“Good luck to you all,” says the man. “I don’t know any of you, but good luck!”

So exclaims a guy beside me in the water, prior to the start of the Triathlon. The first two waves have already started the swim; my wave, the “first-timers” and young males, has about a minute before the start. We, the people in the area, wish the nameless man good luck.

Snyder, Tappendorf, Voda, Tyler, and I are in the water. It is surprisingly warm in Hawthorn Lake. We wear wetsuits ostensibly for warmth, but their greater benefit is added buoyancy (and therefore greater speed). With an air temperature in the mid 50s and overcast skies, the 72-degree water feels downright balmy.

Up ahead, we can make out Krystal’s figure. Well, no, not really. She is in the second wave, two-and-a-half minutes ahead at this point. Her person is indistinguishable from the rest of the black-wetsuited, blue-capped competitors.

“Thirty seconds,” booms the public address system.

Nervous? I am shivering, but not from cold. What the hell am I doing in the water? Why am I doing a triathlon? I never would have guessed, even four months prior, that I would be doing anything like this. Me, a person who is obviously not athletic, testing my endurance in this multi-hour epic — what was I thinking when I signed up?

The chatter is still around. Friends wishing friends good luck, strangers wishing strangers the same good luck.

“Five seconds.”

Everything is eerily quiet. Time slows down to a near standstill. I’m aware only of what lies straight ahead of me. It’s like the world is taking a deep breath.

I mentally count down the final seconds. Four. Three. Two. One.

“Go!”

Go go go! Start swimming. Don’t get kicked! Make sure my goggles don’t fall off; I don’t want to lose a contact lens. Swim faster! No, not that fast; I have a long ways to go. Oops, too much kicking. Most propulsion is from my arms not my legs, and I don’t want to get my legs tired — yet. Swim. Swim. Swim. Here comes the shore. Get out, get recorded. Now up to the transition area for my bike! Run, run. Whoops; sandal slipped. Careful! Now at the transition area. Glance at Farmer taking photos with my camera. Hey, Tyler and Krystal are still at the transition area. Now, off with the wetsuit. D’oh, it’s stuck around my ankles! Son-of-a… Pull, no, ouch, that’s a cramp. Pulling hard is not the solution. Must figure out a better way. There; now it’s off! Quick, pull the socks and clipless shoes on. Don’t forget the helmet! Rapidly now, to the mount point.

I’m riding! But only one foot is clipped in. And here comes a hill. Come on, come on. Pedal Pedal Pedal. Come on, right foot, clip in! Half-mile down so far. Don’t get flustered! Still not clipped. Clip, darn it, clip! *kick* *slam* There we go; both in now!

Bike bike bike. Up hills, down hills. There’s the leader, passing the other way. Wow! Almost to the turnaround now. There we go; it’s all downhill from here. No, wait, never mind. They’re the same hills as before. And the overall elevation change is minimal. I probably should have trained more for this bike ride.

Back at the transition area. Biking stuff off, running stuff on. Step, step. Ug! This bike-to-run transition is brutal. Do my legs still work? Run run run.

There’s the finish line! Sprint time: give it all I’ve got. There! I finished! I didn’t finish last! I didn’t hurt myself in the process! Goals accomplished.

We all made it.

Check out the photos from the event. Thanks again to Farmer for getting up at 7:00 a.m. on a Saturday to come take the photos of us crazy folk.

Thanks to everybody who helped me and gave me support, particularly Tyler and House. Even though House didn’t compete, there is no way that I would have gotten up to train if he weren’t getting up early to train with me. Thanks to Tyler for the encouragement and the procurement of the wetsuits and sweet bikes.

Yeah, yeah. You all want numbers. Okay, here they are:

NAME              Ag S Rank  SWIM Rank    BIKE Rate Rank     RUN  Pace  Total TIME
================= == = ==== ===== ==== ======= ==== ==== ======= =====  ==========
MARK TAPPENDORF    19 M  189 16:26  205 1:26:52 17.2  118   39:38  7:59    2:22:56
TYLER HICKS-WRIGHT 20 M  175 15:51  221 1:29:11 16.7  142   40:44  8:12    2:25:44
KRYSTALL ALTMANN   20 F  239 19:48  227 1:30:54 16.4  212   46:57  9:27    2:37:38
JEFFREY KEACHER    22 M  222 17:52  244 1:36:21 15.5  253 1:01:16 12:20    2:55:28
RYAN SNYDER        20 M  254 22:10  250 1:38:27 15.1  246   56:43 11:25    2:57:19
MARK VYVODA        23 M  242 21:04  256 1:47:52 13.8  245   56:40 11:24    3:05:36

(Complete results)

I had a great time. I will do it again next year (after improving my run and bike, of course). I think more training would have been helpful, particularly with the bike and run. The bike ride was the longest I have ever completed — my bike training over the past few months was nearly nil.

Take advantage of opportunity. Do something you normally wouldn’t do. I did, and I’m better for it.

The triathlon begins in nine hours. I’m surprisingly calm about it.

The current Pike triathlon roster: Snyder, Voda, Tyler, Tappendorf, and me.

I’m ready.

It’s time for sleep.

Last weekend was the chapter’s Spring Banquet. This year, we held it at the Millennium Hotel in St. Louis. The banquet itself was good, but the events before and after made the night especially memorable.

