Colorado Triathlon and Paddleboarding, June 4, 2022

June 04, 2022

I like triathlons. I really do. However I do doubt myself a lot. I have fear of open water and I also feel like I am a bit of an imposter cyclist. Most triathletes were cyclists first but I was not. I am a good swimmer but I also have a very real fear of open water. I know that these are things to work on and I try very hard to do so.

I do my best to swim in open water when possible. Unfortunately, I only had a week to do open water swimming before my race on June 4. The water has just been too cold. I registered for an open water swim race 2 days before the triathlon. The funny thing about a deep phobia is that it never goes away. I have been swimming consistently the whole year and even went open water swimming at Chatfield prior to the race. I started the race fine and then I started feeling like something heavy was sitting on my chest and I couldn’t breathe. I kept trying to put my head in the water and swim but I kept feeling like I couldn’t breathe. I completed the race doing breaststroke with my head above the water. It was very traumatic.

The night before the triathlon, I got real scared and hardly slept. I didn’t wake up early enough and almost missed the race. As soon as I parked the car, I got on my bike and rode as fast as I could to the start. When I pressed on the brakes, it made a loud sound and a bunch of Boulder cyclists started laughing at me. This is the very reason I don’t ever feel like I am a real cyclist. The Boulder cyclists can really make you feel low. My theory is that they have a lot of money and are used to bossing and acting like they are above others.

I kept hurrying and getting my stuff set up and a nice volunteer came up to me and said, “Give me your arm sweetie so I can write your race number. Don’t stress about this. It isn’t as if you are late for work or anything.” I wanted to hug that lady!

I started to put my wetsuit on and I talked to many of the swimmers. Everyone was super nervous and making jokes. They really settled my nerves a lot. The sun was also out very bright and warm. It felt good to put by body in the 63 degree water. It was very nice and relieving. When the start gun went off, I was surprised to find out that my swim was very easy and relaxed. My breathing was calm and I was enjoying myself. I was enjoying myself so much that I looked up and saw that I was going the wrong direction. One of the kayaks came and told me to turn the other direction. He caught me before I got too far off track, thankfully.

I got out of the water and onto the bike. I felt like I held my own pretty well. I would pass a few people and a few people would pass me. I rode up next to a guy and he said, “Damn! These guys are fast!” I said, “Welcome to Boulder!” I made him laugh. I also looked at the beautiful scenery. The bike portion takes almost an hour so it is easily the biggest part of the triathlon. It was a perfectly clear day and the mountains were gorgeous. The course is pretty flat with a few rolling hills. It was quite fun.

At the end of the bike portion, I got off running with my bike helmet still on. I didn’t go too far so I turned around and put it down so I wouldn’t look silly. I had quite a bit of speed and I had so much fun passing people. I passed almost everyone that passed me on the bike. A few fast men passed me.

When I finished, I enjoyed a bit of the festivities and talked to a few people. They wouldn’t let me get in to take my bike home for 45 minutes so I had time to walk around. I was surprised to see that I finished 3rd in my age group. 2 women that passed me on the bike walked up to me and said I was very speedy on the run.

So here is the things about triathlons that I love; They are hard. They are scary. They require a lot of preparation. They work all different parts of your body. They push you to overcome challenges that are not just physical in nature. Overcoming those fears and mastering the skill is a huge accomplishment. Triathlon is a metaphor for life.

The next day, I took the kids to Chatfield to try out our new paddle boards. It was a perfect day and very warm. We got inflatable boards, which most people seem to have now. They fit in a backpack and you can carry them down to the beach and blow them up. They are surprisingly easy to set up.

We attached lifejackets to our board and took off. We went pretty far into the reservoir and just laid out and talked. It was very relaxing and peaceful.