Kate Completes Another Sprint Triathlon and Drags Daniel Along With Her

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Kate Completes Another Sprint Triathlon and Drags Daniel Along With Her
Aug 4, 2008 at 12:49 PM
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- katemn
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August 2, 2008, Durango, CO-With a final effort coming up the hill, Kate crossed the finish line of the Durango Sports and Rec Sprint Triathlon, completing her second sprint-distance triathlon. Daniel was waiting at the finish line for her with a cold bottle of water, having completed the race a while earlier. It was Daniel's first time finishing a triathlon.

The sprint-distance triathlon consists of a 500-meter swim, a 13-mile bike ride, and a 3.1-mile run. Kate has been training since February under the guidance of her boss and his wife, Certified Fitness God and Goddess (CFG). She completed her first sprint triathlon in May when her boss held a race at a local pool. Her time then was one hour, fifty-four minutes, and her mindset about not being an "athlete" was forever changed.

Comparing notes before the Durango event, Kate said, "I know I'll do well on the swim and the bike, but I'm not sure about the run since that's my weakest area. I'd really like to beat my previous time." Daniel, a high-school all-state sports star, responded, "If I can just avoid drowning in the pool, I'll be fine on the rest."

Kate and Daniel left their nephew Morgan, who completed the local triathlon in May but missed the age cutoff for the Durango event by 84 days, in charge of the house. They hid the keys to his four-wheeler and gave him permission to play as many video games as he wanted. They drove with the little ones over to Durango, three hours west over the Continental Divide. That evening there was a pizza party for all the participants in their group and their familes and fans, a total of about 25 people. The group also conducted a little pre-race strategizing.

In the morning, Kate and Daniel left Andrew and Chloe in the competent care of a friend, and left for the Rec center. They registered, got big black numbers painted on their arm and leg, a time chip to wear on their left leg, and an official race number to wear on the bike and run portions of the race.

"I guess we can't really get out of it now," whispered Daniel's friend, sucking down another fruit cup.

In the transition area, they set up their bikes, helmets, shoes, socks and gloves. Strategically positioning these items can save valuable time during transfers between the swim, bike and run.

Daniel was in the first swim heat, Kate in the second. There were two people assigned to each lane and an official counter who kept track of laps completed.

Describing his stroke, Daniel said, "I don't know how to freestyle, or crawl, so I swim on my back. It's not really swimming, it's more of an aggressive float." Aggressively float, he did, ten times down and back. He only bonked his head on the side of the pool once. After that, both Kate and his counter made sure to yell, "wall!" when he got close.

When done, Daniel heaved himself out of the pool and headed off to the transition area to get ready for the bike ride.

Meanwhile, Kate was getting ready for her swim. When the whistle blew, she fell in the water and started to go. Because the cold water threatened to suck the very breath out of her (the pool where she trained, is fed by hot springs and is the temperature of a lovely warm bath), she was forced to focus on breathing.

Kate completed her swim in about 14 minutes and then ran to her bicycle. The bike route led out of town a short way, over rolling hills. Kate pushed herself hard on the downhill parts and worked the uphills. About halfway to the turnaround point, she saw Daniel heading back, up a hill. They waved to each other.

The run, the last section of the race, took them over a little bridge and up a hill into a tree-lined neighborhood where residents were holding garage sales. Kate struggled up the hills, walking hard, and convinced herself to run the straight and downhill parts. She briefly considered perusing the items for sale but figured that would severely compromise her finishing time. Daniel met her on his way back, jogging down the big hill while she was walking up. He crossed the road and gave her a big smooch and a smile and then continued on his way. [Editor's note: Research has not been done to determine whether kissing is legal between participants in a triathlon during the actual race, but it has been heard of before.]

When Kate was at the last tenth of a mile, her friend came up behind her and encouraged her to give it her all right before the finish line. When Kate crossed, she noticed that she had, in fact, beaten her previous time by three minutes and promptly burst into tears. She celebrated by having a popsicle and hugging her family. Daniel's race time was one hour and fifty-four minutes, the exact same time as Kate's first triathlon finish. Cosmic coincidence? This reporter thinks not.

At Daniel's finish, he remarked, "Sorry guys, I had to buy a shop vac at one of the yard sales. That's why it took me so long."

Daniel's friend responded, "if you hadn't haggled, dude, you'd have saved some time."

Their group posed for a picture afterwards. Many were first-time triathletes, including two of Daniel's teaching friends and several of Kate's colleagues. There was much joy to be had in the group, a few sunburned shoulders, and lots of congratulations all around.

"It was so great to have a big group to support and be supported by," Kate said. "I can't imagine doing these events without the camraderie and encouragement."

Daniel commented, "It's a real compliment to your boss that he was able to convince so many people to participate."

Future goals for the couple include continuing to find ways to motivate each other. Specifically, Daniel plans to learn how to swim, and Kate has decided to keep banishing the notion that she is "not an athlete" by attempting a triathlon twice as long.

For more information about how you, too, can learn how to be a triathlete, just shoot us an email, we'll be sitting by our laptops icing our knees.