The 2019 Worthington Indoor Triathlon is history. As you’ll recall from my January 20 post, this athletic challenge involved seeing how far you could go in 45 minutes, with 15 minutes each of swimming, biking, and running. How did I do? I came, I saw, I didn’t conquer but I did survive and complete all the events. Triathlon organizer Ryan Cooper divided the 55 participants into separate “heats,” a wise move that assured the natatorium and the exercise room (where the treadmills were located) wouldn’t be overcrowded. My heat started at 7:50 am on the 17th. I arrived a few minutes early, picked up my SWAG bag and t-shirt, stored my bike-and -running outfit in a locker, and made my way to the pool.

Swimming figured to be my weakest event, so my strategy was simple: Cover as many laps without wearing myself out, thus conserving my energy for biking and running. Using the non-strenuous side stroke and elementary backstroke, I swam back and forth while staying clear of another swimmer with whom I shared a lane that was only about 7 feet wide. A volunteer kept track of my laps and shouted encouragement to me every time I stopped to take a short rest. At the end of 15 minutes, I completed 18 laps in the Olympic-size pool, which equaled .26 miles. That wasn’t too bad, since in practice, I’d never gone more than 15 laps. Even so, in comparison to the other triathletes, I was well below average, finishing 11th out of 15 in my age group. The top swimmer in my 50-and-over age group covered 34 laps (.48 miles) while the best swimmer of all stroked out 41 laps (.58 miles).

I had ten minutes to dry off and change into shirt and shorts for the last two events. I actually made the transition pretty smoothly and arrived ready for biking with a few minutes to spare. About seven or eight studio fitness bikes had been moved into the “Fishbowl,” which is typically used for children’s parties. As I mentioned in my January 20 post, the speed of these bikes is a combination of how fast you are pedaling and how much resistance the pedals are giving you. I ended up traveling 5 miles, which was okay, but slightly below my best of 5.1 miles. I had a minor crisis early in this event when my bike seat suddenly dropped several notches, placing me in an uncomfortable position. Fortunately, a volunteer came to my rescue, and raised the seat for me while I pedaled standing up for a few seconds. (Overall, the volunteers were very alert to the needs of the triathletes and responded to them quickly.)

Finally came the running on a treadmill. Five years ago, I would have been eager for this last leg of the triathlon, but now I was apprehensive. Chronic pain in my right knee — the likely result of torn cartilage, according to my doctor — left me fearful of collapsing in the middle of the run if I went too fast too soon. So I started off slow at 6 mph (a 10-minute/mile pace). At the 5-minute mark, with the knee holding firm, I went up to 6.4 mph and finished at 7 mph. The battered knee never bent (pun intended) under the pressure. If I had known it was going to do so well, I would have run faster sooner. Still, my 1.61 miles placed me second in my age group, by far my best performance. I might add that the need to move quickly from one event to the next, left little time for triathletes to talk to each other. However, a few men in my age group told me how much they liked the inscription on my shirt: “There will come a day when I cannot do this; TODAY is not that day.”

My total distance of 6.87 miles didn’t bring me any awards. The top performer in my age group covered 9.83 miles and the winner of the whole triathlon swam, biked, and ran 10 miles. The top female performer, who was a respectable 5th overall, reached 9.65 miles. Still I can take some pride in the fact that I was the oldest man competing and the second oldest out of all 55 triathletes. (A 70-year-old woman was the oldest.) Will I try this again, next year? I’ll give that a definite maybe. I’m pretty confident I could do better if I start training sooner and show more discipline when offered Christmas goodies. On the day of the triathlon, I was still at least seven pounds over my pre-Christmas weight. Molasses cookies, peanut brittle, pumpkin pie, and eggnog are delicious, but they are a definite obstacle to anyone who wants to swim, bike, and run for 45 minutes.