Lake Stevens super-short, Super-Sprint Triathlon

(0.25/10/3.1miles) - 9/8/18
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BEEN THERE (TO LS), DONE THAT.
I’d learned to swim, and even gotten a 50-yd certificate, during family vacation when we went “Outside” to Lake Stevens, Washington in the summer of 1954 at age 11 (or “Stateside” as we called the 48 states back in the territorial days of my youth in the rain country southeast part of Alaska).  About an hour-and-a-half to the north of Seattle, it’s a little too far to drive on any regular basis in time for early morning triathlon starts but I did go back in 2005 for the first time since 1954 and completed a 1.2 mile swim in their DannonMan Half Ironman.  
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Though no plans to go back after that, I signed up right away this summer when I found out they not only had a new “Retro” category recognizing anyone on old bikes, gear, etc. but that my no 88-yo triathlon nemesis since 1987 (when she was 57 and I was 44), Sister Madonna Buder, was also registered.

RETRO BIKE, . . .  AND RETRO ME
I didn’t have to go through the garage to find old stuff for the Retro Division. My regular Canondale dumpster-rescue road bike from 1990 was such an old model anyway, especially with a leather Brooks saddle from 1968 during college days, a Singapore bicycle license from 1972 and a front wheel so old that a strange noise from within has been deemed unfixable due to lack of parts anymore. Further, I eschew wetsuits as a kind of cheating and my bare feet for the swimming/riding/running legs go all the way back to 1943.  

BIG PROBLEMS
Unfortunately, the Retro division was cancelled and, worse yet,

Sister Madonna didn’t make it so I was on my own and,

if anything could go wrong, it did. .  .
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. . . SWIM - at the deep water swim start off the end of a dock, carelessly fastening the strap of my new fog-free, full-face goggles over the event swim cap was like a string poking out of a water bottle so, of course, a tiny amount of lake water leaked in to exacerbate the Fuchs’ Dystrophy that reduces needed salty viscous liquid on the cornea so, by the turnaround out in the lake, I not only couldn’t see the shoreline trees over the finish but also not even the orange course buoys right in front of me. I tried following passing swimmers in subsequent waves for a while but was soon way off course in the shoreside reeds.  Fortunately, a kind kayaker on the look out for swimmers in trouble spotted my event swim cap and paddled over to steer me back to the way to the timing mats on the beach, finishing the 1/4 mile swim (~4-5 city blocks that’d probably become seven or eight) in a PR worst of 27:59 (vs. previous PRW of 18:58 and good swimmers’ six or seven minutes and most under ten minutes).   
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. . . FLAT TIRE
With, biking about the same as my swim training, as I’ve fully expected for the last several years, the old dumpster tire from the beginning finally started to deflate in the returning five miles of the ten mile bike course.  Fortunately, I was able to nurse it along until mile 8 when it became necessary to dismount and run in with the bike for only the second flat tire time in 41 years of annual triathlons.
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. . . RUN
However, the finale 5K run, more than three minutes faster than the same distance in the SeaFair Triathlon in July, more than made up for swimming and cycling troubles.
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RUNNERS’ HIGH
Though few are as poor as me at swimming, especially since most everyone else does, at least, some training instead of just jumping in the water once-a-year or so at annual triathlons, all runners of all abilities can call upon their racing experience to pass so many of the fast swimmers and cyclists in the finale run who’ve forgotten to pace themselves property for the finale run and are reduced to really slow walking/running, even slower than me.  No wonder runners love triathlons so much.
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ANYONE CAN TRI
In this regard, it’s too bad that so many runners erroneously believe triathlons require swimming and running skills and training equivalent to their running.  Though I’d been running for a year when the first new-fangled triathlon came along to our local town in 1978, I hadn’t swum in 24 years since 1954 or ridden a bike more than the easy mile out to a local trout stream and back in those days too.
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I don’t like swimming back and forth in a chlorinated pool so I’ll never train to be a good swimmer.  However, running’s given me endurance so I can swim and stay afloat long enough for any triathlon swim that doesn’t have a time cutoff.  Probably because of quadriceps muscle memory from skiing days, biking’s a little better and has always been possible without ever having to ride anywhere near an upcoming triathlon bike distance, either.
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As a result, I’ll never be fast but, for me, triathlons are about the challenge of trying

and actually doing something I would otherwise not do plus fun

and cross-training I’d never otherwise do, either.  
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TRIATHLONS COME NATURALLY
Fortunately, as Sister Madonna indicates in her autobiography, triathlons come naturally for anyone who’s ever swum a stroke at sometime in their lives, and who can still float and balance on a bike. I hope everyone herein will be able to try at least one sometime too.  If you are worse than me, I’ll reimburse your entry fee.
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Sister Madonna - Words of Wisdom
^{. . . There is really nothing exceptional about doing a triathlon
. . . Everything in a triathlon is very natural and childlike.
. . . It is not as if we have to develop some great skill
. . . or do unusual maneuvers like gymnasts, ballet dancers or skaters.
. . . You learn to balance a bike at an early age.
. . . Toddlers often break into a run rather than walk.
. . . We all floated in our mothers’ wombs without fear.
. . . So what’s the big deal?}
from “The Grace to Race”
Sister Madonna Buder
Simon & Shuster (2010)

Lake Stevens Triathlon (2018)
^{Super-Sprint Division
(0.25/10/3.1miles)
OA:     2:02:11    242/251
Swim: 0:27:59    250/251 (second to last)
T-1:     0:00:52   10/251
Bike:    0:51:02   232/256 (11.5mph)
T-2:     0:00:30    6/251
Run:    0:41:48    232/251 (13:29m/m)}

ANYONE CAN TRI
In this regard, it’s too bad that so many runners erroneously believe triathlons require swimming and running skills and training equivalent to their running.  Though I’d been running for a year when the first new-fangled triathlon came along to our local town in 1978, I hadn’t swum in 24 years since 1954 or ridden a bike more than the easy mile out to a local trout stream and back in those days too.
......
As a result, I’ll never be fast but, for me, triathlons are about the challenge of trying

and actually doing something I would otherwise not do plus fun

and cross-training I’d never otherwise do, either.  
.
TRIATHLONS COME NATURALLY
Fortunately, as Sister Madonna indicates in her autobiography, triathlons come naturally for anyone who’s ever swum a stroke at sometime in their lives, and who can still float and balance on a bike. I hope everyone herein will be able to try at least one sometime too.  If you are worse than me, I’ll reimburse your entry fee.

I LOVED reading this report, tet!  I can see you out there persevering to the end and having a blast doing it. Good for you. I still have the Siouxperman Triathlon on my list for someday.  It is in Sioux Center Iowa in early May (with a pool swim). I'll let you know if I ever finish one.

Tet, you are a rock star! I really enjoyed reading your race report. Thanks for taking the time to share a little bit of history within your report. It made the report that much more enjoyable and sweeter to read!

Posie