October 15, 2005
My Triathlon Story
In June 2003, I talked two of my friends into doing a triathlon with me, at In Motion Health Club. We were going to do it as a relay team, with one person swimming, one biking, and then I was planning on doing the running portion. Only problem is, both of my friends cancelled the night before the race. I had never been in a lap pool before, and hadn’t been on a bike for at least two years. Again, in a dramatic show of German stubbornness, I decided to do the whole triathlon myself, rather than not race at all. I was last out of the pool, last on the bike, and nearly the last runner (one other guy got lost). But I finished, and crossing that finish line was one of the most incredible feelings of accomplishment I have ever had.
From that moment forward, I was hooked on triathlons. I found that training for three events gave me a much better overall fitness level than just running. I have done the In Motion Triathlon three years running, the Lake Oroville Triathlon last year, the Whiskeyman Offroad Triathlon last year, and just last month completed my biggest challenge – the Lake Tahoe Olympic distance Triathlon. This consisted of a .9-mile swim in balmy Lake Tahoe (water temperature around 66 degrees, air temperature of 36 degrees), a 24-mile bike ride from Lake Tahoe to Truckee and back (2600 vertical feet) and then a 6-mile run. I finished this event is just over 4 hours, and fourth in my age group. Again, the feeling when you cross that finish line, knowing that you have completed the biggest challenge of your life – is indescribable.
Posted by Dennis at October 15, 2005 10:33 AM