Malfer Takes 6th in Timberman
Mike Malfer had a strong performance at Ironman 70.3, Timberman on August 21. He had a swim of 28:08, a bike of 2:23:52: and a run of 1:34:32 for 6th in his age group. Some highlights from Malfer's race report (censored appropriately):
The conditions were the worse the town has ever seen! The swell in the lake was 6-9 feet, wind was coming at 25MPH from all directions and the temperature at 5:30am was already at 110 degrees. It was going to be very tough race..
When you stay at a hotel where other triathlons are staying you don’t need to set your alarm. For some reason, triathletes feel that they are the only one that matter and @^$& everyone else. I woke up at 3:00 to slamming doors and people getting ready for the day. I peeked my head out at 3:05 and told them to keep it down and they said they had a race today and they were preparing for it. It was the most important race of the year for them. I then said, screw it, I’m up. Let’s start getting ready. I had my banana and oatmeal at about 3:30 and I had a pleasant surprise come out of me around 3:45. I knew getting that over with meant, I probably wasn’t going stop during the race and pull a Cohen. Things were looking up. I packed my stuff up and left around 5:00 am. to the race start where I began to set up transition. I saw the people that left at 3;30! Their bikes were right in front of me and they were just standing there, overlooking their neatly put together transition. They had their arms crossed like they were guarding their bike.
As I began to unpack my water bottles are started to realize that all my senses were being satisfied and a chill came over me. If there was a heaven, this was it! Smell: Hmmm, the smell of bengay and *&#^ filled the air, kind of like a minty poop. Sound: the sound of tires being pumped up, the sound of the door closing on the bathrooms and the chomping one makes when they are eating a bar, the director talking over the loud speaker every 2 minutes telling us that the water temp was 73.9, well below the limit and wet suits would be allowed, the roaring from the participants that it was wet suit legal, and yes every 2 minutes, athletes running around asking to borrow pumps, where I just bought one at Walmart for $19.95. I became the popular one that morning. My eyes filled with tears as I scanned all the bikes, and the people with their compression socks, tape on their shoulders and people snotting. And lastly, the feel, I could feel the tension in everyone’s eyes as they looked at each other saying, do I have to beat this person so I can get up on that podium? It was shaping out to be a great day!