USAT Nationals Day 3 -- Warm Up

Sorry for the egregious interval betwixt my last entry and this one. My life has been seriously full lately. It's mostly good stuff, including social activities (with a real live female, believe it or not!), interesting work at the office, and swim lessons a-plenty. I am blessed to have so many good things happening to me...but you know me -- I'll still complain because the stupid Lottery has not yet seen fit to provide the resources I need to live the life of leisure for which I was placed upon this earth. Oh well.

I had also intended to finish describing this trip before I competed in my next race, but alas, I didn't get it done. The Desert's Edge Triathlon (near Fruita, Colorado) took place this weekend, and I was there to partake in all its wonders (sweltering heat, inattentive course marshals, and dusty trails that almost certainly boasted gila monsters, rattlesnakes, and scorpions lurking behind the sagebrush, etc.) That story will follow the completion of the current saga. Please stay tuned.

Anyway...Onward with the story of USAT Nationals:

My arrival in Milwaukee occurred on Day 2, and checking into the motel was the only event worth noting. It was a nice room, but one thing puzzled me. The door to the bathroom had a notch in it at the height that would indicate it was once hung elsewhere. The notch corresponded with the "security bar" height on the room's main door. I just found it odd that a door that had once nobly served as a partition between a weary traveler and the pedestrian hall outside had somehow been relegated to lowly bathroom duty. (By the way, if you are interested in any of the photos posted here today, you may simply click on one to embiggen it.)



Hotel soap also puzzles me. While the majority of the packaging industry long ago developed perforations, notches, and various user-friendly glues to aid the consumer in easily accessing the enclosed product, it seems that the hotel soap industry has opted for borrowing hermitic sealing strategies from NASA and the CIA. It seems impossible to open the soap packet without explosives, laser weapons, and a kung-fu grip. But I wanted to take a shower, so I had to try.

Fortunately, I have bulging muscles and badger-like determination. By twisting, biting, yanking, and nearly enherniating myself, I was finally able to cause the soap package to burst.

Unfortunately, the sudden and violent decomposition of the package launched the soap disc across the bathroom...and right into the toilet.

No, I did not retrieve it. But did manage a shower despite the soapcake setback, and was able to get a good night's sleep.

The next day was all about getting checked in and ready for the race. I got it started with a good breakfast -- the hotel provided an all-you-can-eat breakfast burrito buffet, and everything was delicious!

But that brings up another frustration, which I will blame on the hotels...but is really the fault of my aging and slowing metabolism. There was a time in my life when an all-you-can eat buffet was one of those cherished gems that added sunshine and joy to my life whenever they appeared. I've never been particularly discriminating in my culinary tastes; one of my favorite AYCE opportunities is the Deluxe Dinner at Casa Bonita.

When I was on Wichita Swim Club, the local Pizza Hut made the mistake of offering an unlimited pizza night right after practice. Our group of famished teenage swimmers promptly caused them to reassess that idea when they couldn't even bake them fast enough to keep up with us. They definitely lost money on that deal.

We were kicked out and banned from the store. The manager said it was because Roger Neugent started a fire by holding a napkin over a candle...but I think it was because we ate too much.

Anyway, I still love to eat until I'm stuffed. (I'm sure it's because my mother told me that gorging myself would somehow benefit the starving heathens in India -- and I truly wanted to help out the best I could.) The problem is that I no longer posses my teenage metabolism nor cholesterol numbers. Eating more than one breakfast burrito or Belgian waffle would exacerbate my already grotesque obesity, so I am forced to shun the treats that I feel my extravagant payment to the hotel entitles me to.

You have no idea how hard it is to walk away from free food when there's still room for more. But an athlete needs to think in terms of fuel requirements vs. weight carried. F = MA, and all that.

So, I asked my cell phone for directions to the race site, and headed over to get checked in. I spotted my friends Kevin and Paige, and chatted with them as we waited for the swim venue to open up for practice.



Not only are they an adorable couple, but they're both outstanding athletes who share their knowledge and passion with others at all times.

Kevin made a pretty good case for how comfortable and beneficial his wetsuit was, but with the race the next morning and no money in my checking account, I remained committed to racing sans neoprene.

The swim venue was gorgeous, starting from Discovery World and swimming under the footbridge pictured here, then doing a loop around the buoys. The water felt great!



The exit ramp was steep and slick, but its white surface would be easy to sight on during the race. The sidewalk connecting the swim ramp to the transition area was LONG (and made of concrete), so I decided that I would try to cache a pair of shoes somewhere near the swim ramp right before the race.



After I swam enough to feel completely comfortable with the course layout, I texted my friend Carrie and we figure out where to meet.

We took the obligatory photos posing by the blood fountain in front of the finish line arch. (My guess was that the color symbolized the agony and effort experienced by the racers, but never found confirmation of this speculation.)

Both our bikes were locked to the rack on the back of my car, which was in the parking garage a couple of blocks away. We walked over and picked up the bikes and transition gear.



With 3000 athletes competing, the transition area was pretty big. For some reason, though, Carrie and I had our designated bike slots about 6 feet away from each other.



I hung my bike on the rack and figured out how to arrange my other gear for transition. After that, Carrie and I spent a little time roaming through the vendor booths, and I bought a nice wicking cap with the USAT logo on it. (When I finally looked through my race packet that evening, I found that they had included the same hat in our swag bag. Oh well...now I have two USAT hats.)

My evening was uneventful. I got some dinner and got in bed early, knowing that I wouldn't get a full night's sleep. Tanner's plane was supposed to get in after 11pm. I was sleeping soundly when that hour came and went.

Day 4 began at about 12:45am, when Tanner arrived. His flight had landed sometime shortly before midnight, and he was able to locate the hotel shuttle without trouble or cost. Of course, the scheduling was not ideal -- as we needed to arise at approximately 5:30am to get down to the race course.



It was a beautiful morning! And I love the energy you feel when surrounded by athletes waiting for a race to begin. I did notice that I was the only guy there without a wetsuit, and was probably the fattest person in the entire event.

Or maybe the wetsuits just made everybody else look skinnier. Tanner took the camera and did an excellent job responding to whatever requests I made...even though it was about 6 hours earlier than he would normally get out of bed.

The swim would start along the long dock beside Discovery World. They finally called our heat to warm up, and I took my dramatic leap into the water.



They started the first wave while my heat was warming up. But it didn't seem like much time at all passed before they called us over into the starting area. I positioned myself in a spot near the middle of the dock, up toward the front of the line. It didn't seem that crowded.



Our next installment will cover the race itself. Thanks for your patience with the slow pace of these postings; I hope you'll come back to get my perspective on competing against the nation's finest.

Have a great day!