Journey to Kona Day 230: Remembering My First Triathlon

With 19 days left before Kona, it's time to start reminiscing.  I've already decided that starting 14 days from Kona, I'll wear my finishers shirt from each Ironman that I've done.  I can also look back to my race report from each race as well.  It seems like a good way to "get in the mood" for Kona.  It's also a tribute to what it's taken to get me to this point.  It got me to thinking about my first triathlon, and in the next four days I'll write about some of the other races that have held special meaning to me.

The year was 1992.  I was 32 years old.  Prior to 1989, triathlon wasn't really in my minds eye.  Yes, I'd seen Julie Moss crawl across the finish line in 1982.  During medical school, I thought about taking up running, but never did.  My exercise had consisted of playing basketball, which usually led to some sort of injury.  I'd never run a mile non stop.  I started swimming at the local Jewish Community Center.  I had bought a bicycle.  I really had no concept of training.  I knew that at some point I had to start running.  I was somehow drawn to triathlon, and I knew that someday I wanted to be an Ironman.

I've written about how I built up my legs on a Stairmaster and then a treadmill.  I'd done a 5K. I wanted to do my first triathlon.  Lo and behold, there was a sprint triathlon in my hometown of Cerritos in April of 1992.  I bought clip-on aerobars for my touring bike.  I wore a Speedo. The Cerritos tri was what is now called a "reverse triathlon."  It started with a 5K run, followed by a 15K bike, and finished with a 200m pool swim.

I don't recall a lot about that first triathlon. I remember warming up, and I have vague recollections of people pulling on my feet on the pool swim.  I finished.  I don't remember what I felt like, except that I wanted to do another one of these.  My wife brought the kids along to watch, which was a big mistake.  Trying to keep an eye on a 5 year old and 1 year old while trying to catch a glimpse of me on the course was more stressful than it was fun.  Family spectating for my races was rightfully off to a poor start.  A year later, I did the Cerritos Tri for the second time.  I have photos of that race.  By this time, I'd bought my first triathlon oriented bike, a Cannondale R900 if I recall correctly.  At some point I set my sights on doing an Ironman by the time I was 40.  Unfortunately, life got in the way of that goal, but that's another story for another day.