Monday a.m.

Start of Jim-N-I ride

Good morning! A new day and a new week await us, and I'm ready to get going on/in to it. You? I'm enjoying the summer thus far, and there is whole lot more of it to come.

Saturday was the 10th Jim-N-I triathlon, an informal tri started by 2 friends, Jim S and Steve B, long time friends from the days of optometry school. This was my 3rd year of participation. The event is a long course tri, really a modified/shortened half Ironman, IF you do the whole thing. The swim is 1.2 miles, the ride 50 miles (6 less than half IM), and the run is 9 miles (4 less than half IM).

There were not as many participants this year, due to various reasons and conflicts in schedules. I will give you the Allen-centric view of the event. The first thing to remember is a year and a half ago is that I could not swim. At all. I could dog paddle 10 feet before panic set in. Last year at JNI I managed about 400 really ugly yards. It was ugly again this year, but I did about 800 this time - one lap (out of 3, if doing the full swim).

There is always tension, in my mind, between the amount of progress made and the amount that you need to make. They stand like an angel and a devil on my shoulder, regarding my Ironman goal. One shouts, "you are never going to get the swim thing!" and other counters, "Look how far you have come!" In the end, I strive to listen to the latter more and former less, knowing that I still have 1 year and 5 months to work. IF I kept on the trajectory of progress I am on, then I will be fine.

After the swim came the bike - 50 miles of wind. It's always windy, it seems, around Sullivan. We go from Sullivan over to the river by Merom, then to Carlisle, and back in a little more direct way. The ride rolls easy for 5-6 miles, and then it starts fast. I was prepared this year. I got on and we were going 28, 29 mph within a couple of minutes. I was told to hang on and it would slow some. It did. I managed to hang on for 3-4 miles, and then I just couldn't stay any longer. I had a long, windy ride to the SAG stop. It was fine. The last 20 miles were good.

It got hot on the ride. Iron Bill was saying his bike computer was reading 90+. It didn't feel that hot to me. Then the run started. I started feeling nauseous at about 2 miles. Not good. I gutted the run out, or maybe I should say, I gutted it in. I would run to the point of losing my nutritional intake and then walk. Then I would run to the same point again. It was ugly, but in the end I completed the 9 miles.

It was a fun day. I know some of you are thinking of the last couple of paragraphs and wondering how that could be fun. Well, that's a good point. In the end, though, you look at the end, the satisfaction of accomplishing something you want to do. I wish I would have felt better and had a better day, but I'm making progress (see above).

The feast with friends at end makes the effort throughout the day worth it. I think there is a sermon in there somewhere.

Participants and supporters wearing finisher shirts