Somewhere along the line I have become a runner. It was never my intention, but it happened. I think part of my love of Triathlon is the social aspect of it.
The most social of the 3 sports is the run.
While me and my friends spend a lot of time gabbing before and after swims (just ask my wife), oh- and of course during breaks in those swims, we spend most of our swim time with our faces buried in the water. It's tough to be socialable with your face buried in the water.
It's a little better on the bike. But if you are riding safely (and there are some who really should read and pay attention to this next line)- you are NOT riding in a pack, you are riding single file or maybe (at the most- and only in certain situations) 2 abreast. On race-day it's even worse- not only are you not allowed to ride side-by-side, you can't even ride directly behind somebody- I think the triathlon rules say 3 bike lengths. So it's tough to be socialable when you're staring at the back of someone's head, or worse yet 3 lengths behind them- although a little easier than when your face is buried in the water.
Then there's the run.
The run is the most socialable of the 3 sports. It's pretty acceptable to run in packs. Even on race-day, there's no rule against it. As you get yourself in shape, it's not hard to talk while you run. So the run becomes the most socialable of the 3 sports.
And because I like the social aspect of triathlon- I've become a runner.
The run at Door County started well for me. Once again, I ran into a much younger friend just as I left the transition area- he started several waves before me and I was about to catch him. That in itself pumped me up a bit. But then there was the fact that he's a much faster runner than I am- so the plan was to catch him and then let him pace me in for a new PR (personal record). I caught him and very shortly after that passed him. At about mile 4 I ran into Tara and Jamie Osborn from Endurance House- they weren't racing- just cheering us all on. Jamie was pretty excited that I was racing so well- but I was feeling pretty rough at that point and I told him. He ran along with me for a block or so and encouraged me- "just keep turning your legs over" he said. And I did.
I should mention somthing at this point. Since I was passed by my friend Kristin in the first transition- I had not been passed. At all. And it was starting to wear on me. At that point in the day all that was going through my mind was "somebody pass me, so I can just relax and race my race." It finally happened at about mile 5 when I saw a local family on the side of the road, handing out bottles of water (did I mention the temperature? 101 degrees with the heat index), so I ran (o.k., maybe I walked) over to them and grabbed a bottle of water and started running again. It was at that point that a young woman passed me. Finally! I can relax now.
Shortly after that point was the first of 2 big hills. Last year I started walking this particular hill when an old guy passed the bunch of us who were walking, turned and yelled "that's why we're here boys...to run!" and kept running up that hill. So I had to run the hill. This year I decided there was no way I would run the hill. I walked it and I'm glad I did. I got my running legs back by the top of the hill and headed back into Egg Harbor, where I knew I would see my wife and the rest of my family. I felt good as I passed them. About that time I also saw my friend Stef who told me that another friend was about 5 minutes ahead of me. I knew that he had started several waves ahead of me, so I was feeling pretty good about myself and I pushed the pace a little bit until I caught him on the second of the two big hills. We walked the hill together and he told me that he had not seen many people my age- he thought there were only a couple ahead of me. So I pushed the pace a little more- I think I passed two more guys my age and then caught at third at mile 12. We both stopped at the aid station- didn't talk at all, but kept an eye on each other. I grabbed some Gatorade and water and started to run again. And I heard "Damn!" from him- we both laughed I told him that I was watching him out of the corner of my eye the whole time. We ran together for a while- running into both of our wives as we ran together and then we hit the big downhill before the finish line at that point he backed off and I just tried to relax and let gravity do it's job as I ran down the hill and into the finishers chute. I felt bad that I passed him so close to the finish line- but I was also worried that we would cross the line together and they would put one of us in 3rd place and the other in 4th- leaving one off the podium. Turns out that wasn't a problem- I ended up 8th and he was 9th, I think I beat him by about 15 seconds and congratulated me as soon as I crossed the finish line.
Congrats on your top 10 Pat! You are in a very competitive age group and your performance speaks volumes. What a great race heading into IMWI. You are doing WI again correct?
07/27/2011 12:18PM
Pat Gallagher
Thanks Mark. Yes- I am racing IMWI again this year- it will be my last full Ironman for a couple years. I'm really looking forward to the race and at the same time looking forward to laying off the training a bit. Next year a half-Iron will be my A race.
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