A friend who is a talented athlete but a new swimmer and triathlete asked for my thoughts on how to have a decent tri swim as a newbie.  Here's what I offered..

This was my fourth Steelhead Half Ironman Triathlon, which last year became a Ford Ironman 70.3 qualifier and therefore a big deal. My time of about 5:31 last year was similar to the prior year, but my finish spot went from second to fourth in the age group.

I was in dilemma trying to figure out what to do after Chicago. Marathoning is something I know a bit about (having run 26 marathons and 10 Ironman races), but I found myself wanting to get right back on a course to get my Boston time and yet knew racing again so soon could be risky.

I was the "older runner" whose experience in the race Coach Spivey talked about on Chicago Tonight on television this evening when he was a guest with Chicago Marathon Race Director Carey Pinkowski. I was glad Carey rejected the idea that a guy 55-60 was "old"!

I am seriously considering the Indianapolis Marathon next Saturday. For me the Chicago Marathon was a hard 18 mile training run followed by walking and running easy for the next 8 miles. Since the race I have had a fine recovery, I think, and am feeling really good.

After a 6.5 month recovery (3 months with no running) from my bike crash at Ironman Canada, I returned to competition today.

my White, managing editor of Inside Triathlon, whom I have known for some time, just asked me to consider writing for the magazine, starting with a shot at the back page "Fourth Leg" column. She suggests I might write about "how it was." So how was it 15 years ago in tri?

No sob story or long story here now. Just to say that I crashed badly at Ironman Canada on August 26, 2005.

The water was nine feet below our feet. I was flanked on either side by a line of fellow first-wave wet-suit clad triathletes, all of us perched on the north edge of the long pier jutting out into Lake Michigan. Water surged below us. I thought of the famous movie dialogue, when a pair of guys are trapped and cornered by a posse on a ledge at the edge of a steep rock canyon with nowhere else to go. They overlook raging rapids fifty feet below and are faced with a choice between a hopeless shoot-out and a near-suicidal leap.

I went to Missouri looking for hills. I found them.

The race materials had said previous winners would be in the elite wave. Well, I had placed 4th two years ago and second last year. Did that make me a “previous winner”? Turns out it did. I asked the woman running registration. She checked my number, my cap color (blue) and a list. “Yes, you are in the elite wave.” Gulp. Revise self image! Elite wave! If only the guys in high school guy class could witness this!

If I could have run somewhere nearer my capabilities (~4 hours versus 5:05), Kona would have been mine.

Imagine running this race every October for more than 25 years!

This morning my training consisted of a 26.2 mile long run. I trained with maybe a thousand-plus other runners. Someone was nice enough to cater the training run and recruit folks to hand out water and energy drink. They even marked many of the mile splits on the path.

The finish was incredible, even more so than last year. Many thousands of cheering spectators lined the course and, especially, the last three miles or so. Wow! What a rush to be an Ironman once more. I ran into the final section hands above my head cheering, high-fiving, and then did a leap through the tape.

Ever have one of those days when things go right? I did.

Hooray! I’m continuing my many-year climb to the top of my age group (starting from last in my first race in 1991). Now if I can just out-live the competition…

IMC 1999 was an experience that changed us all. We will never forget it. I certainly won’t!