One Week & Counting

Officially, five days left until the "Pig" (Pigman Sprint Triathlon).

My friend Lauri (and her very speedy bike-racer friend Eric) and I ventured to Pleasant Creek State Park on Sunday to do some training. At 6:30AM Sunday morning it was thundering and lightening, but the storm passed and I was anxious to ride and run the route with a partner.

We met at 8:00AM, and it was still overcast and very damp, but at least the rain had subsided. We decided to bike, then run, and if time permitted, get into the water. Eric is actually a bike racer, so after about 200 meters, he was gone. Lauri and I rode out into a very strong headwind going into Palo, and enjoyed the tailwind coming back. The hill into the park was killer, but I felt strong when I finished biking. Lauri and Eric calculated out bike route to be just over 18 miles. I hope someone removes the roadkill prior to the race next weekend. I counted numerous squirrels and small rodents, two skunks, one deer and several snakes.

We locked the bikes into the back of my truck, and then headed out for the run. The Pigman route is 3.2 miles through the park. It's along the main road into and out of the park, with very little shoulder. On race day it will be crowded with runners and bikers and the occasional vehicle that either didn't know about the event, or was foolish enough to attempt to get into the park after 800 athletes started the race. Sunday it was relatively quiet. The run went well. Eric was, of course, waiting patiently, and when I came through the ending area he yelled out "This is supposed to be the part you sprint!" to which I replied "I am sprinting!"

Eric decided against the swim and left. Lauri had forgotten her wetsuit, but was still considering getting into the water. I suited up, and we walked down to the beach. The cool breeze was giving us a chill, and Lauri decided against the swim. I felt the need to at least try it, since I haven't been in the lake yet this season. I've had plenty of pool laps, but it's hard to compare to lake swimming.

I psyched myself up, and dashed in. The cold water was a slap in the face. I dived in, probably got about ten strokes in, stood up and dashed back to shore. Lauri was laughing. I decided to give it one more try and dashed back in. This time, I didn't even get to a diving point. I sprinted in to about my knees, then sprinted right back out and told Lauri we'd call it day. I shivered up to the truck and stripped out of the wetsuit, and we were on our way back to Cedar Rapids.