained in Toronto for quite some time, as the heat wave that we've been experiencing has left the city hot, humid and scorched. I guess the rain decided to come all at once and it just poured the night before. When the volunteers arrived this morning at the course, EVERYTHING was flooded! The transition areas where the bike racks were located, many parts of the course; even the finish line was submerged in a foot of water! So, the race organizers had to scramble to re-do the course, modifying it to ensure race safety. This meant a delay in the start time, pushing it back by about an hour. This was fine because those who were heading down to watch the race were able to park (far away) and still make it for the start of the race.
What an amazing atmosphere it was when I arrived. You could sense the excitement as people milled about registering, getting their bodies marked with their race number and setting up their transition area. It was great seeing so many people of different ages and experiences. But we were all united by one thing: our common passion for doing something extreme!
I was placed in the second wave of swimmers. The water was quite warm and there were about 25 of us. We watched the first wave go and we were set to start 4 minutes later. My plan was to wait for most of the rush to pass before I started my swim. So, as the start sounded, I walked for another 25 metres before plunging in. My strokes were smooth and I was feeling good. I knew that incidental contact is common in these things and my first one occurred shortly, as a fellow swimmer literally swam beneath me. Not too phased by it, I looked up, and realized that I was swimming quite wide to the right. For some reason, the water was quite "clear" today: it was still the murky green colour but I could see to the bottom. The bottom wasn't too deep and I could see long stalks of seaweed reaching up to the surface. There was one point where I felt as if I was swimming right into a whole jungle of seaweed and braced myself for getting entanged. I looked up again and saw that my course correction wasn't good enough and I had started swimming right again. At this point, I was at the very back of the pack and I had barely reached the first buoy. I'm not sure if it was my encounter with the ever-so-close seaweed or the feeling of being all alone in open water, but I started panicking. Despite my best efforts to calm myself down, my breathing became very agitated. I immediately switched from front crawl to breast stroke, as this was my "safety" stroke. The waters were pretty choppy today, so even using the breast stroke was quite challenging. It really felt like I was being pushed backwards. Faced with the frustration of no progress, breathing really hard, and fighting the waves of water trying to get into my mouth, I found myself in a very dangerous position. I made the decision to signal to the lifeguard kayak and he paddled to where I was. He immediately called for the police rescue boat and I was pulled in. After making sure that I was okay, he dropped me off at the patrol station and headed off for the next "rescue" (there was another man that was treading water but having difficulties). And so, my race ended there, not more than 10 minutes into it.
Discouraged, I made my way back to the transition area, where I was greeted by my supporters (my "boosters"). They were all very encouraging and shared in my pain and disappointment. I was given the option to finish the other 2 events and my supporters absolutely spurred me on. That was such a great mental boost to help overcome this shortfall. I quickly ran into the transition area, got into my bike gear and rode off. The rest of the race was actually good and I felt like I finished strong. Despite the heat and the persistent monsoon-like rains throughout the race, I did not feel any fatigue, cramps or spasms. My supporters were also cheering me on at the finish line and that was the extra boost that I needed to sprint the last 50 metres.
I've come to realize that today was not about the race, whether I finished or not. This event was more about community. It was a demonstration of sacrifice (people giving up their Sunday morning at church or sleeping in), perseverance (it rained for more than half of the race and my boosters had to endure that) and whole-hearted support (I can still hear so clearly in my head all the cheers and shouts of encouragement each time I passed my boosters). Yes, it would have been nice to have completed all 3 legs of the race. But, right now, I feel like a champion by being part of such a supporting community. I'm also reminded that I am vulnerable. Training for an elite sport starts making you think like an elitist, which leads to arrogance which leads to unwise decisions. Sometimes it's good to have a reality check, bringing yourself back to a place where you need to rely on community and those around you to prop you up, keep you accountable and build partnerships. Thus, I need to remember that I'm not going to New Zealand to give someone a hand out, as if I was better than the families that I will be in contact with. Instead, I'm extending a hand up to achieve partnership through a dedication of my time and efforts.
