Run Run Away

Question:

Winter Triathlon Race (Swim 5 meters, bike 1500 meters, run 800 meters) The race was to start at midnight, to avoid the sun and heat.  I arrived at the start area at 11:50, because the temperature was -18 F, and there was no way to warm up for what was to come. The swim was 5 meters, in a lake.  The organizers lined up milk jugs with candles along the different lanes for the seven race participants.  5 meters is generally quite short and easy, but when you have to use an ice pick to get to the end, it is quite workout.  Wet suits were not allowed  :( .  I rubbed about 3 inches of vaseline to protect myself from the frigid water that was underneath the 3 inches of ice. The gun sounded at exactly midnight.  I quickly found my rythm with the ice pick, and was moving nicely until I got an extreme bout of the shivers.  It seemed like 3 inches of vaseline was not enough.  The shivers make it extremely hard to use an ice pick. I noticed that I was slightly in the lead, and for some reason, that made me block out the cold.  I reached the 5 meter mark, and jumped out of the ice/water.  I promply slipped and fell on my butt.  My support crew was yelling for me to get going. I ran/slid to my bike.  "1500 meters -", i thought, "this will be easy."  I tried to pull on some riding tights, but the vaseline made it impossible.  Oh well, I thought i’d go with out.  If I made it through the water/ice, I could ride 1500 meters in my speedo. I quickly learned why the course was only 1500 meters.  It was on a winding path that was coated with slick ice.  Damn!  I should have brought my mountain bike an put chains on the tires.  I could barely maneuver my way along the path without falling, so I maintained a brisk 3 mph.  I noticed my heart rate moniter was not working.  Must have been frozen. Someone passed me with about 200 meters to go at an incredible 5 mph. I could not keep up lest I fall on the cold ice.  I heard the crowd yelling that only 3 competitors were left from the orignal seven. Damn!  I’m 2nd to last. I got off my bike and threw on some running shoes.  Should have brought boots, because the 800 meter run was on a track that was covered with 6 feet of snow.  My new strategy was to follow the leader for the 1st lap as he made a path in the snow.  The 3rd racer had dropped out due to dizzyness.  It seems like he had gotten 18 layers of riding tights on after the swim.  The tights were much too tight, and cut off his circulation.  I was now in last place, or 2nd, depending on how you look at it. My strategy paid off.  As I made my way through the path created by the leader and ate my powerbars and drank hot coffee, he tired out.  We blazed the first lap in 19 minutes.  I then took the lead and followed the beaten path to victory.   There was no one there to cheer me on, though, as they had all gone home because it was too cold.  It took me nearly an hour to thaw out in my car before I could drive home.  I then sat in a hot bath for several hours. Ok, so I’m a bit bored.  I am taking a new job (in sunny Florida) next week, and I am just about done with everything I have to do here.  And I am tired of the cold. sean butler

Response:

Winter Triathlon Race (Swim 5 meters, bike 1500 meters, run 800 meters) …

Oh yeah?  I can beat that!  From warm, sunny Florida, its…                        My Dream Triathlon I was standing on the Russian side of the Bering Strait with 60 hardy souls awaiting the start of the First Annual Trans-Alaskan Triathlon.  As the gun went off in the freezing Autumn air, we dove into the 28 degree water for the 59 mile swim to Alaska.  We battled iceburgs, walruses, killer whales, and 12 foot seas.  Full length drysuits were allowed, but I wore only grease hoping for a quick transition after my 48 hour swim. I hopped on my mountain bike, loaded down with food and camping gear for the 6000 mile out and back ride to the North Pole.  As I was carrying my bike over the steep cliffs of the Brooks Range, navigating by starlight in the 24 hour darkness of the polar winter, looking for the next air-dropped aid station, a draft marshal came alongside in a snowmobile.            "I’m not drafting, am I?", I asked.        "No, you’re legal.  The next competitor is 400 miles ahead, already on the polar ice cap.  You’re in fifth place".      "Oh?  I thought there were about 15 bikes ahead of me after the swim".      "Four guys dropped out with frostbite.  Two fell into ice crevices.  One was mauled by a polar bear.  And the rest were lost in the last blizzard". After the bike, I put on my snowshoes and 50 pound pack.  The run followed the Iditarod trail, then veered off along the crest of the Alaskan Range to finish at Mt. McKinley, the highest point in North America. I was only a few hundred miles from the finish when I had to work my way up a 1000 foot sheer rock wall.  It had taken two days of hammering spikes into the granite, inching my way up.  Climbing over the top, I discovered an even higher wall looming overhead, and a volunteer calling out splits.  "1874 miles in 237 days, 15 hours, 22 minutes, 15, 16, 17…".  He handed me a cup of water, frozen solid in the minus 105 degree wind chill. At last, I could see the finish.  As I gasped for breath in the rarefied air at 20,000 feet, my frostbitten hands clawing over the rocks fighting the 80 MPH winds, I could see the tape was not broken!  I struggled furiously.  Closer, closer, almost there… BZZZ!  The alarm.  Time to get up and run the Trash Dash 5K.  I looked at the outdoor thermometer and cursed.  "76 degrees and not even sunrise yet!  When are we ever going to get some decent weather?" #include <disclaimer.h                |____|

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