I DID IT!!! I DID IT!!! I DID IT!!!
ChesapeakeMan Ultra-Distance Triathlon
Times by my watch:

Swim: 1:25:06
T1 (Swim-to-bike transition): 11:09
Bike: 6:53:09
T2 (Bike-to-run): 6:54
Run: 6:22:05

Total time 14:58. Never in my wildest dreams did I expect to break 15. I would have been happy to break 17, ecstatic to break 16. Breaking 15 is just unreal.

It's two days later now and I have not posted this to my blog till now because I've been doing a lot of e-mail about it (as many of my visitors know) and also I'm t-i-r-e-d and haven't had the energy to mess with my blog since I've been having trouble with my formatting and templates. Eventually I'll get it all figured out.

For now, I'm resting... recovering, as if I'm getting over an illness, except the triathlon was a lot more fun and didn't feel as bad as an illness. In fact, it didn't feel bad at all, except for the last 40 miles or so on the bike, where I started to feel like I must have lost my saddle and was riding on my seatpost. And like someone was shoving a lit matchstick under my left second toenail. Other than those minor annoyances, I felt pretty good. The run didn't feel any worse towards the end than just a regular marathon.

I am about as sore as after marathons I was undertrained for.... but a lot more tired, even more today (the second day) than yesterday (the day after the triathlon.) I am really, really tired today. So tired I feel as if I'm recovering from the flu or pneumonia, not a recreational event.... So tired I feel almost ill, except I have no fever (I checked) or any overt signs of illness (tissue swelling, decreased or increased weight or urination, loss of skin turgor) or any distinct symptoms (like headache, sore throat, aches) other than just muscle soreness that worsens transiently after I've held too still for a while.

They tell me this is normal. What did I expect.... to feel, well, normal?

But I am so glad I did this. I am so glad I trained the way I did, and so glad I finished, and am actually entertaining thoughts of doing it again (but not next week...) I looked forward to it for so long (trepidation and all) and now that it's done, I don't have it to look forward to anymore.

The metaphor of losing virginity is so apt. Read my last sentence. It's just like that. Except, in the case of virginity... (assuming it was good like it's supposed to be) you look forward to doing it again and again, having it get better and better the more you do it and the more you learn how.

What am I saying? Am I now married to this?

You know, I really, really enjoyed doing it, every minute of it, and I made a conscious effort to relish every second, knowing I'd be going through this "It's over" phase. I would rather be back on the bike than sitting here no longer having it all to look forward to, no longer in the midst of having it finally happening, feeling so strong and happy and determined. No wonder people get addicted to this.

Except, even if I do it again, it will never hold the wonder of that first time.