The 2012 Buffalo Triathlon is in its ninth year and going strong. The weather, wow, very nice for early June with race day temps approaching 80 F, mostly sunny skies to start, and light winds out of the south.
The Buffalo Triathlon remains one of my favorite events of the year. I hope it remains on my calendar for years to come. I enjoy this event for many reasons; the town and support of the volunteers, the small town grass roots feel of the event, the high level of competition, the challenging course, and the list goes on.
This year was made even more special for me because my daughter (Alexandra) and two of her high school swim mates and friends(Peyton and Maddy) were participating as a team. They signed up for the Olympic distance event (the long course) and Alexandra was swimming, Peyton doing the bike, and Maddy the run. Alexandra has done the Miracles of Mitch Triathlon a couple of times, but this would be the girl’s first go at an event of this magnitude.
Needless to say I’m very proud of these three young ladies for taking on this challenge and completing the event strong. Each had to face a variety of challenges throughout the day and each found a way to overcome those challenges and finish their leg of the event strong.
Alexandra, already a three time letter winner in swimming for Park High School and just finishing her Freshman year, has a deep seated fear of open water. Unfortunately, I think this is something she inherited from me. My anxiety in open water is only tamed by repetition which seems to desensitise the fear with frequency. She, on the other hand, has only had a few open water swims ever. Once last year at Square lake, and twice this year, once Saturday evening before the race, and once on Sunday for the race. Like me, she does not like when things, people, seaweed, fish, etc. touch you while swimming. In addition, her imagination gets the best of her; I wonder what might be down there and maybe it will come up from the bottom…
On Saturday, after checking in to the hotel, we went over to Sturgis Park where the triathlon startfinish would occur to swim a bit. Alexandra also decided that she would not be wearing a wet suit, she was planning on wearing her fastskin for the race, but for the practice, just a suit. After the initial shock of the water temp (actually not too bad, probably 68 – 70 F range) we started out toward the fountain, the first leg of the swim. Within a couple of hundred yards she was pulling on my leg, and she had that look (what have I gotten myself into?). The water, in addition to being cool, was choppy and there was a significant amount of weeds. We continued on and when we got to the fountain (maybe 500 yards or so) we stopped. I could see the concern in her eyes. We chatted about pacing and strategy, turned, and headed back in.
I knew that I would need to get her in the water in the morning for a warm- up before the race started, and I was hoping that the conditions would be improved. A calm lake would make a significant difference for her.
We headed back to the hotel and then over to packet pick up. Zion Church in Buffalo was hosting packet pick up and a spaghetti dinner. Brett Oden, M.D., Chris Legh, and Jill Hanson would be speaking, and there was a mini expo as well. The proceeds from the dinner were going to help with the churches’ youth groups.
When we headed over in the morning all three girls were anxious about what the day would bring. There was the normal nervous tension, but for them the unknown was weighing on them. I helped them get their transition area set up, and they reviewed the transition area and how the chip would need to be exchanged throughout the day. We got body marked, took some pictures, and then I left them to themselves as I prepared a bit myself.
After the race meeting, prayer, and national anthem, Alexandra and I headed down to the beach for our swim warm up. The lake was calm this morning but felt a bit chillier in the morning air. The biggest drama of the day occurred before we left the hotel. Alexandra brought her old fastskin and put a hole in it while trying to put it on, so she would be going with a swim suit only. She looked around for others but found that 98% of the athletes had wet suits. And the fact that the announcer kept saying ‘we do not have an accurate water temp this morning, wetsuits are not mandatory today but highly recommended’…
We got in and swam a couple of hundred yards and discussed more strategy as I attempted to keep her focused on the thing she actually had control over. My biggest fear of the day was that I was in wave seven and Alexandra in wave eight, which meant that unless she passed me, I would not know how she did and that she was okay until much later in the day. This unknowing would weigh heavy on my thoughts for a good portion of the day. As my wave was called to the starting coralle, I gave her a hug and wished her well.
As the day progressed I thought about how the girls were doing. When out on the bike I thought about how Peyton might feel at this point of the race, or on the run, wondering if I might see them on the course.
With about a mile left on the run I saw Maddy heading out on the course. As we passed I uttered some words of encouregment and gave her a high five. After finishing and catching up with Alexandra and Peyton about the swim and bike, I headed back out on the run course to find Maddy. I caught up with her with about 1-1/2 miles left. I offered her some water and told her I would run in with her, to just run her race. When we approached the final 1/8 mile, I let her go to finish it out.
As they celebrated their accomplishment, I felt pride. They each had to overcome a variety of obstacles and challenges and each found the strength and will power to overcome and complete what they had started. I hope they take away from this expierence the knowledge that anything is possible and that they can accomplish anything they set their mind to doing. And thanks for taking me along on your journey!