With less than 2 weeks before I leave for New Zealand, I feel like today was a great thrust forward, and is really just the beginning of what will be an amazing experience! Thank you for all your support!!
The transition area...
Just before the start of the race...
Off on my bike...
Off to do my run...
At the finish line!
What an amazing atmosphere it was when I arrived. You could sense the excitement as people milled about registering, getting their bodies marked with their race number and setting up their transition area. It was great seeing so many people of different ages and experiences. But we were all united by one thing: our common passion for doing something extreme!
I was placed in the second wave of swimmers. The water was quite warm and there were about 25 of us. We watched the first wave go and we were set to start 4 minutes later. My plan was to wait for most of the rush to pass before I started my swim. So, as the start sounded, I walked for another 25 metres before plunging in. My strokes were smooth and I was feeling good. I knew that incidental contact is common in these things and my first one occurred shortly, as a fellow swimmer literally swam beneath me. Not too phased by it, I looked up, and realized that I was swimming quite wide to the right. For some reason, the water was quite "clear" today: it was still the murky green colour but I could see to the bottom. The bottom wasn't too deep and I could see long stalks of seaweed reaching up to the surface. There was one point where I felt as if I was swimming right into a whole jungle of seaweed and braced myself for getting entanged. I looked up again and saw that my course correction wasn't good enough and I had started swimming right again. At this point, I was at the very back of the pack and I had barely reached the first buoy. I'm not sure if it was my encounter with the ever-so-close seaweed or the feeling of being all alone in open water, but I started panicking. Despite my best efforts to calm myself down, my breathing became very agitated. I immediately switched from front crawl to breast stroke, as this was my "safety" stroke. The waters were pretty choppy today, so even using the breast stroke was quite challenging. It really felt like I was being pushed backwards. Faced with the frustration of no progress, breathing really hard, and fighting the waves of water trying to get into my mouth, I found myself in a very dangerous position. I made the decision to signal to the lifeguard kayak and he paddled to where I was. He immediately called for the police rescue boat and I was pulled in. After making sure that I was okay, he dropped me off at the patrol station and headed off for the next "rescue" (there was another man that was treading water but having difficulties). And so, my race ended there, not more than 10 minutes into it.
Discouraged, I made my way back to the transition area, where I was greeted by my supporters (my "boosters"). They were all very encouraging and shared in my pain and disappointment. I was given the option to finish the other 2 events and my supporters absolutely spurred me on. That was such a great mental boost to help overcome this shortfall. I quickly ran into the transition area, got into my bike gear and rode off. The rest of the race was actually good and I felt like I finished strong. Despite the heat and the persistent monsoon-like rains throughout the race, I did not feel any fatigue, cramps or spasms. My supporters were also cheering me on at the finish line and that was the extra boost that I needed to sprint the last 50 metres.
I've come to realize that today was not about the race, whether I finished or not. This event was more about community. It was a demonstration of sacrifice (people giving up their Sunday morning at church or sleeping in), perseverance (it rained for more than half of the race and my boosters had to endure that) and whole-hearted support (I can still hear so clearly in my head all the cheers and shouts of encouragement each time I passed my boosters). Yes, it would have been nice to have completed all 3 legs of the race. But, right now, I feel like a champion by being part of such a supporting community. I'm also reminded that I am vulnerable. Training for an elite sport starts making you think like an elitist, which leads to arrogance which leads to unwise decisions. Sometimes it's good to have a reality check, bringing yourself back to a place where you need to rely on community and those around you to prop you up, keep you accountable and build partnerships. Thus, I need to remember that I'm not going to New Zealand to give someone a hand out, as if I was better than the families that I will be in contact with. Instead, I'm extending a hand up to achieve partnership through a dedication of my time and efforts.
With less than 2 weeks before I leave for New Zealand, I feel like today was a great thrust forward, and is really just the beginning of what will be an amazing experience! Thank you for all your support!!
The transition area...
Just before the start of the race...
Off on my bike...
Off to do my run...
At the finish line!
# posted by Duffshot @ 8:57 PM 
