2022 Lake Whatcom Triathlon

I really hoped to complete a triathlon this year in order to: 1) feel like legitimate triathlete and 2) make all my Zwift rides and spa swims seem meaningful.

Months ago I signed up for Lake Whatcom. I waivered endlessly on whether to actually do the event, then 48 hours before race time I decide my body can withstand a slow, Olympic distance effort. 

I like Lake Whatcom for its laid back vibe, convenience, camaraderie and scenery. 

I cobble together a sorry assortment of gear that I had left in Seattle - bike trekking shoes, Brooks Revel training flats, an old road bike purchased in the early 1990.. plus some lemon-flavored cookies and a flowery beige bath towel, 

As I setup before the race  the guy racking his bike on one side of me told me it was his first triathlete and that I looked like a veteran  “Really?  Do I just look old? I'm setting up my trekking gear and cookies on a bath towel?"  On the other side of me is a relay team made up of 50+ females who seem even less serious and competitive than me -- I take numerous photos for them and we all banter about our poor preparation and lame equipment before heading to the lake.  

I do feel strong on the swim and bike legs.  

But in fact I am hopelessly slow.  Over two hours have elapsed when I get to the bike-run transition and my slow time combined with my starting in the final wave means I am still near last place. 

As I arrive in transition, the swimmer from the enthusiastic 50+ relay team I took photos of earlier greets me - and she is now really hyped up — she exhorts me to go faster through each step of transition:  “go go - helmet off! get your run shoes on! lace them up! hurry, hurry!!"  

I then proceed to have a little picnic on my bath towel ---lathering on sunscreen, nibbling on cookies, sipping Powerade, stretching, and doing my important glute exercises. 

I finally do start running and as all my friendly, enthusiastic fellow back-of-the-pack participants cheer me on as I run past them, I realize I should at least try to make an effort to break 3 hours. 

Breaking 3 hours turns out to be harder than I initially expect.

The last half of the 10k course includes some long, winding uphills and these nasty stairs:   

Thanks to a frenetic pace over the last few kilometers, I manage to just barely break 3 hours.  

Hardly a fast time, but I am happy to be able to consider myself a triathlete again now after over three years of not racing.  

5k OCR - Success on all 20 obstacles

I was pleased to conquer all 20 obstacles at last Saturday's Spartan obstacle course race.  

Failure to execute on the obstacle results in 30 time-consuming and energy-zapping burpees.  

More importantly it is satisfying to see tangible improvement from the park training sessions that dominant my recent workout program. 

The big accomplishment was knocking off the spear throw.  I had worked on technique at an obstacle course training park, but still figured it was a wing and a prayer on my one shot in the race.  

Now if I could just learn to run. 

The other elderly men and women athletes in my heat absolutely exploded out ahead of me when the starting gun fired for my age division wave  -- similar to the crazed starts of the young kids races I had been watching prior to my start. 

Things turn around a bit after the first set of obstacles -- I managed to steadily move past other participants, but my splits were not nearly as fast I would hope. 

Still I managed to place 3rd in my age group in time of 42:10 for the 5k course, and I am grateful to have opportunity to race.