Topeka Tinman and Tater Tots!

First of all, Happy Fathers day to all you fathers! One of the best things about my life is being a dad!

Second, thanks to Diane for her support and driving and packing and organizing and ...

And thanks to Jess and Pete for their training me, and thanks to you bloggers for all your encouragement! I finished! I was in doubt for a while, I will get into the details shortly, but first, a bit more on the people who are triathletes!

I met 5 cool people at the race. The first was Mark, I don't know if he blogs, but Diane and I are sitting on this rock wall and Mark comes by and says" Hey, you're Duane! I read your blog"! Now how cool is that! Hey Mark! Then I get to meet Tri-Dummy (Jay) and his wife Amy! Very nice people! Jay is doing IM Wisconsin this year so you tri-bloggers need to meet up with him - great guy!

I also got to meet Blink after the race. He and Jay came out and met me on the course long after they had finished and walked in with me. They both believe in staying until EVERYONE finishes, they are adamant about it. Two solid guys for sure! I believe Blink came in 5th place overall and won his age group! We thought I was the last one on the course, and we had to drive back to pick up my youngest daughter, so we hit the road as as soon as I could muster up the strength to grab my bike and gear. We were driving out through town and Jay calls me and tells me their is still another athlete out on the course, I'm sure they were there waiting! That is what it's all about!

I also got to meet the cutest little gal but I didn't get her name. We encouraged each other out on the course and got to talking in the transition area after the race going to pick up our gear. She was about 20-25 and African American. We saw another African American guy earlier, it was nice to see a little color diversity mixed in with the ripped, fat, in-between, ex-hippys, GQs, old, young, and everything else you can imagine. She was talking about how beautiful the course was and what a great day it was. She had been taking in all the beauty of the day and relishing it. I knew what she meant (part of the time anyway). She said her friends who race never notice that stuff, they just get so focused. I liked her right away.

Then there was Bev, who I actually beat in from the bike portion. (I did beat in one other racer but he had bike trouble, his pump was broke and mine didn't match up with his type of valve, so he had to walk his bike in the last two miles - he passed me on the run later with a great smile and hearty encouragement). This was the 6th or 7th tri for Bev and she was always last - today she beat me and was so happy! I was happy for her too! I was way behind where she placed and they were going to take down the finish line and mat and she stood on the mat and refused to let them do it. She stayed to watch me finish too! Instant friend!

So now for the race report!

4:00 am- hot shower
5:00 am - leave hotel for race
5:30 am - pick up chip and get marked
5:35 - 8:30 am - sweat profusely, drink water, sweat some more, drink some more. Set up transition:
Hang out and observe:
Drink, sweat, drink, get ready for the swim:
The swim went well, I didn't panic and felt very comfortable. I wanted to finish under ten minutes and my time for the swim was 9:48. Ran into a couple people, got smacked pretty good once, and went off course once, but overall I was pleased But when I got out of the water I was DIZZY! Took a minute or so to get my land legs. I look at the pictures and see how big I am, I forget sometimes I am so large! But wait till all the fat comes off, I will be so much faster!!
Name: Duane Newton
Time: 2:45:00
Overall Place: 298 of 298
Place in Gender: 183 of 183
Place in Division CLYDE: 28 of 28

Swim: 9:48 Rate: 3:16 Place: 286
Trn1: 5:45
Bike: 56:02 Rate: 8.8 Place: 306
Trn2: 2:34
Run : 1:30:52 Pace: 29:15 Place: 295

The bike was all rolling hills and inclines. The guy who said the course was "pancake flat" must be doing drugs! I cranked on the downhills as much as I could to get up the hills as far as possible before going down to granny gear. I did make it up a couple hills in 1 or 2 gears higher than granny so progress is being made!

At mile 6 of the bike my left calf started to cramp. I stretched it on the pedal as much as I could. By the time I started the walk I was in serious pain. Ever have your calf cramp when it tightens up into a baseball sized knot? Man it hurts! I wanted to do the walk under an hour but it took about an hour 20 as I was doing the pirate walk! I had to keep my toes pulled up towards my knee and my heel pressed down so the muscle wouldn't cramp. Then I had to swing it out just a bit and felt like a pirate walking with a wooden peg. That was the longest three miles I have ever walked. And hot! And humid! OMG!

Finally at about 3 miles the cramp went away. Jay called my on my cell phone and said he and Blink were on the way out to meet me. They walked in with me which as very nice. Blink's family, Jay's family, Diane, and Bev were all there waiting and I made it! It was a lot shorter than my first tri, but it was every bit as tough or tougher to finish. I feel good about my effort.

Here are some more photos (the tater tots story is at the end):




















So, I went to Topeka without my dinner prepared. I was tired and we settled on a Sonic drive-in, I don't eat bread anymore and I needed some starches so I ordered tater tots - Sonic Sized. When they brought them out they were smothered in chili and cheese, but did I send them back? No, I indulged. And from 2 am - 3 am I could not sleep as I had a very bad stomach ache. Lesson learned, take my meals with me!

I also learned that I need some kind of race shirt that will let my body breathe and the sweat evaporate!

Thanks again for all you support and I hope you all have a really good week!
Duane