You know the one...did you see 'that guy'? My notes from the O'Rourke sprint.

Started with a pool swim. 500 yds. I was in the last heat, with one other swimmer. Everyone else on the course had at least a 5 minute head start and some were done before I started.
I hit the water, and panic set in. I can't swim. I can't breathe. Not at all. So, I slowed way, way down. So slow, I became 'that guy'. Finished the swim in 10:30 - 3 minutes behind my heat mate, mortified and embarrassed.

Run out the door to T1 and... It's raining. It's now 42 degrees and raining. I'm wet already, so that's no big deal. Oh, wait, it's 42 degrees. Here we go. I hit the course on the bike feeling pretty good - knowing I'm last. For real, dead last. I'm out the first mile and I look down to see my ankle bleeding. Cut it on something, can't feel it though or my feet. Socks would have been good. When I drove the bike route, Mr. D_M noted that it's flat, and once you pass the Union Pacific Rail yard, exposed. Hope it's not windy. I make the turn out to the UP yard and the wind picks up. For now it's a tailwind, and I find that amusing - until the turn around. That wind wasn't there this morning, and now it's 10 steady, and gusting at 20+, and raining. Looked at my watch somewhere near the last mile of the ride and it was somewhere around 59 minutes. Never looked again.

Came in on the bike, and the temp has dropped a bit. Is that snow? Or am I frozen and delirious? It's down to 38 degrees. Great. Put shoes and socks on to head out on the run. Trying to be fast in spite of the circumstances. Running shoes felt like those wooden clogs we had in elementary school. Off I go - carrying a water bottle. Doh, left the gloves at T2. Go back or jettison the water? that question occupies me for a while, until I pass a construction dumpster. On the way out, I pass 3 people coming in, all give a polite nod. Wouldn't you hate to be 'that guy'? After the second mile, my feet felt like mine, and I could pick up the pace a bit. On the way back, the marshals are picking up the barricades behind me and the safety truck follows me in. I'm that guy. I wasn't the slowest, but I was last.

Mr. D_M gets a bonus for driving out to the UP yard, with the diva and the cowbell to shout encouragement. And for being the only one at the finish line in the rain/snow, answering the question of 'who's still out there' ? When I came in, the few that were left new my name.