OK, I can confirm: There WAS an alligator sighting in the lake the day before the race. But it was small, so I guess that should make me feel better? Dinner. Brush teeth. Sleep. Wake up at by 445am. Breakfast. Arrive on site at 545am. Race begins at 7am. As I neared the start line of the swim, I thought about the small gator but recalling the swim now, the alligator never crossed my mind as I was actually swimming in the water. Too many other things had my attention. Where are the buoys? Look up, still on track. Good. Whose foot did I just touch? What can I use as a bearing to keep me swimming straight? The sun. The tree line. The paddleboarding lifeguard. Look up for buoy, getting closer. Glad I was thinking clearly and not thinking of… the alligator… one of 50 ways to say I died. (unsolicited Train song reference there).
When I got to the first of two buoys I was a little concerned about my endurance, only being 1/3rd the way through. But by the time I hit the second buoy and turned towards the shore, life returned to my body and I knew I could finish without major panic. It’s just water. I’m fine. Breath. Paddle. Look up. Breathe. You’ve done this before. Shoreline. People coming into focus. Sand. Stand up. Go.
Emerging from the water, walking to get my balance and bearings. Then running up to the transition to start the bike. People had mentioned the first hill was a bear and they weren’t wrong. But the cycling portion went really good! Once I started seeing cyclists going the other direction on the 2-lane road I knew the halfway turn-around point was approaching, another boost of life. Keep going. Head down. Strong arms. Legs in constant motion. Stay focused.
Transition to run went smooth except that I had forgotten to properly prepare my running shoes. The insert in the left shoe was out of place which I didn’t notice till I put the shoe on. I tried to take it off fax and fix the mistake. Slipping the shoe on again and I was off to complete the 5K. The sound of feet hitting pavement. Sweat. Heat. But it’s the last leg of the race. Push.
This is a good time to insert a part of these races that gives me a real pep in my step (or metal to my pedal?). There’s something of a morale boost when I catch people and pass them. It’s also very heartening when I realize no one has passed me on the bike or run. Now, before you go congratulating me you should know one thing: No one could’ve passed me because I started in the back! And I don’t mean near the back. I was part of the final wave to hit the water so of course no one passed me, there was no one behind me to begin with!
I also met my goal of finishing top in my age group but at the time of this post, official results haven’t been posted so I haven’t found out where I ended up among all the athletes in the race. I do know that the other guy in my age group (two is the loneliest number) wasn’t far behind me and he was on a …get this… he was on a tandem bike! Pretty cool, and I’m guessing he would’ve beat me had he done the cycling like a normal (boring 😂) person. They were on a double seater Huffy and it was…. AMAZING.
So I potentially reached 2 of my 3 goals (top age group, top 10 overall, under 1:05:00 which I missed by about 5 minutes) which is awesome but the real take-away is that it was a fun, hard race, I connected more with the triathlon group I’m part of, and I was gifted another event without injury or any equipment issues.
This is so fun.
-Out of the Wilderness
Out of the Wilderness 
congratulations!! The alligator probably was hiding from all those people! That’s so impressive!
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I have convinced myself alligators (and sharks) aren’t hungry in the morning. And yes, there was lots of splashing so I bet it was staying away. Thanks for the encouragement!!
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