NEMO triathlon got me back into the sport after having done 1 triathlon 12 years earlier. So NEMO is a special race to me and one I always enjoy doing.
The swim this year was not wetsuit legal, so I knew I would be slower than last year. After drafting Rodney Adkison for the first few minutes, I went out on my own when it seemed as if Rodney and others were following the buoys too closely. I decided I could save some time by swimming straight to the point. But alas, as I finally got to the end, I saw Rodney getting out 10 or so seconds ahead of me.
After a quick transition, I got out on the bike ahead of Rodney, and briefly thought that maybe this was finally the race I could reclaim my winning ways against him. But he passed me shortly into the bike and quickly pulled away and out of sight. So I settled into my own race. After losing a minute or so to him by the turn around, he stopped pulling away and by the second transition, I was right behind him.
Once again, thanks to a fast transition, I was out on the run ahead of him. But I had no delusions of beating Rodney in the run; so on my way out of the transition, I grabbed my latest running accessory, my cape. The cape has its origins from the Houston trip and a comment someone had made about my US Half Triathlon Skin suit looking like a superhero costume. I decided since most superhero’s have capes, I needed a cape too. Alas, I didn’t pay close enough attention to “the Incredibles” and the pitfalls of capes…
Sure enough, Rodney passed me on the run before I had even finished putting on the cape… I knew I wouldn’t catch back up, so I just concentrated on catching anyone I could and otherwise just enjoying myself on a nice Sunday run. Since I was running through the campground and right past our campsite, I considered ditching the cape, especially since it had been wrapping around my ankles some with the wind at my back. However, the volunteers and fellow competitors seemed to enjoy seeing me with it on, so I decided to leave it be. After leaving the campground and heading back to the finish, we were running into the wind and the cape whipped and billowed behind me. That was the look I wanted, but the drag was a little less desired…
NEMO once again was a great race in 2005. While I was 47 seconds slower and a year older than the year before, I had a great time and had gotten to run 5 miles dressed as a super hero with people cheering me on. Life is grand…