I DIDN'T WIN ANY MONEY
DALLAS - Yesterday I completed the 2nd annual Toyota US Open Triathlon in Dallas, TX. It was a major disappointment because the race had a $250,000 purse for prize money. I won $0.
I don't understand what could have gone wrong. I started the race great. My wetsuit and newly learned sighting technique did their jobs on the swim. I felt fast and strong. Even when I turned back to shore and the sun was pounding its hideous and violent rays into my goggles and reflecting off the water causing many swimmers to become disoriented and confused, screaming out "where are we? which direction do we go? why am I surrounded by water," I was able to maintain a fast pace and finished the swim in 33:38 - six minutes faster than my previous triathlon.
The transition area was pretty huge. More than 1600 bikes sat in rack after rack, looking like some type of gargantuan garage sale at the house down the street where the impulsive bike buyer lives.
I made the tranistion from seal to Lance Armstrong wannabe in just over three minutes and was headed out on the bike trail.
At this point I figured I was in contention for some serious money because there were quite a few bikes still in the racks. Also, keep in mind that my first triathlon, when I came up out of the water after a terrible swim, there were about two bikes left in the racks because everyone else was way ahead of me. The two bikes belonged to a UPS courier and a guy who was bitten by a snake and died in the water.
I made great time on the bike, 1:12:47 to be exact. Probably my fastest 40K time EVER.
Arriving in downtown Dallas about an hour and fifty minutes after I first stepped into the water, I changed from Lance Armstrong wannabe to that guy you make fun of on Sunday morning running in tights ... in 1 minute and 43 seconds.
I finished the run in 48:20 and as I crossed the finish line with arms raised and tears flowing, I started looking around for my huge check filled in with whatever prize money I had just won.
Alas, there was none. I only finished 10th out of the 27 participants in my age group. The guy that won first finished in 1:46:52. My time was 2:39:31. He must have a really good and expensive bike...that's the only thing I can think of as to how he could've defeated me and left my penniless.
Oh, I almost forgot...instead of getting a huge sum of money, they did give me a participant medal and a towel so I really have nothing to be disappointed about. I didn't stick around to make sure, but I'm almost positive I was the only person who got a medal and a towel. That makes me feel special even though I have nothing extra in my bank account to show for my efforts in the race.
I don't understand what could have gone wrong. I started the race great. My wetsuit and newly learned sighting technique did their jobs on the swim. I felt fast and strong. Even when I turned back to shore and the sun was pounding its hideous and violent rays into my goggles and reflecting off the water causing many swimmers to become disoriented and confused, screaming out "where are we? which direction do we go? why am I surrounded by water," I was able to maintain a fast pace and finished the swim in 33:38 - six minutes faster than my previous triathlon.
The transition area was pretty huge. More than 1600 bikes sat in rack after rack, looking like some type of gargantuan garage sale at the house down the street where the impulsive bike buyer lives.
I made the tranistion from seal to Lance Armstrong wannabe in just over three minutes and was headed out on the bike trail.
At this point I figured I was in contention for some serious money because there were quite a few bikes still in the racks. Also, keep in mind that my first triathlon, when I came up out of the water after a terrible swim, there were about two bikes left in the racks because everyone else was way ahead of me. The two bikes belonged to a UPS courier and a guy who was bitten by a snake and died in the water.
I made great time on the bike, 1:12:47 to be exact. Probably my fastest 40K time EVER.
Arriving in downtown Dallas about an hour and fifty minutes after I first stepped into the water, I changed from Lance Armstrong wannabe to that guy you make fun of on Sunday morning running in tights ... in 1 minute and 43 seconds.
I finished the run in 48:20 and as I crossed the finish line with arms raised and tears flowing, I started looking around for my huge check filled in with whatever prize money I had just won.
Alas, there was none. I only finished 10th out of the 27 participants in my age group. The guy that won first finished in 1:46:52. My time was 2:39:31. He must have a really good and expensive bike...that's the only thing I can think of as to how he could've defeated me and left my penniless.
Oh, I almost forgot...instead of getting a huge sum of money, they did give me a participant medal and a towel so I really have nothing to be disappointed about. I didn't stick around to make sure, but I'm almost positive I was the only person who got a medal and a towel. That makes me feel special even though I have nothing extra in my bank account to show for my efforts in the race.
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