It's not how you start....

My season was supposed to be over after Hy-Vee once I found out that the RJ Corman Duathlon was no longer being held, but a phone call from Chris Hutchens on the way to Hy-Vee changed it all.  He let me know about the Apex Physical Therapy Mini Triathlon in Oldham County that had a little bit of prize purse.  This was enticing, but I had a couple factors working against me (1) I didn't know how I would be feeling after Hy-Vee (2) we were hosting a baby shower for my wife the next day and I was responsible for cleaning the house and making cupcakes.  At this point, I guess you have discovered that I signed up for the race.

The main issue with deciding late to sign up for a pool swim sprint triathlon is that you get slotted at the back of the swim line.  In fact, I learned that I was actually starting third from last.  Not ideal, but the race organizer was smart and allowed :20 between starters and even left a 3:00 buffer between the final early entrant and the first of us who missed the "deadline".  For these reasons, I can't complain about any part of this race.  It was my fault (actually I didn't even find out about the race until the deadline had passed) that I didn't get signed up in time.

The silver lining was that I had a chance to hang out with Coach Nancy and some of the Maverick Multisport Youth team parents and watch these great youth athletes that I have gotten to know.  Before they started, I received as much advice from them as I was able to give to them.  They really seem to have this triathlon thing down and that is encouraging to see.  This team has no where to go but up and that is a testament to the great work that Coach Nancy and Coach Chris are doing.

As for my race, I didn't really recognize anyone on the start list, so I wasn't sure what the competition was.  That worried me a little because of my start position, but there was nothing that I could do about it.  I apologized to the swimmers around me and promised that I would try to swim around them the best that I could.  I was mostly successful in that promise, but there was one incident coming into a wall with two other swimmers.  We survived but it wasn't pretty.  I didn't have a great swim, but it would have to work.

Luckily there was much more room on the bike and run courses so I didn't have any concerns.  The bike was described as hilly and it was as advertised.  However, I was able to move up several places and put myself into a good position for the run.  The run was on a gravel path that I had previewed before the race.  I caught a couple of the Maverick kids and they were moving well.  I felt good on the run, but I was ready for it to be over.  Sprint races seem to hurt more than you would think, but they are really fun.

Sadly, I didn't win any of the door prizes, but I guess I didn't deserve one since I took home this giant trophy for the win.  I think this is a great way to end the season.  Now I need to get the rest of my chores done in prep for miss Emma Rae's arrival.  Thanks for reading and thanks again to my sponsors.