I was able to run in the 2008 Vancouver Lake mock triathlon put on by the PTC (Portland Triathlon Club). Weather conditions were not encouraging as I drove up to the ‘couv at 6:30 in the morning. Temperature gage stayed right around 44 degrees, meaning hopping into a cold lake (fed by the Columbia River) might not be very pleasant. They did some clinics on each general phase of triathlon (swim, transition, bike, run, nutrition). Well done and well worth the time. So, then it was time to dawn the wetsuit and hop in the water. The skies were threatening rain, but not much had really fallen yet. Did a mini warm-up in the water and it was time to rock.SWIM: As we began, I was reminded how different race day is from training doing laps in the pool at the gym. I was toward the front of the pack, so there was a lot of body contact (arms and legs hitting each other, people swimming over other swimmers, etc). I was glad it wasn’t a real race, and I was also glad I did it because it reminded me of what to prepare for on race day. In the water, I also had some minor ‘panic’ type moments. Not severe enough to actually stop swimming, but I definitely found myself constantly popping my head out of the water to take in my bearings and assess the best path where I would not be hitting other swimmers’ bodies. I really never found that path until the end, so I ended up very uncomfortable and really felt like I was in ‘survival mode’ most of the time. Even though this was a very short swim (600 yard or so), I just didn’t want to imagine going on for a longer distance. I don’t think the panic was due to cold temperature, although that must have had some affect on me. I think it was just the overall banging into other swimmers and trying to sight where I was trying to go. Basically, all of the technique stuff I’ve been working on: out the window. It was survival time. It made me very inefficient, but I stayed alive and got out of the water ready to tackle the bike. All-in-all, the swim was rough, but very good to have experienced to prep me for future races.
BIKE: As we got out of the water and transitioned to bike gear, I found myself dizzy, which is very unusual for me. Interesting, even in a mock situation, the adrenaline is pumping and the body is trying to adjust after being in the water. Once I was on the bike, the rain began…and I mean it started to pour. One great thing: I was borrowing a friends road bike (not my mtn. bike), so I felt lightning fast. Since this was not a timed event, I had one simple way of gauging my progress: how many people passed me, and how many people I pass. I can happily say not one person passed me, but I passed many folks on the bike. I think the rain conditions made people a little more tentative, so I was able to make up some ground. I really enjoyed the bike leg, as it was a beautiful setting on a country road next to the Columbia river. Very flat, and I felt like I was flying since I was on a bike much faster than my mtn. bike (which I love, btw – but is not made for road racing).
RUN: The run was a nice combo of trail and country road setting, and relatively uneventful for me. I tried to count the folks ahead of me and I believe I finished around ninth or so overall in the sprint distance. My stopwatch read 1 hour, 26 minutes at the finish. Nice thing was, after the bike leg, the sun came out, so the group had a nice BBQ lunch set up for us at the finish. The photo shown here is one of the BBQ’ers cursing the rain during the event, but it turned out to be pretty nice in the end. Unfortunately, they had to set up during the worst weather. Interestingly, the rain hit hard again as I drove home, so it would seem the clouds parted for some nice sun just for us.
This was a really cool event and I look forward to participating in the future. A great way to start out the triathlon season.
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