Q’s Adventures: Triathlon Failure

I’ve been pursuing various challenges lately…as this blog has well documented.  And, as I’m sure most of you know, my latest pursuit has been training for the Morgan Hill Sprint Triathlon.  Well, that was this past Sunday, and it ended in abject failure.

Turns out, I can train to swim, I can train to run, I can train to bike…hell, I can even train to do them all at once…but my failure in training this time around came in failure to train to not get kicked in the head.

Let’s begin our Greek Tragedy…

5:30am.  That’s when I leave my parents’ house and head to the triathlon.  Not too bad…wanted to get set up.  I get my spot ready for transition, get my number written on my body in sharpie, and get all prepared.  A little before 7 I head down to the water.  I am FREEZING!  It’s not a warm morning…my bare feet are cold as ice.  I’m shivering.  Not a good start.

And then I jump in the water to swim out to the deep water starting line…and it’s actually quite warm!  They said the lake was 70 degrees…and it felt really nice.  It was actually way warmer than being out in the air, so that was excellent.  I get to the starting line a few minutes before my heat is set to take off, bs with the guys there for a bit…3…2…1…GO!  And off we were swimming.

I had heard from previous participants that the swimming in a triathlon can be a bit of a clusterfuck.  Tons of people, all swimming in the same spot, no lanes or anything like that.  I had gotten the same advice…hang towards the back of the heat…let things clear out, then go.  So I did.  Except I’m not exactly slow.  I’m not fast (the winner of the triathlon finished his swim in under 15 minutes…it was going to take me another 10 or so), but I’m in decent shape.  So I start passing people as things clear out.  I swim around buoy one, start heading around the bend to the turnaround…go to pass someone else…and BAM!  Kicked in the head. 

When I get kicked, I immediately take in a sharp breath…while underwater.  So I swallow a bunch of water.  Not good.  I start treading water, coughing up water, seeing double, and generally not feeling all that well.  I try to keep going side stroke, so at least I’m making some progress…but its rough. I’m coughing, my head hurts, I’m seeing two of everything…and now I’m starting to get tired…since I’m not in my stroke, and I can’t catch my breath with my lungs full of water.  I get around the second buoy…and I’m only half way done, and I just can’t breathe…and now I’m having trouble keeping myself up.  I’m still coughing up water, and I start to feel sick from the head kick.  So I flagged down a boat and that was the end of my triathlon.  I just could not continue.

Needless to say, I’m pretty fucking upset over this.

I’m not a quitter.  At least, I haven’t been in my pursuits of various challenges.  It KILLED me to call for the boat…but I was not doing well.  I still feel like I should have tried to finish…but man, at the time, I was starting to panic.  I was in the middle of a lake, not feeling well, coughing up water…generally not doing well.  Still…it feels like…I did all this work, all this training…and I failed to accomplish the goal I set out ahead of myself.  I put up with all the swimming (which I hate…enough that I actually don’t think I’ll try another triathlon…I just don’t wanna put in the swimming time again).  This was supposed to be it.  Do a triathlon, move on.

Anyways, I get a ride into the transition area, and I’m pretty loopy, and my head hurts, and I’m coughing, and my arms and legs are shaking.  Not good.  So I stand around for what would have to have been a half an hour…just staring around, trying to gather my wits about me.  Eventually I tracked down my parents, and I packed up and went home…feeling pretty deflated and completely defeated.  I haven’t felt like that after an athletic pursuit in a long, long, LONG time.  I don’t like it one bit.

For most of the day my brain was pretty fuzzy.  I mean, I knew everything happening, and the headache had gone away…but, its like…how do I explain this.  It’s like my brain was one of those old rabbit ear TVs, and the antennas weren’t quite picking up the full signal.  I felt somewhat buzzed, like I had been drinking just a little bit.  Very odd.  When people say “I need to shake out the cobwebs”, that’s a pretty apt description.  But I went about my day (shopping with the roomie to get gear for the next adventure, then a trek up to Richmond for a blind date), and I got some sleep, and now I’m back at work.  Still a little fuzzy, but definitely better.

However, I’m still super disappointed in this whole thing.  Obviously I can’t plan for getting kicked in the head, but shit, not finishing the race was killer.  I’m not used to it.  I’m not used to having to bail on something I’ve set my mind on…especially so early into it.  It’s a shitty, deflating feeling that I don’t like one bit.  I’m never not crossing that finish line again.  I don’t care if it kills me…I’m not putting myself through that kind of disappointment ever again.  There’s so much in life that disappoints…the government, relationships, our sports teams…things I can’t always control.  I can control how tough I am, though…and I can control my will power…and I can control my resolve.  I don’t need to cause myself any more disappointment.

Anyways, that’s the sad end to my triathlon adventure, and likely the end of my triathlon career.  Not because of the kick to the head…I can avoid that in the future.  I just realized that I really don’t like swimming.  At all.  I like playing in the pool…I like going snorkeling…I can swim around just fine.  But the distance swimming, using it as a workout…I’m just not a fan.  I dreaded my training…and that’s not fun.  So, back to running for me.  And biking.  And hiking up mountains.  And the millions of other athletic pursuits I tend to find myself focusing on!

Next up, hiking Mt. Whitney in a few weeks.  Looking forward to that one for sure!