Triathlons are hard

Well, I figured I'd start this vacation with a bang. After all, how hard could it be to arrive in Miami on Saturday night, wake up at 5:30am on Sunday to compete in a triathlon at crandon park? Plus, my brother assured me that a "mini" triathlon wasn't that hard and required little training. It was just a simple little quarter mile swim, 10 mile ride, and 3 mile run.

I was scared at first but I felt pretty confident after some strenuous online research on what constitutes a "proper swimming stroke". I signed up on Wednesday night thinking: The worst thing I can do at this point is train for it because then I'll be sore on the day of the race.

About 1/3rd the way through the swim, I had serious doubts about whether I would live. My pride was only a little hurt when a few of the women from the group that started 4 minutes behind us caught up and passed me. Luckily, there were a few other guys struggling with me who also seemed to be using swimming strokes that only internet research could produce.

I'm happy to say that after a nightmare of a swim, a great bike ride (which had two climbs up the rickenbacker causeway bridge), and a run that just wouldn't seem to end... I finished it! My time was pretty much in the middle of the pack of "first time participants": 1 hour 27 minutes.
Fun stuff. I'm glad the picture doesn't show the woman who just shot past me.