Good Things Come in Threes

The dawn sky at Lucky Peak reservoir was a pale blue, and the softly-rippling water had a pink hue from the rising sun. Everything was serene and beautiful....and terrifying. We three stood, strapped into our wetsuits, with nowhere to hide. We were waist deep in the reservoir, bright blue swim caps sucking on our scalps. We were surrounded in a see of bobbing heads. Trying to look casual, I peed in my suit.

Doing a triathlon was something I always admired, but never thought I'd actually do. That all changed this summer, when Bill, myself, and our brother-in-law, Leighton, threw caution to the wind and signed up for the Les Bois off-road triathlon (sponsored by Xterra) in Boise, ID. Training was hit or miss, so we went at it like the weekend warrior die-hards that we are.

Where waldo 1, 2 and 3?

 So there we were, three amateurs treading water at the end of the dock, some of us peeing ourselves. The whistle blew, and we were off...like molasses, trying to get up momentum from a stand still under water. The bobble-head sea slowly began creeping forward, toward the first bright orange buoy. During that first chaotic heave, as legs were kicking, and goggles were fogging over, I reached a near-panic state when I felt as if I were being choked to death by my wetsuit. I was certain that I was going to drown, and I was 30 seconds into the event. I shook it off, continued gulping for air, and kept zig-zagging my way toward that buoy.

 So this is how the race went: Half a mile in the water. Ten miles on bike along a sometimes technical dirt road/single track. Three miles hoofing it to the base of the damn, up the face of the damn, and back down to the base (the face being affectionately referred to as "The Groin", with a 23% grade that pretty much seemed to never end). Below is Leighton's nicely executed demonstration:

"The Groin". It's actually much steeper than it looks.

Exhausted, but euphoric, we all three crossed the finish line as first-timer champs. It was a pretty good day.