2007 Polar Bear race report

Saturday I completed the Polar Bear Triathlon held at White Sands Missile range outside of Las Cruces NM. This was the fourth year in a row I'd done this race. The Polar Bear is the first race of the 2008 South West Challenge series & has the awards ceremony for the 2007 South West Challenge series afterwards. Consequently there is usually a somewhat large showing of people. Usually between 200-300 triathletes.

When I got to the race sight at 5:30 am I was amazed at how windy it was. There were gusts that had to be around 40 miles an hour. My first thought took me by surprise. I was quietly hoping they'd cancel the race due to the severe wind. I'm usually a race fanatic completing at least 10 triathlons, a couple duathlons, a half marry,a century, a few 5 & 10 K's each year. But I didn't want to race that morning at all. I don't know why for sure, perhaps it's because I've gained enough weight that I knew I'd have a poor performance & I was dreading seeing such negative results. Perhaps it's because emotionally I have not yet recovered from my Silverman debacle. Or maybe it's because I would of been humiliated by how much I'd jiggle inside my tri suit. I'm not sure, I just know I realized I was burned out on racing and thought it would of been a great idea to not race. If the race was canceled I could have visited with my fellow triathletes, & to me that kind of morning sounded like fun! Now it does need to be said I felt burned out on racing, not training. I still have a fierce Passion for training.

By 7 am the wind died down, the sun came out, & the temperature was at a comfortable range. No chance at all for a cancellation. So I begrudgingly set up my tri gear next to where I had placed my bike in the transition area. Once it was time for the race to start I heard my Uncle Travis say "better keep the transition area clear or I may end up falling on somebody". He's relatively new to triathlon & isn't yet proficient at doing a running mount onto his bike. He crashes occasionally taking down animals and small children with him:)

This race was a reverse triathlon consisting of a 7 Kilometer run, 30 kilometer bike, & 400 meter swim. Since the run was first it was a mass start. I started in the middle of the pack knowing that the weight I have put on was going to slow me down allot. Starting directly in front of me was Skoshi, one of my favorite people of all time. She's the sweetest person I've met in as long as I can remember. She's 5 foot tall if she's wearing platform shoes and barely 100 lbs. 15 seconds into the race Mark Mico runs up behind me & goosed me. People can get great reactions from a man who's been working in prison for 12 years. Skoshi came close to having to give a 230 lb triathlete hop a ride onto her back:)

That ended up being one of the top 3 worst runs of my life. I averaged around a 8:45 min mile. When I got on the bike I was pretty disgusted with my performance up to that point. The first half of the bike was slightly downhill and Clydes usually haul butt down hill. But I did not that day. At the half way point I started drinking some Amp energy drink for a little bit of a boost. I'd never tried this before in training or racing. But I didn't care if I had a worse race at that point. slow is slow. I suppose there are varying degrees of slow. But I'm not going to debate the specifics of slow here. I figured it couldn't get much worse.

I'm not sure if being passed to many times motivated me or if the energy drink worked REALLY well! But the 2nd half of the race was one of the best experiences I've ever had on a bike. Fat Boy got up & MOVED! About 10 Kilometers from T-2 I passed a 16 year old kid named John. John got really fast recently. He told me he's been running every morning & has lost almost 20 lbs. I was impressed to say the least. John had never beaten me on a run before. He did that day. He beat me badly too!His bike is probably his weakest event & once I passed him that first time it was a war the rest of the ride. I'd pass him, then he'd pass me a few seconds later. Apparently his weakest sport isn't very weak any longer. That boy laid a smack down. Once I got into the pool I had the best swim of my entire life. I passed John & my Uncle Travis around the mid point of the pool. 75 yards from the end I got a massive cramp in my left calf but kept paddling through the pain. Road Rash was watching me & told me I looked like a question mark in the water from that point on. Must of been a big question. LOL.

Not sure how, but I finished 2nd place Clydesdale 39 & under with a time of 1:49. That's only the 2nd time I've ever finished top 3 at the Polar Bear before. But that has allot to do with the big guns like Arnold Ciniceros and Felix Hinoso not toeing the line that morning. regardless of my placing I'm glad I bit the bullet & raced even though I only felt like spectating. That race revamped my love for racing. I'm exited about racing again.

After the Polar Bears awards ceremony I went to another awards ceremony for the 2007 South West Challenge mulisport series. The challenge series is made up of 28 races throughout New Mexico & West Texas. A person has to complete a minimum of 8 races to qualify for the series. They take a persons best 8 races to score the season. I was awarded the 1st place trophy for the Clydesdale 39 & under division.

All in all it was a great day. Best part of the day was being able to hang out with my friends & team mates after the race. A person can look the rest of their life & never find more supportive & caring people than you'll find at a triathlon.