By Barry Jones
It started out to be a great weekend. Saturday afternoon (April 8) at Waterfront Park in Clermont the air temperature was around 80 degrees and the water temperature was around 75 degrees. Brenda and I picked up our race packets for the Great Clermont Triathlon while our four kids swam in Lake Minneola and played on the beach. It could have been a happy family scene from a travel brochure. You know, where the parents hold hands and watch their beautiful kids happily throwing a beach ball or a Frisbee or something. That night, while we slept, visions of the perfect race were dancing in our heads--a warm glassy lake to swim in, a constant tailwind on the bike, and a cool, shady road to run on. Yeah, only in my dreams.
At 5:30 the next morning I woke up and staggered out of our building and into the lobby of the hotel for the complimentary continental breakfast. It was like I was in another state. A much colder northern state. Overnight the temperature had dropped to around 40 degrees and, as an added bonus, the winds picked up. That might sound like good conditions for a road race but the thought of swimming when the wind chill was 30 something degrees just made me want to go back to bed. But no, the story doesn’t end here. Brenda and I convinced ourselves to suck it up and tough it out. We gave our cheering crew the day off, however, and let them sleep through the event in the warm hotel room.
Back at Waterfront Park we racked our bikes, had our bodies marked (with race number and age) and walked to the beach to wait for the start of the race. For those that don’t know triathlons, there is not a mass stampede at the beginning of the race as in road races. As a safety precaution, no more than 100 competitors are allowed to start the swim at one time. Therefore, a triathlon will have several “waves” of racers starting at different designated times. There could be 8 or 10 “wave” starts separated by 3 or 4 minutes each. What I’m getting at here is that there is a lot of waiting until your group starts the race. And waiting is the last thing you want to do when you are standing around in 40 degree weather with nothing on but a Speedo bikini and a swim cap. I kept thinking about the wet suit that my loving family didn’t get me for Christmas. Fortunately, there were 700 or so other people on the beach to snuggle up with. I stood behind Brenda and wrapped my arms around her in what may have looked like a romantic embrace. What I was really trying to do is just stay warm! A woman we didn’t know came up behind me and joined in on the conversation and snuggle fest. There I was, sandwiched in between two beautiful bikini babes. At least the other woman had a nice voice, I was too cold to turn around and look at her. Now that I think about it, it could have been a man with a sexy voice. My “wave” was one of the last to hit the water, so by that time the beach was quite desolate. I was very eager to start swimming.
I found that the water was actually warmer than the air. I needed more than just warm water, though. I needed a life jacket. The waves were the roughest I have seen in Lake Minneoloa. It was like a fresh water ocean. I tend to swim like a runner so I knew I was in trouble. Half a dozen or so people had to be either pulled from the water or dropped out after the swim. I figured from my pool work outs that the 1/3 mile swim would take me 7 or 8 minutes. After a minute in the rough water I dropped all time goals and just struggled to survive. On a positive note, I became very well hydrated during the swim. I found that it is possible to drink lake water by mouth and through the nose. After the longest 13 minutes in my life I was finally back on dry, but still cold, land.
Now came what I had envisioned as being the coldest part of the race: climbing out of the warm water and into the cold air and setting out on the bike. Actually, my fingers and toes were only numb for the first 10 miles. They functioned fairly well the last 11 miles. And, I was able to cough up nearly all of the lake water and amoebas during the first 20 minutes of the ride. The Great Clermont bike course is regarded by many to be the toughest course in the South. For those who don’t know it, there are some killer hills in the Clermont area. I have hit speeds in excess of 50 mph on some of the down hills. I have also hit 5 mph on some of the up hills. This course had all of that and some pretty technical turns. I know you NASCAR fans aren’t impressed by speeding through a turn at more than 30 mph, but when all you have for protection is a helmet and a few ounces of lycra it can be a real adrenaline rush.
Brenda’s swim wave started 12 minutes before me so I had hoped to catch her on the bike. Upon cresting one of the hills and starting my descent I could see a crash ahead with mangled bike, blood and paramedics. As I got closer I thought, “I hope the person is all right and I hope the person isn’t Brenda”. Just then I passed the old girl and a feeling of relief came over me, although I still wonder about the fate of the injured rider. I passed several other mechanical accidents (flat tires and broken cranks) but nothing serious. You never know what might happen in a triathlon.
I finished the bike portion of the race feeling fairly fresh. By now I had been swimming and spinning for around 1 hour and 25 minutes. For a runner, a triathlon is like saving desert for last. There is nothing like jumping off that bike and hitting the roads on foot. With all the waves that started before me and all the people who are better swimmers or cyclist than me, there were hundreds of people for me to pass over the 5 mile course. At a pace about 10 to 12 seconds faster than my marathon pace I felt like a turbo charged sports car speeding past a highway full of family minivans.
By now the temperature was probably around 60 degrees and the winds had died down quite a bit: perfect running conditions (like my vision of the perfect race). The run course was fairly flat and fast. With all the hills available, this was a pleasant surprise. I could look over at the lake at several points during the run and see how calm the water had gotten. “Why can’t we do the swim now”, I thought.
I finished the race in just over 2 hours (2:02). I had hoped to finish around in 1:45:00, but setting realistic race goals has never been my strong point (I’ve been shooting for the sub 3 hour marathon for 10 years!). But, with all the physical and technical problems that are possible in a triathlon, there really is a feeling of accomplishment when you can finish one in one piece. Brenda also survived and finished in 2 hours and 23 minutes.
Most people around here don’t realize it, but we live near what many consider to be the triathlon capitol of the United States. Clermont has more triathlon races per year than any other location in the country, with distances ranging from Sprints to the full Iron Man. There is even a U.S. National Training Facility there. As an endurance athlete, you owe it to yourself to give the sport a try. Not doing so would be like living near the Great Barrier Reef and not scuba diving.