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The GREAT DNF

This morning, I woke up at 5:00 am to go and participate in a relay triathlon with Tara and Sue. This was the day that Tara was swimming her big swim! I was more excited than Tara and was looking forward to sharing this experience with her. On our drive up to Alum Creek I was lamenting about the fact that there wasn't any good music on the radio. As we were pulling into the park, my guilty pleasure came on the radio and I made the declaration that this was going to be a great race!

My guilty pleasure:


We stood in line, set up the transition area and sent Tara off on her swim. She was a champ and had a great swim!!! She ran into the transition area at which point I hopped on my bike and took off for my 26 mile bike ride. I was following the road markers and at a certain point felt in my gut that I was off course. I looked at my watch and was about 17 miles or so into the ride. Then I looked again at about 20 miles and realized I was still heading away from the park. I turned the navigation on, on my watch and decided I would follow the GPS back to the start... And then I ran into road markers again and decided to follow those instead. Well that was the next mistake...

After resetting my navigation again, I ran into a police officer (this was at about mile 35 or so) and he gave me directions back to Alum Creek. And away I went... During this ride, all I could think about is that I didn't have my phone and I was disappointing my team. Sue was on the mind because she still had a 10k to run when I got back to the transition area. This was weighing on me very heavily when the big white SUV appeared. He pulled up next to me, asked me if I was part of the triathlon (yes) and I told him I wanted to get to the beach the quickest way possible. He told me he would escort me in, and that is exactly what he did. He drove in front of me for the remainder of the race.

When I got to the beach, I saw my friend Chris standing there with Sue and Andrew... The were holding the glorious sun at which point I said 'expletive' the sun... (I don't remember this but they all confirmed that I said it). I rode up to the nice guy in the SUV, said thank you and promptly fell over while trying to unclip from my bike. I was splayed out on the ground bleeding when Sue walked up to me, helped me up, took my bike and told me that we were at the end. I ruined her run...

I talked to the race director and Jody and Tara appeared (they were out in their car searching for me). The race director was kind and caring and for that I am extremely thankful. I feel as though the staff at Greenswell are truly swell!!! They made me feel good about the ride and the race even though we were not going to finish the entire race. They welcomed me back and congratulated us for a good effort. They really run some impressive events and are friendly to all participants!!!

Anyway, I cried, I apologized to Sue and Tara for taking away the completion of this great event and then I went and chowed down. After all, I ended up with 47 miles under my belt for that 26 mile bike ride.

The day was not a total bust though. I learned something very valuable from today, and that is you really have to trust your gut.

Anyway, that is the story of the great DNF... I'm so sorry to my team mates that the race ended early... Tara, great job on your swim and Sue, thanks for being there as always!!! I look forward to next year when we kick this triathlon's butt!!!

Comments

  1. I am so glad you found your way back. And I'd have to say - this is not a let down - you learned today what awesome friends you have! Great job!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Oh my! I would have been freaking out! I'm so glad you found your way back. You sure know how to DNF in style! It will eventually be an awesome story to share with your friends for a long time.

    ReplyDelete

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