Phew, that was tough

After training for about six months, I participated in my first triathlon today. While it was only a sprint triathlon (750 yard swim, 15 mile bike, and 5k run) it may have been the toughest sporting event I have ever participated in (perhaps playing rugby back in college comes close). It was also really fun pushing myself to the limit and meeting all the hard-core triathletes.

That's me in the pic, making the transition from bike to run. The run portion just about killed me, and I had to walk on a couple of the steeper hills, but I plugged along and finished in about 2 hours (my goal was to finish in under 2h 15m). Objectively, this isn't a good time (the best people finish in about an hour!), but for me it is a big step from the couch potato I had become...I could hardly run a mile six months ago. I hope it is the first of many such events. The adrenaline at the starting line, lined up with all these guys at Lake Crabtree getting ready to swim, was intense. My wife was very helpful, actually waking up at 5:30 with me to drive me to the 7:30 am race. Thanks, Julia!

Speaking of achievements, and getting back to chess, Sir Rocky Rook has finished his Circles. Please wish him a Huzzaahhh!