Early on Saturday, Minufo, Jenn, and I drove to St. Louis early so that we could play the role of tourists. The plan was to go up the arch, so we did. It was a bit of a disappointment. Just another high observation deck. Ho-hum. I found the structure to be much more interesting from the ground. Awe-inspiring, really.

After visiting the arch, the three of us ate lunch at Caleco’s. The “Caleco Club” with pasta was excellent. The service was impressive (in a good way). That eatery is definitely going on my “places to eat” list for St. Louis.

After a short stroll around the city, it was time for banquet.

It turns out that our banquet room was next to a prom banquet room. I’m not sure what was worse: the fact that I felt old because all of the prom-goers were so young, or the fact that I wasn’t old enough so as not to be confused for a prom-goer.

Whatever the case, the dinner was good. Backing up a bit, I found out while in the hotel that my car, which I left back in Terre Haute, had been pranked in my absence. Vince, one of my little brothers, was the apparent mastermind behind the operation. Understandably, I was a bit apprehensive during banquet about what condition I would find my car in once I returned.

The car turn out alright. Photos were taken, of course. I found out more of the story later in the evening, and I must say that I was impressed by the amount of planning that transpired. I ended up cleaning the car up at 3:30 a.m., because they had stuffed my bed sheets into the car (gotta fill some space with other than newspaper, ya know).

Back to St. Louis…

After dinner, a group of my Brothers and I went walking around the riverfront area. We stopped by the arch, we saw some of the old parts of town. We talked and soaked in all the sights. After walking around for an hour or so, four of us decided that we wanted to look out from the hotel’s observation deck. Back to the hotel we went, and up in the elevator we flew, until we got to the restaurant on the 28th(?) floor.

The place was classy, and we felt appropriately dressed in our suits. The restaurant had another notable trait: the dining area rotated. Vosmek, Saunders, Wojo and I decided to stay and enjoy dessert there while watching the world go by. The experience reminded me of my favorite memory from Scouting: sitting on Tooth Ridge in New Mexico with a couple of my good friends, watching a thunderstorm far off in the distance roll across the desert. Looking out across the river and at the lights of the city, with the tranquility of the restaurant and the camaraderie of my good friends, rivaled that experience.

The night drew to a close, so Wojo and I headed back to the Haute. I’m glad I wasn’t driving, because I kept drifting in and out of consciousness. I would say something to Wojo, and then, in mid-sentence, I would have to think hard about whether or not I was actually talking and, more importantly, whether or not I really said what I thought I previously said or that I merely dreamt it. Not being certain of the line between reality and my dreams is, in hindsight, somewhat disturbing. At least there wasn’t a repeat of the Winter 2003 banquet.

Thoughts more for my own reflection rather than your comprehension:

I had two conversations tonight that were reflective of my Fraternity experiences and were significantly important to me.

One of those conversations was completely unexpected from a completely unexpected source. Not that it was a bad thing; on the contrary, I found it quite interesting. I was ill-prepared for the subject, so I spoke from the heart. It’s strange, though not surprising, that cliques exist even in fraternities (which are themselves big cliques). The reality is that not everybody is close to everybody. In fact, nobody is close to everybody. I just think it’s a shame, almost like the chapter failed him, when somebody feels that they have no close friends in the chapter. It’s even more unfortunate when the cause of this disconnect is that which has brought me so much: lineages. Another cause, real though sometimes a scapegoat, is the consumption of alcohol or the lack thereof.

Why do so many conversations revolve around alcohol?

I don’t regret starting to drink; I’m glad I experienced it. More importantly, I’m glad that I have no significant desire to drink. Sure, I’ll swing back a beer on occasion during social events, but overall I simply don’t “get it.” Where’s the draw? I wish that I would have realized my low motivation to drink before building my collection.

Only human.

People who I thought might not really “care” do in fact care a great deal (this being based on a third conversation).

I’m glad I’ve become less active over the last quarter but that I’m still around to be a quasi-advisor. There comes a time when the torch must be passed.

After long search and much thought, I found a replacement person for my job. One of the techniques I used was to interview candidates without them being aware of the interviews.

I’m 22 now!

Nice night + TV + VCR + really long extension cord + roof + the Big Lebo + a bunch of Brothers = cool

Initiation for Spring Class at the Fraternity was earlier this evening. Our chapter is now six stronger, bringing our total active membership to about 100.

My sister called me today! I was happy (and quite surprised!) that she called.

Why have I been in such a reflective, pondrous mood as of late?

I took a risk with my latest photography assignment. The assignment was to create a photograph relating to “foreground / background.” I chose my subject so that the photo would be thought provoking, but I took a risk because I feared that the prof might be displeased. Fortunately, art people tend to be open-minded, and the prof appreciated the photo. What was the subject? Not appropriate for this blog. Man, that sure was a pointless tease, wasn’t it?

——-

Something significant is now completely done, and I couldn’t be happier with the results. My senior project team was awesome, and having the final documentation turned in brings a great deal of weight off of all of our shoulders.

Something else significant is still happening next weekend, that being the triathlon. I’m all registered! I’m confident that I’m in good enough shape to a) finish b) not be last and c) not injure myself. I’ve enjoyed the training for the triathlon because, if nothing else, it gives me a good reason to be exercising significantly (for the first time in my life).

One more cool thing: I acquired one of last year’s senior shirts. Yes, that one. 🙂