Let's See Where I Stand: Lake Havasu Triathlon

The very first Saturday of spring break was the Lake Havasu Triathlon on the border between Arizona and California. Brianne Loya and I drove the nine and a half hours from Friday afternoon into the evening because I had class and just could not miss it. As it turns out the class I did not miss gave me a "homework immunity" in case I wanted free credit for a homework assignment I missed. I knew it would be worth it to stay until Friday afternoon. Once Brianne and I got to the NMSU camp site at Lake Havasu it was late. However, my truck made three automobiles and our camp had only registered two. Since it was getting even later and I was tired of dealing with this impossible problem Brianne and I opted to drive a little ways down the road and then turn off into the bushes (or very small miserable little Creosote Bush sticks), pitch the tent in the back of my truck and sleep there for the night. It worked flawlessly and we arose the next morning to the sound of my beeping watch in the pitch black of morning.

When I went to pick up my packet at the race start there was a big-ass problem. I was not registered for the race! I am not sure how that happened because Brianne remembers me registering but I for whatever reason could not recall. The race director, fortunately, had a solution. I would use one of the race chips that were not claimed by another one of the athletes. I would be known in the race as Cheryl Miller. Thanks Cheryl!

The swim started with a few bumps and thumps. I started directly behind Xavier Nolen and right off the bat he kicked me so hard in my right goggle that I saw stars for about 15 seconds. I let up and a few swimmers passed me. Then later in the swim my conservative strategy started to deteriorate when I found myself near the lead about 500 meters or so into the swim. I thought "Great! I can just draft behind one of these guys and be out of the water not far behind the leaders." Near the turn around point at the back of the channel we swum down someone zoomed by me like a motor boat. I thought it was just one of these yahoos putting in a suicidal surge. I tried to draft off of Mr. Motorboat but he never slowed down and soon I felt like spitting up a lung. I fell off the pace the last little bit but had a fairly decent swim considering my awesome training schedule the last 6 months [sarcastic eye roll here]. Later I discovered Mr. Motorboat was one of the few swimmers that swam around the wrong buoy, so he must have been one of those few amazing swimmers found in every triathlon.


The bike was really quite uneventful. I petaled conservatively in the beginning but as I started catching people I got excited and pushed harder and harder. I caught a half dozen bikers or so in the first half and felt great, except that my feet were still numb from the swim. I passed Neil Seigel from the UA and we chatted for a little bit. I even let him have some of my water since he dropped his at the very beginning. Soon I was off in hot pursuit of more cyclists. Then Neil came back and passed me. I realized I was starting to get fatigued. Another few guys passed me back and I let them go. I was determined to have a good run and see just how many of them I could bring back so the remainder of the bike I just cruised in a semi-fatigued-cramping-conservative manner. I got off the bike leaving my shoes in the pedals successfully (for the first time ever I must say!) and jogged to my transition area. When I went to slide my shoes on I remembered I forgot to tie them. DOH!


I started the run conservatively (I am starting to see a pattern here) to... well... I don't know why I always start conservatively, I just seem have better performances this way. Right away I caught someone but was passed by another. I was still on Par but I wanted some birdies (as in passing more people than people passing me). I set my eyes on some of the guys up ahead and slowly started working up to them. At the turn around I still hadn't caught anyone and I could feel a big fat bonk knocking at my door. I tried running as smoothly and fluidly as possible in order to prolong the inevitable but Big Bonkaroo was here and my run was over. I passed all my NMSU teammates on the other side of the course and mumbled some encouraging words. Andrew high-fived me and almost knocked me over I was so tired. Finally as I was running down the finish chute the announcer was announcing the names of all those who were finishing. As I crossed the line he said into the microphone, "From NMSU in Las Cruces is Cher... (Pause followed by total confusion). Cheryl Miller?" Remember? My name is Cheryl Miller in this race. But don't worry they corrected the results and I did eventually get registered as myself.

So where do I stand? I stand about where I expected to be as far as where I am with my training. I am perhaps a little surprised at how well my swim and bike unfolded but perhaps a bit disappointed about my run. But I need to remember this race was a dress rehearsal for the real triathlon season. I still need to be patient and just work on building endurance and strength at this point so that later in the longer races I will be able to hold form the whole way through. So now that the race is over let Spring Break officially begin!