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| From Santa Cruz Triathlon |
Spirituality. Runner’s high. Stoke.
Call it what you will, but at that fleeting moment when we become most aware of the oneness of humanity, the undeniably singular nature of life, at that brief instant when the self dissolves into the whole, I celebrate this. And for the last mile and a half of the Santa Cruz triathlon, with a smile plastered on my face, sweat stinging my eyes, ass chafed something gnar, charging toward the finish line, my heart writing checks my legs could barely cash, my friends cheering for me above and beyond the call of friendship, during that last stretch … I felt at peace, I felt connected.
Okay … Now let’s start at the start.
Saturday we rolled down to Santa Cruz and stopped by the old stomping grounds.
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| From Santa Cruz Triathlon |
… Enjoying an excellent sunset from the knoll.
… With company equally excellent: The Fellow Blogger, Rocci_1, Rocci_2, and the Kernel.
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| From Santa Cruz Triathlon |
The Pontz and I even mobbed into our old dorm room, harassing the freshman and reminding them to enjoy this to the max.
(One of those kids is even named Sean! AND he is even in the same bunk I had 11 years ago. Put that in your pipe and smoke it.)
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| From Santa Cruz Triathlon |
Cruising around the campus in early Fall is about as wonderful as it gets.
Well, I should add “Cruising around the campus in early Fall with a beautiful girl is about as wonderful as it gets.”
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| From Santa Cruz Triathlon |
It was nice.
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| From Santa Cruz Triathlon |
It was so nice.
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| From Santa Cruz Triathlon |
Mr. Deer even came out to say hi.
Well Hello Mr. Deer.
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| From Santa Cruz Triathlon |
We cruised down to the library to scope out the new wing.
Damn, this school has its shit together. Every time I go back it just looks more legit.
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| From Santa Cruz Triathlon |
Spain, Korea, Planet Earth.
How is it all so rad?!?!
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| From Santa Cruz Triathlon |
As the sun began to creep behind the clouds, we drove down to west cliff and looked out onto the ocean.
To be honest, this is when I started to get real nervous. Once night fell the race seemed so close.
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| From Santa Cruz Triathlon |
So …
What better way to deal with nerves than to take shots.
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| From Santa Cruz Triathlon |
And why not follow that up with Taqueria Vallarta.
Damn, I love that city.
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| From Santa Cruz Triathlon |
Up at 5:45 AM and at the check by 6:15.
This was my first triathlon, and coming up to this scene as the sun rose was so so so so exhilarating for me! Athletes and bikes and gear. Dude.
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| From Santa Cruz Triathlon |
Okay, so those of you who know me well are most likely aware that I am turning 30 this year and I have some issues with that.
Well, I came square in the face with it on Sunday morning. You see in the Santa Cruz Triathlon they write your age on your leg. And by “age” they write the age you are turning this year.
And as my bday is in December, I was greeted with a fat “30″ written square on my calf.
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| From Santa Cruz Triathlon |
But ya know what? Fuck it.
At that very moment, as the pen drew the “3″ followed by the “0″, I looked up and saw this awesome event beginning to unfold around me. I was overwhelmed with a feeling of contentment about my age. If this was gonna be the moment I came face to face with my third decade … well … bring it.
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| From Santa Cruz Triathlon |
I get to the beach, and am greeted by my posse.
Di even made me signs.
I was gushing. I still am gushing.
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| From Santa Cruz Triathlon |
There was mix up with my cap color, so I got to stand out in the crowd as my group awaited the start.
Holy moly was I nervous right here:
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| From Santa Cruz Triathlon |
But just over thirty minutes and .9 miles swimming later, I came out smiling and hustling!
DUDES! I swam around the friggin Santa Cruz pier.
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| From Santa Cruz Triathlon |
I knew it was gonna be butter from here on out.
… got on the bike and ripped it out to Davenport.
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| From Santa Cruz Triathlon |
And as I came back my friends were there in fine form.
Seriously, you are wonderful!
The start of the run was a bit of a shock.
I was just so gassed by this point that I felt like jello inside.
But with this kind of inspiration, I rocked it!
As I approached the finish line, it all came together.
2 hrs and 45 minutes of cranking it lead up to this …
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| From Santa Cruz Triathlon |
Trying as best I could to finish in style, I opened up the stride and did my best to leave everything I had back on the course.
So fun.
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| From Santa Cruz Triathlon |
And as I waited in line for brunch, I laid my head on the shoulder of my fellow blogger, drifted into the most blissful sleep, and felt at peace.
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| From Santa Cruz Triathlon |
