Well, the day of reckoning finally came. I participated in my first triathlon. I’ve been wanting to do so for years, but never got fully motivated. A few friends (ended up being 7 of us) decided to go for it and we have been training for a couple of months now. I have never been a strong swimmer, but enjoyed learning a bit about how to train in the pool and in open water. Cycling was something I’ve always enjoyed but have never done it competitively. And running is something I’ve always considered myself strong at, but with my back pain lately and other factors, I was hoping to simply “finish” the race. I finished with an overall time of 1 hour, 25 minutes. I’m happy with that time as my first shot. I’m also encouraged that I know I can improve that by at least a few minutes, if not more next time. Here’s the breakdown:
SWIM: So, the swim was interesting. Due to stories I’ve heard about the pandemonium that takes place in the water in a triathlon, I planned to wait 30-60 seconds after the starting gun to let the coast clear (pun) a bit before heading out. After 10 seconds or so, I decided to go for it. With a wetsuit on, swimming in open water is far more bearable. As expected, there was a lot of “contact” with other swimmers around me (my legs were hit multiple times, as well as my side). But I can honestly say that I don’t believe I hit anyone with my arms. Maybe I was a bit too conscious of it. I was able to secure what I felt was a respectable ½ mile swim time (14:18) and am confident my time can be improved significantly next time. I gage it by what Moriah (6 yrs old) told me before the start: “Don’t drown, dad!” She said it to me twice. So, as I came out of the water, Moriah was cheering me…and all I could think to say was: “I didn’t drown, MoMo!” My transition from swim to bike was smooth, but took way more time than necessary (over 4 minutes). If I can improve my transition times, my overall time will benefit tremendously.
BIKE: Once on the bike, I was in the zone. However, I was “zoning” on a mtn. bike, while most serious racers are on faster road bikes. I tried to hold my own on my mtn bike, but know my time would improve significantly on a road bike. A positive is that I think my slower bike made me push harder. In my own competitive way, I took exception to anyone wanting to pass me. Road bike or not. So I tried hard, regardless of how silly I may have looked on my “amateur bike”. Makes me wonder…
RUN: The run was something I was not focusing on, primarily because I’ve had a lot of back pain lately, making running extremely painful. Consequently, as of late, I’ve only been training for the run once or twice a week. The transition from bike to run is a unique sensation. During the bike, your body pumps extra blood to your quads for cycling power. When you hop off the bike and begin the run, you can feel the blood shift focus and work on calves and overall leg strength. It’s a unique feeling. So, the run is hilly on this course, and during the first half of the out-and-back, it felt like the turn-around (halfway) was never going to come. I was getting pretty fatigued at that point. Then, on the way back it was rough. I was buoyed up by friends running the other way…high fives, cheering and what not. But it was not much fun. Then, just as I was cresting the top of the hill and about to turn into the parking lot for the finish line, my left hamstring cramped…and cramped hard. I’ve never had a cramp like that. My left leg stiffened right up and every step was excruciating combined with the back pain. But, I was only 50 yards from the finish! I couldn’t stop! I knew it was just a cramp and wouldn’t be a long-term risk. So, I hobbled my way down the road to the finish line. I stopped right after the timing mat/finish line to stretch out the hammy. Then, I heard Melissa yelling at me: “FINISH!” – I looked ahead and there was another timing mat 10-20 feet in front of me. I guess that was the real finish. So, it turns out I stopped when I thought I was done…right in front of the real finish line. There has to be an analogy in there somewhere. I hobbled a few more steps to cross the line. I must have looked like such a knucklehead. But, hey. I finished. That was a key for me. As I type this 3½ days later, my hammy still hurts… a lot. But it’ll go away. I hope.
I definitely want to compete in another triathlon – sooner than later. Next, I will probably do the “Olympic” distance, although it would be interesting to see how I can improve my time in the Sprint distance. Good times. It was particularly cool that a group of buddies were able to train and compete together. Now I’ve experienced my first and know what to expect for the next time.
SWIM: So, the swim was interesting. Due to stories I’ve heard about the pandemonium that takes place in the water in a triathlon, I planned to wait 30-60 seconds after the starting gun to let the coast clear (pun) a bit before heading out. After 10 seconds or so, I decided to go for it. With a wetsuit on, swimming in open water is far more bearable. As expected, there was a lot of “contact” with other swimmers around me (my legs were hit multiple times, as well as my side). But I can honestly say that I don’t believe I hit anyone with my arms. Maybe I was a bit too conscious of it. I was able to secure what I felt was a respectable ½ mile swim time (14:18) and am confident my time can be improved significantly next time. I gage it by what Moriah (6 yrs old) told me before the start: “Don’t drown, dad!” She said it to me twice. So, as I came out of the water, Moriah was cheering me…and all I could think to say was: “I didn’t drown, MoMo!” My transition from swim to bike was smooth, but took way more time than necessary (over 4 minutes). If I can improve my transition times, my overall time will benefit tremendously.BIKE: Once on the bike, I was in the zone. However, I was “zoning” on a mtn. bike, while most serious racers are on faster road bikes. I tried to hold my own on my mtn bike, but know my time would improve significantly on a road bike. A positive is that I think my slower bike made me push harder. In my own competitive way, I took exception to anyone wanting to pass me. Road bike or not. So I tried hard, regardless of how silly I may have looked on my “amateur bike”. Makes me wonder…
RUN: The run was something I was not focusing on, primarily because I’ve had a lot of back pain lately, making running extremely painful. Consequently, as of late, I’ve only been training for the run once or twice a week. The transition from bike to run is a unique sensation. During the bike, your body pumps extra blood to your quads for cycling power. When you hop off the bike and begin the run, you can feel the blood shift focus and work on calves and overall leg strength. It’s a unique feeling. So, the run is hilly on this course, and during the first half of the out-and-back, it felt like the turn-around (halfway) was never going to come. I was getting pretty fatigued at that point. Then, on the way back it was rough. I was buoyed up by friends running the other way…high fives, cheering and what not. But it was not much fun. Then, just as I was cresting the top of the hill and about to turn into the parking lot for the finish line, my left hamstring cramped…and cramped hard. I’ve never had a cramp like that. My left leg stiffened right up and every step was excruciating combined with the back pain. But, I was only 50 yards from the finish! I couldn’t stop! I knew it was just a cramp and wouldn’t be a long-term risk. So, I hobbled my way down the road to the finish line. I stopped right after the timing mat/finish line to stretch out the hammy. Then, I heard Melissa yelling at me: “FINISH!” – I looked ahead and there was another timing mat 10-20 feet in front of me. I guess that was the real finish. So, it turns out I stopped when I thought I was done…right in front of the real finish line. There has to be an analogy in there somewhere. I hobbled a few more steps to cross the line. I must have looked like such a knucklehead. But, hey. I finished. That was a key for me. As I type this 3½ days later, my hammy still hurts… a lot. But it’ll go away. I hope.I definitely want to compete in another triathlon – sooner than later. Next, I will probably do the “Olympic” distance, although it would be interesting to see how I can improve my time in the Sprint distance. Good times. It was particularly cool that a group of buddies were able to train and compete together. Now I’ve experienced my first and know what to expect for the next time.
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