TexasMan Olympic Tri
1500 yard swim.
24.1 mile bike.
6.2 mile run.
I’ve now done four triathlons in the past eight months, but this was the first olympic length one. The earlier ones were sprint triathlons (300 yard . . . 12 mile . . . 3.1 mile), and the swim portion was in a pool.
So when I got out into Ray Roberts lake in the TexasMan Olympic Tri, the first question was, Where are the black lines on the bottom so you know which way to swim? “Just swim out to the orange buoys,” they said. But I don’t have correction lenses in my swimming goggles, so I couldn’t SEE the orange buoys. Which meant I had to just trust people around me. And yes, it’s hard to trust people who are kicking you in the head as you try to swim in a lake! I figure that in that 1500 yard swim, I covered about 1750 yards, weaving from right to left.
Miss those black lines at the bottom of the pool!
I’ve enjoyed this last year of training and competing. Love being out on a TX road on my Specialized road bike!
One advantage is that you learn to appreciate your next birthday. Triathlon age is what you will be at the end of the year. And this year that put me into a new age category. Love being older.
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A great moment from a recent Paul Simon concert. If you tell you that him learned to play guitar with one of his songs, you’d better mean it! (So . . . in your fantasy . . . who calls you up on stage to play/sing . . . and you pull it off as well as she does in this clip?)
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Some possible riffs for the on-stage fantasy:
Eddie calls me up on stage and I belt out “You Really Got Me.”
For me it’s Adele. And of course it’s “Rolling in the Deep.”
Clapton turns the opening riff of Layla over to me.
Roger Waters calls me up to do David Gilmour’s vocals and guitar solo for “Comfortably Numb.” Best. Rock Song. Ever.
If I could just sing “Mike Cope sings the classics,” I would be happy enough.
Dave Matthews Band – Dave hands me one of his arsenal of guitars for “Ants Marching.”
Setting: Adjacent to the puppet stage, VBS. Song: Jesus Loves Me. Result: 50 screamin’ children. They believe it.
We’ve never met Mike, but we have many mutual friends. I enjoy the blog.
Brotherly,
JP
West Islip Church of Christ
Mike – You can be an unofficial member of my family because I’m thinking you didn’t listen to me.
I told you 6 months ago the open water lake swim is the biggest obstacle to deal with. No pool lines, murky, ugly water, kicking/flailing humanity while you’re trying to get your bearings is a real issue the first time.
Glad you made it safely and can now gear up for Hawaii!
Artist: Heart
Song: Alone
Yeah. That would be sweet.
U2, “In the Name of Love” I’d love to talk to Bono about how to lead well too. Perhaps that can be covered after the encore.
Love how you describe full family membership, Kent. That’s about right! And you were correct. Flailing is the perfect word.
Sara B – All you need is a 20 year old with a camcorder and an hour to kill. Matt and I shot it in about an hour. At the end, I grabbed Randy Harris from his desk and gave him his part. You don’t have Randy available, but I’d think Rubel could do great on “I’ve Got the Joy, Joy, Joy, Joy.”
Well, my preference would be Dylan, but “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door” with U2 and Bono improvising lyrics isn’t a bad way to go:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aZ04XvBB9As
For me U2 “running to stand still” or U2 “one” or Pearl Jam “Alive” #indecisive
I actually saw this scenario happen. I was at a U2 concert in Dallas a few years ago when a guy in the gen admission section was holding up a sign saying he could play “Angel in Harlem”. They pulled him up, gave him a guitar, he rocked, crowd loved it, and the kid walked off the stage wearing Bono’s sunglasses. It was seeing an improbable dream come true in front of 20,000 new admirers. Spontaneous greatness!
Mike- I was camping @ Ray Roberts this past w-e; watched some of the bikers speed past our campground (didn’t see you); walked down to the “beach” where finish line was & I can guarantee that you did not come in with the last 20 runners! You did have perfect weather, didn’t you!
Roger and Pete (If it’s a fantasy then can I imagine that John and Keith are still alive??) call me up and I get to sing “Baba ORiley” or anything from Tommy, or Quadrophenia.
Ellen – It was perfect weather! A bit chilly early on, but that actually made the lake feel nice and warm. Seemed like a beautiful place to camp.
Mike…congrats on this accomplishment….I would love to be able to do one of these…but can you teach a rock how to swim??