Holliston Lions Triathlon


by Walter Burgess

Waking up at 5:45am on a Sunday morning to do a triathlon and hearing rain outside is not a good sound. After making a quick check of the Weather Channel and seeing more rain on the way, I had a decision to make. Do I stay here and get a few more hours of sleep or do I head out to do a triathlon that I have trained and already registered for? Eventually my competitive side takes over and the question was answered and I was up and out of bed.

After putting the bike on my car and grabbing my gear, I was on my way. While traveling down Rt-109 towards Holliston the rain starts to pick up in intensity and I am still thinking "do I really want to do this"? but as I get closer to Holliston the rain stops and I have my fingers crossed it will stay that way. I finally pull into the parking lot and notice the smiling and cheery face of Louise Brooks who had just arrived a few minutes earlier. We both are glad to see each other and chat a bit before heading to check in.

After checking in and setting up the bike, I put my wet suit on and head to the pond for the start. The swim start is broken into 3 waves. I am in the first wave (men 39 y. o and under) yellow swim cap. At 8:10 am we wade into the pond, the gun goes off and the swim is underway.

After swimming about 50 yards I notice my swimming goggles have fogged up and I cant see a thing. I am swimming blind! Now I have to tread water and try to clear my goggles, which is not an easy task to do. After clearing my goggles and being able to seeagain, I notice all the yellow swimming caps in front of me but when I look behind me there is no one. I am dead last in the swim! Not a great way to start a triathlon. I resume my swim and everything is fine until I reach the 1/2 way point, when my goggles fogup again. After clearing them a second time and resuming my swim, I am now overtaken by all these blue swimming caps. The second wave (women) have caught up to me and are passing me left and right. All i see is blue swimming caps all around me. Eventually I make it to the last buoy and make the turn back to the beach and on my way back to the beach I am overtaken by all these white swimming caps(men 40 y.o and up) The 3rd wave has caught me. At that moment I realize how slow a swimmer I am.

I finally make it back to the beach and the end of the swim. THANK GOD! As I head up to my bike, I take a quick glance back and notice only 8 other swimmers left in the water.

I get on my bike and head out on the course and put my rotten swim experience behind me. The bike course is three 5 mile loops around the pond. It is uneventful and I do make up some ground by passing a few slower bikers. As I head back into the transition area, I see Louise head out on her run and she looks good. I dismount from my bike and head out on the run. Finally, the portion of the triathlon that I am good at. The run is one 5 mile loop around the pond. As soon as I begin my run, I start to pass runners left and right. I am feeling fast and my legs feel strong. I pass many more runners as I make my trek around the pond, but I never catch Louise who is running a strong race herself. Then 1:53:25 after taking my first stroke in the swim I cross the finish line.

Overall I feel good about my time even though I am disappointed in my swim. I meet up with Louise and we talk about our race. She had a good race herself because after checking the results we find out Louise came in second in her age group. We both stay around for the awards ceremony and I watch Louise get her 2nd place medal and a race sweatshirt, then after the raffle we head home.

As I am driving home I am glad I decided to get out of bed and participate in this triathlon but I did learn one lesson. TIME TO BUY NEW GOGGLES!