"Go, naked guy" ... they're talking about me, aren't they

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

I had a Sprint Triathlon this evening - a pleasant evening, and I was fairly confident. I arrived at the venue (a rowing lake and environs near Eton, Winsor) and it was warm, with a moderate not-cool-at-all breeze.

I went to registration, and signed in. And was told “no wet-suits - the lake is too warm”. And that started a process of confusion that led eventually to me being “naked guy”.

You see, if I wear a wetsuit, I can wear my vest with my race number pinned to it underneath. Then in Transition 1, I take off my wetsuit, get shoes on, glasses, wrist timer and helmet, and off on the bike. Without the wetsuit, I could not wear the vest and number, so I was in my running shorts only. So I started the race. And it is different swimming without the wetsuit - slower, for a start. I got out of the lake, ran into transition. Got my shoes on. Got my glasses, watch and helmet on. Grabbed my bike, and ran. Without my vest.

The marshal should have stopped me, but he was comparing bike number to helmet number, and missed the glaringly massive bare chest. I didn’t figure it out until half-way through the first loop. Now, I look a lot better than I did a couple of years ago - lost a lot of weight, gained some muscle definition. But I am not at the bare-torso-on-display stage by any means. I was pretty embarrassed, but I couldn’t stop at that point. So I forged on…

Then, as I turned into the loop for the second time, past the small crowd of spectators, a guy in the crowd (I knew no-one, at all) yelled out “go, naked guy”. I almost stopped in shame. And I realised that I had 5 more loops to go. It was excruciating. He was there every single time. I really didn’t enjoy it one bit, and the wind was a bit stronger so I was quite slow. When I transitioned from the bike, the incoming marshal gave me a warning about not wearing a vest. Phfft. I pulled it on for the run after my running shoes, and set off.

In the end, a not-very-good 1:26 (my last was 1:21, and I wanted to break 1:20). Too many changes, too much wind, and a bit hot. And I was “that naked guy”. I will not be buying any photos from this event.

:smack:

Si

2

I don’t have to tell you how it could have been worse :smiley:

3

Castanza, is that you?

4

si, you are completing sprint triathlons – that rocks! You have nothing to be embarrassed about; certainly not from any spectator.

It is hard to tell without hearing his tone, but my first impression from the words was that he was cheering you on in good nature as opposed to making fun of you.

Anyway – congratulations!

5

Look on the brightside, they could have DQ’d you. Bare torso is against the new ITU regs this year.

6

Hmmm don’t know if it’s new this year. Here’s the reg book (it’s on page 20 and it’s a PDF.

also, don’t know if the rule applies at USATF events, but it does apply to ITU events, so now you know, naked guy!

7

He wasn’t mocking, and that didn’t bother me. But (in general) there is a sort of guy that is the bare torso type, and I am not he, and I could not explain to anyone that I was not that sort of guy, just a forgetful one.

BTA rules, and they could have DQ’d me. Thats why the exit marshal should have seen it and said something. But humans don’t see the darndest things (as per the gorilla suit experiment), and he didn’t see it. So there you are. But it is a safety issue - if I fell on the ride, I would have been really messed up.

Si

8

Great story and great accomplishment.

9

Hey SI, I just realized that I completely forgot to congratulate you on your Tri - way to go!

I just started officiating this year and would hate to see someone get through the swim and T1, and have someone DQ them for forgetting a vest or something.

But congrats on your race! It sounds like you had fun, despite your new nickname :slight_smile:

10

Can I just add a “wayto”? Yes?

Way to go, naked guy!

That rocks, man.

11

I think you need to buy a custom title si.

12

Embrace it. Let your freak flag fly.

And congrats!

13

Wow! You totally rock, Si! And I’ll bet you look damned good naked. :smiley:

14

Anyone else working on general fitness and volume-decreasing/changing having a hard time imagining anyone who can successfully complete a triathlon not being at the bare-torso-on-display stage? (And does it make anyone else write run-on sentences?)

Congrats anyway!

15

I am only at that level when I suck it in, and I bet I could do a Sprint Triathlon without training. Of course I might come in dead last, but I bet I’d even be able to complete an Olypmic one if it weren’t for the swimming, and my belly bounces ever so slightly when I jog.

But yeah, just to be able to complete one still deserves an attaboy!

16

To be fair, I completed my first sprint tri a year and at least a stone (14 pounds) ago, and there are plenty of please-don’t-bare-that-torso guys doing this series. I now have just over 2 months to prep for my first olympic distance event. I can sustain 2 hours (last year I did an 11 mile cross-country event in that time), and hope to do it in 2:45 or less. Got to get my exhausted post-cycle running pace up a bit, though.

And Juliana, you are sadly mistaken. If I could lose another stone, maybe, but I am stuck at the moment. It may come, but until then I’ll try to avoid being “naked guy”, at least in public.

Si

17

Way to go, Naked Guy, says me!

18

You know - you sound a little embarrassed about it, but you’ll laugh about it before not too long. There’s no way in hell I’m finishing what you did in 1:26, nor a lot of us here. Know who else didn’t finish in 1:26? The guy yelling “Go, naked guy!”

Waytogo.

19

Sorry, Si, but I gotta concur with Rhythmdvl there. I can’t imagine it at all. And I tried not to use a run-on sentence! :smiley:

20

Pix or it didn’t happen. :wink: