From XL to XTERRA

This is it. By the time today’s paper hits newsstands across the CNMI, I will be most of the way through my first Olympic-distance triathlon—or I should say that barring any unforeseen circumstances I will be most of the way through it.

It seems that everyday I am hearing another story about the monster waves that await John and I along the Tinian coastline, and they get bigger and bigger every time I hear about them from another source.

“Just do your sighting when you are on top of the waves. Otherwise you won’t be able to see where you are going,” advised local race director extraordinaire Sue Knecht.

“It’s like a big L-shaped course with little buoys. I was freaked out last time I did it,” said Saipan’s other triathlete named John Douglas.

Thankfully I received some words of wisdom from friend Wayne Bramlett via email,

“Just take an easy swim, and don’t worry about being scared. Accept the fact that it will be traumatic, and just don’t worry about it.”

John isn’t too keen about the idea of leaving the relatively cozy comforts of the lagoon for the big blue across the channel, but good ol’ Wayne offered him a couple of strategies to keep in mind for moments of panic.

1. It’s OK to tread water during a race to recover your breath.

2. The breaststroke allows you to keep moving forward and regain breathing. Wayne’s final bit of advice was that we’re going to get water in our ears and salt in our mouths, and that we need to learn to love it, not fear it.

Okay, no problem. Thanks to the seagoing tips, we should be able to think pleasant thoughts as we get tossed about the seas like the crew from The Perfect Storm.

Well, this will definitely be something new to experience, and that’s one of the reasons why we signed on for this stuff in the first place. Since it’s easy to talk smack before the race, I say bring it on.

With the seagoing worries behind us, we only have to worry about the journey to the top of the main road on Tinian—you know, the one with the giant T-I-N-I-A-N in the middle that you can see from a plane? Well, it’ll be a hike to be sure. We never did make it over there for a preview, but that could bode well for us because we’ll only have to do it once. Okay, twice—once for the bike and once for the run. At least we’ll be able to cruise down that big mug on the way to the finish.

Well, in the spirit of all of the smack talk—you can bring that hill on, too! Twice!

The good news is that I’ll be trudging up the mini-Everest with lungs that are now six weeks free of smoke. All volcano emissions aside, I have been breathing only the finest island air for a month an a half now, and I really don’t crave a cancer stick at all—well, much. Don’t get me wrong, there are some times when it would seem nice, but I’m sticking to the guns. The only downside to the mix is that I put on a couple of “LBs” in the process. Ah well, they’ll burn off soon enough.

The pats on the back and the tips from local supporters in the Northern Marianas Triathlon Federation have been a huge part of our success, and the other day we got a vote of confidence from the director of marketing of TEAM Unlimited/XTERRA, Trey Garman.

Trey is the guy that took me around the course last year, and was a big help getting me acclimated to the world of off-road, multi-sport coverage. His long distance “Atta boy” from Hawaii offered his assistance along with a promise that this year’s event is “gonna be awesome.”

Trey also relayed that the 2004 XTERRA Saipan Championship winners will be returning, as Jamie Whitmore and Olivier Marceau are looking forward toward taking the tape once again.

“And you’ll be racing right alongside them (at least at the swim start anyway),” he joked.

We’ll see them on the beach and at the finish line in a month and a half, but this time around it’ll be from a different perspective. That’s cool.