With Friends Like These . . .

So I’m only a few days out from my first open water triathlon. Nervous - me?

Yeah, a bit. Mainly because my shoulder still isn’t right, more than anything else. So I just have to take it easy on the swim, and inflict some payback landside. That’s the plan, anyway.

It’s great to know that I’ve got friends supporting me - like Tall Friend, who sent me this yesterday:

From: “Tall Friend” <tall.friend@bigcorp.com>
Date: 21 August 2007 08:41:01 BDT
To: “Karl McCracken” <shorter.friend@somedomain.me.uk>
Subject: RE: Hebburn Start Times

5 days until Hartlepool.
Are you ready?

Bike with gripping tyres; check
Non-quick release tri-bars; check
Trainers with automatic bollard avoidance radar; check
Wetsuit; oh come on it can’t be that cold can it? check
Sunglasses that go opaque at first sign of danger; check

What could possibly go wrong?
Lanky

Old RosieI’m not sure if he’s just trying to wish me luck in his own way, or push me over the edge. Of course, I could reply to remind him that I beat him in our last outing . . .but the margin (10 seconds in 67 minutes) is a little too small for me to crow over. Put it this way - Tall Friend’s T1 routine is SLOW, and I’d want a good ten minutes lead over him to start feeling confident enough to taunt him.

Either that, or spike his pre-race Rice Crispies with ‘Old Rosie‘.

Workout:

  • Type: Cycle
  • Date: 08/21/2007
  • Time: 13:06:14
  • Total Time: 2:10:00.00
  • Distance: 35 miles
  • Average Speed: 16.15 mph

Filed under: Cycle, Goals, Triathlon

4 Responses to “ With Friends Like These . . . ”

  1. Bill on August 22, 2007 at 4:46 am

    You’ll do just fine in the open water, Karl. Yeah, you won’t see the lines and possibly not even your hands, but that’s OK.

    Remember, any means of propulsion during the swim is acceptable, so if your shoulder’s bugging you with the crawl, do breast for a bit, then switch to sidestroke, etc.

    Then smoke ‘em landside.

  2. Brad Hefta-Gaub on August 22, 2007 at 7:33 am

    Wow, payback is gonna be a b*tch if he doesn’t beat you handily. When you blow past him on the bike make sure to say something clever.

  3. Hobbes on August 22, 2007 at 7:40 am

    Bill - any propulsion . . . like crawling over the bodies of other competitors?! ;-)

    Brad - Sadly, Tall Friend’s afraid of either getting another thrashing from me this weekend . . . or from his wife - it’s their wedding anniversary, so he’s opted for a weekend of doing romantic things instead of getting his butt kicked by me. And I thought he was keen.

  4. Von Smallhaussen on August 23, 2007 at 7:20 pm

    Good luck this weekend. Will be thinking of you whilst in my muddy tent at Leeds.