{"id":26471,"date":"2026-07-14T18:27:58","date_gmt":"2026-07-14T18:27:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/happyinthehills.com\/zentriathlete\/?p=26471"},"modified":"2026-07-14T18:30:10","modified_gmt":"2026-07-14T18:30:10","slug":"lt2026tcimt","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/happyinthehills.com\/zentriathlete\/2026\/07\/14\/lt2026tcimt\/","title":{"rendered":"Logan Triathlon – 2026: The Currents I Move Through"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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The Weather Before the Weather - The Charge in the Air<\/h3><\/div>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Race mornings carry their own weather \u2014 a static, a hum. I feel it before I see it: shoulders tightening, breath shortening, the field vibrating with the need to prove something. My nervous system doesn\u2019t join that current; it steps back \u2014 not avoidance, clarity. I create a perimeter, stay observant without absorbing \u2014 the only way to move cleanly through days like this. The Logan Triathlon unfolded through warm serpentine water, quiet strength on the bike, a recalibrated run shaped by stubborn cramps, and post\u2011race grace on the asphalt. This event\/race reflection moves through terrain, physiology, and community with mountain\u2011quiet clarity and the body\u2019s remembered patterns.<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Before The Churn<\/h3><\/div>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Even with distance, connection finds me. A younger athlete with a Chattanooga Ironman bag caught my eye. I mentioned it, and the spark landed \u2014 recognition between people who know the long arc behind a simple piece of gear. Later he noticed my Ironman hat and we exchanged a few words. Nothing performative. Just signal meeting signal.

Another athlete asked if we were crazy. I told him yes \u2014 but the kind of crazy that pulls us away from the world\u2019s noise. Nathan Pollard showed up too \u2014 steady kindness since 2015 or 2016. He said it had been a minute; I told him I\u2019d been hurt; he nodded. Recognition without explanation \u2014 endurance camaraderie.
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The Water\u2019s Narrow Truth<\/h3><\/div>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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The swim was warm and serpentine \u2014 bodies everywhere, lines collapsing, people drifting. I staged myself in the 12\u201312:30 group even though I can swim a nine\u2011minute 500 \u2014 not modesty, discipline. <\/span><\/p>

Crowded water pressed in; I stayed long, stayed patient, let the noise settle. I surged at the end, passed fifteen or twenty people, but didn\u2019t sprint out \u2014 breath steady, clarity over adrenaline. <\/span><\/p>

The final fifty meters rose from muscle memory \u2014 the familiar 1:40 pace returning from deeper ground. <\/span><\/p>

The body reminded me: I still know this line.<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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The Crossing<\/h3><\/div>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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I walked to transition \u2014 deliberate, quiet \u2014 years of refinement shaping each motion: minimal, efficient, clean. I moved without urgency, choosing clarity over speed. A shift between domains, steady and unhurried. No chaos, no rush \u2014 just breath, then movement. The day aligned itself around that choice.<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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The Quiet Strength - The Road We All Share<\/h3><\/div>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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The bike showed its teeth. South Mendon Rd \u2014 600 South \u2014 trucks pressing, riders scattered, locals venting against sun and Gran Fondo traffic. Asphalt forgetting it belongs to all of us.<\/span><\/p>

I\u2019ve been a Share the Road advocate since 2012. Back then I didn\u2019t understand the three\u2011foot rule; now I give a full bike length \u2014 the real physics of safety.<\/span><\/p>

Gravel taught me that \u2014 the technical sections, the rock hops, the places where terrain demands humility. <\/span><\/p>

Switching between gravel and a time\u2011trial bike used to feel jarring; now it feels like fluency.<\/span><\/p>

One kid stood up on the pedals and his bike went erratic. I backed off, called out gently, checked in. He said he was tired. I told him that was great \u2014 meaning: he was learning, trying, present. Bike handling isn\u2019t absorbed through osmosis; someone has to model it.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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The Guarding - When the Body Speaks<\/h3><\/div>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Halfway through the ride, both calves cramped \u2014 hard. No warning. No negotiation. I\u2019d hydrated. I\u2019d taken electrolytes. But GLP\u20111 physiology shifts appetite, fueling, the quiet math of effort. My wife is on it too; we both struggle to eat enough. Even after the race, all I\u2019d had was water and a meal\u2011replacement bar. The body remembers effort \u2014 but it also remembers absence.<\/span><\/p>

