Go Daddy, Go!

This weekend we made our (fourth) annual trip to north-west Illinois to join 1400 other people in the swim-bike-run endeavor they call the Galena Triathlon. This year I convinced my training partner and good buddy Don to join the fun. He'd done a couple of other sprint tri's, and is generally game to try anything once, so we rented a house in a resort area outside of town, packed our cheering section into the cars and made a weekend out of it.

Actually, our wives rented the house and did most of the packing. And cooking. And cheering. (Thanks ladies, you're the greatest!)

On their way up to Galena, Don and Leann stopped at the airport to pick up Lisa L. from Wyoming/Virginia who had also somehow been convinced to join us. She had been to Galena before, but the last time she was here was the year the race was canceled because of weather - we were hoping for better luck this time.

Lisa, Don, and Me, somehow looking taller and more confident than I really am, getting ready to go on a beautiful, sunny Saturday morning.
This was pre-wetsuit. We look much better than this in our wetsuits, but you'll just have to use your imaginations because we got no pictures to prove it. The water was 59 degrees, the swim 600 meters, and I was very grateful for my new neoprene skin.

The route at Galena isn't very good for taking pictures, but Andrea was able to snap a shot of me coming in to the bike/run transition. The legs are feeling a little wobbly here after the 16 mile hill-fest-with-a-cross-wind, and I'm not looking forward to the 4 mile run that's ahead, but it could have been worse.
It could have been better too. Our highly technical training schedule - consisting mainly of interrupted intentions and short bursts of enthusiasm - paid off like Don and I kind of expected. I was five minutes slower than last year. Don survived. 'Nuff said.

Here we are drowning our sorrows in a banana, planning for next year... ...next year?! Sure. In spite of the discomfort, the race really is fun. It gives me some motivation in the dead of winter to get my lazy rear to the gym, and with fans like this how could I not keep doing it?
A quick picture of the whole crew (except Lisa who was taking the picture) Sunday morning, all cleaned up and looking good!
From the Official Results:


Place No. Name Swim Tran1 Bike Tran2 Run Final
===== === ======== ===== ===== ======= ===== ===== =======
220 245 Darren O 11:25 3:28 1:00:23 0:55 37:28 1:53:37
491 252 Luke P 16:04 6:01 1:06:04 1:32 42:45 2:12:24
528 277 Rob V 14:25 5:41 1:08:57 2:19 43:40 2:15:01
562 491 Lisa L 14:09 5:05 1:12:56 2:16 43:47 2:18:11
613 269 Don S 14:22 4:38 1:12:28 1:38 49:53 2:22:57