Part 2 of the Lake Marion Triathlon Race Report

So in my Lake Marion Triathlon race report, I left off just after I finished. My brother-in-law Matt was just a bit behind me. We met each other while he was heading out and I was heading back towards the finish. He looked good, but he looked like he was working. Pharmie, Henry, all of Justin's family, and I were waiting near the finish to see Matt and Justin come running in.

Soon, Matt rounded the final corner and headed for the finish:

Flying!


Matt knows how to thrill the ladies. Just look at how thrilled she is. :)


She's still thrilled. Matt's still working hard!


Hitting the finish!

Not far behind Matt was Justin (Pharmie's college friend's hubby). He'd been wanting to do a tri for 10 years, and THIS WAS HIS FIRST ONE!! Pharmie's college friend got teary-eyed when she saw her hubby come running out of the water knowing that he was on his way to realizing a long-time dream. I took a lot of photos of Justin running past because it's always fun to re-live the fun and excitement of "the first time" - especially when it's with a friend!

Running up to the cheers of his family!


As Justin said on his blog: "Not #1 as my finger would suggest,
actually #68 but I don't have that many fingers." Ha! Love it!


A labored smile for his wife and boys


Heading into the chute




Hitting the finish! Triathlon #1 is in the bag! Congrats Justin!

Matt ended up 40th out of 315 overall in his 4th triathlon, and 5th out of 14 Clydesdales. He had the 11th fastest bike split of the day, and that's why I knew he'd end up flying past me before too long when we were both in T1 together!

Justin, in his FIRST triathlon, finished 69th out of 315 overall, and 8th out of 20 in his age group! He posted the 39th fastest run (a 23:15 5K) which is killer for his first multi-sport race EVER!!

Shortly after those guys finished, I helped pack Pharmie and Henry into the car, because they were going to head to a quick breakfast with her Mom. I came back to cheer for the finishers and talk with some friends. Matt and I chatted with Angie, KY, and CY for a while, and then I hung out with Scuff and his family during the awards. Jerry MacNeil called me up for 3rd in my age group, and I was presented with a medal. Jerry always has kind / funny words for me, and I love it. Over the PA, when I came up to get my award (still in my "Tutti Frutti" shorts) he said: "Steve Stenzel is a funny writer....... and he wears funny pants." I smiled big and everyone laughed. Love it. :)

I got back to transition and grabbed my lonely stuff:

My 3rd place AG medal and my finisher's medal


Eating a massive cinnamon roll that Pharmie brought me
from breakfast with her Mom! YAY! CARBS!

When I got home and took off my shoes, walking on my bare heel HURT. No, not my achilles. My ACTUAL heel. I looked, and I had a BRUISE on the bottom of my heel! It still hurts to walk! Here's a photo of it:

OK, it's hard to see a slight bruise...


... so I "enhanced" it here to see it better.

Wait, let's back up and take a look at that UNCROPPED photo. It shows me with my heel up on the kitchen counter, wearing nothing but boxers, and Pharmie's breast pumping supplies are slightly visible to the far left sitting in their drying rack:

Yep, I'm classy like that. :)

A few quick links:

- Here's my full race report if you missed it on Monday.

- Check out Justin's Blog and read his first race report from Sunday! Congrats again, Justin!

- Pearl Izumi is giving away some sweet stuff each day this week. Check out their YouTube page for new videos each day. Leave a comment on the new video to be in the running for some sweet bike gear from Pearl Izumi!

- And to you locals, Chris McCormack (MACCA) is going to be in town TOMORROW for a free book signing! Get more info here.