Still, I rode through it \u2014 not fast, but steady. Only four minutes off the fastest split in my age group.<\/span><\/p>

Just before Bug Alley, the left leg seized. Both locked during dismount \u2014 a hard drop in the terrain. This wasn\u2019t collapse; it was the body guarding itself. Electrolytes shifting, cadence mismatched, fueling light, hydration thin, Tirzepatide shaping the edges. <\/span><\/p>

The body said: I need a different pattern.<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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The Spectrum and the Current - The Recalibration<\/h3><\/div>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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The run was the part I knew would break me. I walked most of it \u2014 steady, adaptive, unhidden. My goal was simple: keep the 5K under forty\u2011five minutes. I did. And somehow, finished fourth in my age group.<\/span><\/p>

That\u2019s the spectrum of triathlon: seasoned athletes, newcomers, teenagers, gravel riders, time\u2011trial purists, people who are fast, people who are learning, people who are just trying to finish. And me \u2014 somewhere in the middle \u2014 moving through it all with an anticipatory current shaped by neurodiversity, gravel miles, injury recovery, and a quiet commitment to making the road safer for everyone.<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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The Mirror - Grace on the Asphalt<\/h3><\/div>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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After the race, one more interaction \u2014 small, human, telling.<\/span><\/p>

An unnamed guy bristled with that familiar 21\u2011to\u201123\u2011year\u2011old peak\u2011mentality energy (I revisited this era myself hard in my awakening of 2013-2016) . I recognized it; I used to be that age \u2014 too sure of everything.<\/span><\/p>

But Austin<\/strong> leaned in (The Chatanooga backpack guy). He asked whether the laces stay where you set them. I told him they do \u2014 that they take getting used to, and that I\u2019d installed mine the day before because I\u2019m coming back from a major injury. He paused, recalibrated, asked another simple honest authentic question. I explained the versions, the reliability, the transition\u2011time savings.<\/span><\/p>

By the end, Austin mentioned he may give them a look \u2014 he was trying to shave time during his events.\u00a0 The unnamed fellow still seemed shocked and unready for the process of WEAD,\u00a0 maybe some day but not this day.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

At least with Austin, the interaction ended with curiosity instead of ego.\u00a0 A maturity I find hard to land with – I hope he continues forward and does well!<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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Grace on the Asphalt<\/h3><\/div>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Today wasn\u2019t about speed. It wasn\u2019t about proving anything. It wasn\u2019t even about fitness.<\/span><\/p>

It was about showing up in the current I move through \u2014 tuned\u2011in, disciplined, patient, aware. It was about remembering that I can still do this. It was about grace \u2014 for myself, for others, for the road we all share.<\/span><\/p>

The body remembers the line; the path remains open.<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A race morning in Logan becomes a study in nervous\u2011system clarity, gravel\u2011taught handling, GLP\u20111 physiology, and the quiet spectrum of athletes who share the same asphalt. From the serpentine swim to the cramped bike to the softening of ego in a post\u2011race shoelace conversation, this essay traces the anticipatory current I move through \u2014 tuned\u2011in, patient, and grounded in grace.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":20511,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"nf_dc_page":"","_eb_attr":"","pagelayer_contact_templates":[],"_pagelayer_content":"","rs_blank_template":"","rs_page_bg_color":"","slide_template_v7":"","wprm-recipe-roundup-name":"","wprm-recipe-roundup-description":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[820,461],"tags":[835],"class_list":["post-26471","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-emnth","category-race-reflections","tag-tag-triathlon"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/happyinthehills.com\/zentriathlete\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26471","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/happyinthehills.com\/zentriathlete\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/happyinthehills.com\/zentriathlete\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/happyinthehills.com\/zentriathlete\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/happyinthehills.com\/zentriathlete\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26471"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/happyinthehills.com\/zentriathlete\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26471\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26508,"href":"https:\/\/happyinthehills.com\/zentriathlete\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26471\/revisions\/26508"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/happyinthehills.com\/zentriathlete\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/20511"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/happyinthehills.com\/zentriathlete\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26471"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/happyinthehills.com\/zentriathlete\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26471"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/happyinthehills.com\/zentriathlete\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26471"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}