Triathlon #1 Complete!
I had been training for three months for my first triathlon and finally the day was at hand. The night before I packed my bags, and went through my transitions. I was ready to go, and fortunately I was able to relax enough to get some sleep. The race was scheduled for 8:00 AM and I was scheduled to start with the third wave, around 8:10 AM. The weather forecast called for a cold and cloudy morning, bletch...
I had planned to get up at 5:00 AM and have a nice breakfast of whole wheat pasta with a banana. I had read that its good to eat complex carbohydrates about three hours before the race. The alarm malfunctioned, but nervous energy had me awake by 5:15 AM, I figured I was still within my three-hour window.
I arrived at the race right at 6:30 AM thinking I would be first to register. Instead, cars were backed up waiting to park. One thing about triathletes, they are punctual.
At first, I was a little intimidated, everyone seemed to have high tech bikes, new gear and the swagger of a seasoned triathlete. When I racked my bike, I was pleasantly surprised that the two guys on either side of me were also first-timers. In fact, one of the guys had the same experience as me, he was also using the triathlon to lose a few pounds and get in shape.
It was nice to have someone to chat with to keep nerves to a minimum. I had about a 45-minute wait and it was a little boring. However, I was entertained by the two guys across from me who were spraying their bodies with Pam nonstick spray. Apparently, spraying Pam on your body helps you slide out of your wetsuit. While I guess that may be true, I did not want to smell like an empty brownie pan for the balance of the race.
After what seemed like an eternity, they called us down to the beach for a pre-race briefing. By then, part of my support crew and cheering section had arrived, Karla and Daniel. Both are accomplished athletes in their own right, however, they've been slowed by injuries this summer. Daniel was suppposed to compete with me, but was laid up by an unfortunate bike accident. Before heading into the water for the start, Karla offered a helpful tip. She told me to just walk out into the water and ease into my pace. It was helpful advice as I was able to relax and establish my swim pace.
The plan was to go out with a nice, relaxed breast stroke and return with a faster front crawl. My strategy worked to perfection, by the end I was near the front of my group. Swim complete, 15 minutes 26 seconds.
Onto the transition: I had my jammers on underneath my wet suit, so I stepped into my running shorts and shoes, zipped up my bike jersey and put on my helmet and unracked my bike. Since I didn't have clip-on bike pedals and bike shoes, I figured I could wear my running gear on the bike, which would save me time on the second transition. I walked to the mounting area and off I went. Transition one was a respectable 2 minutes and 14 seconds.
I headed out for the first of two laps on the bike course, almost immediately the elite racers came around for their second laps. They flew by at a dizzying pace. I'm still amazed at their speed. The course, a narrow single lane, had rocks, ruts, blind curves and slowpokes like me getting in the way. After separating my shoulder a month before on the same course, I just wanted to finish the bike portion safely. My chain popped off once and while I was bending over to fix it I accidentally dropped my sunglasses and left them behind. I was fortunate in that I didn't need sunglasses because it was an overcast day, but I was still bummed.I finished the bike in 1 hour 23 minutes and 49 seconds, good for 139th place.
Transition two, racked the bike and snapped off the helmet. A quick gulp of sports drink and I was off for the run. Transition two was a quick 1 minute and 11 seconds.
On to the run...
Arggh...Uphill. My legs felt really heavy and it took a while to work out the lactic acid from the bike ride. I was also a little intimidated. The course description indicated the run was a "gradual ascent." Being a flatlander from Michigan, a "gradual ascent," I thought, is like a normal driveway...gradual. This ascent was straight up the side of a mountain for 2 and half miles. I was beginning to regret not pre-running the course (lesson learned). My legs didn't lighten up until about mile one, but it was still a challenge. At mile two, there was a volunteer at a curve who yelled, "come on, just one small peak left." As I rounded the corner and saw the "small" peak,
I wanted to go back and impolitely correct her characterization, but I didn't want lose any ground. It was another big hill, then another climb on the other side of the ravine. It was starting to suck.
After the second mile, I could see the end in sight and got a burst of energy that carried me up over the final ascent. While I was struggling, the views were spectacular. It seemed as if I could see the entire Fort Collins metropolitan area and the full extent of Horsetooth Reservoir, a long narrow man-made body of water. Once I hit the downhill, my pace picked up considerably though my ankles were getting sore from the dodging rocks on the uneven trail.
After the fourth mile marker, (less than a mile to go!) I hit my runner's high. I felt really silly as I started to reflect on how great it was that I was doing a triathlon, but reality kicked in and I realized I still had to finish. I came off the trail, and it was about a 250 yard run on the dirt road to the finish.
Another competitor in the 40-45 (they wrote your age on your calf) group passed me. He was a tall lean runner, who gave a little encouragement as he passed by. He was about 50 feet in front of me as we were coming around to finish, and another competitor, who had completed the race looked at me and said, "come on, you can catch that guy." With that challenge, I kicked it into high gear and started a dead sprint to the finish. I made up most of the ground, but finished a few second behind.
Run time, a disappointing, 58 minutes and 55 seconds good for 148th. I could have pushed myself harder on the run--my goal was to complete it in under 50 minutes, which clearly didn't happen.
Final time 2 hours, 41 minutes and 35 seconds, good for 148 out of 187 and 19th out of 24 for my age group. Not bad for my first triathlon, but I think I could have done better.
Overall I enjoyed the experience, and so I immediately signed up for another sprint triathlon, the Octoberfest in Longmont, Colorado on Sunday, September 20. This is more of a traditional sprint tri, and it's flat. I'll keep you posted.
I had planned to get up at 5:00 AM and have a nice breakfast of whole wheat pasta with a banana. I had read that its good to eat complex carbohydrates about three hours before the race. The alarm malfunctioned, but nervous energy had me awake by 5:15 AM, I figured I was still within my three-hour window.
I arrived at the race right at 6:30 AM thinking I would be first to register. Instead, cars were backed up waiting to park. One thing about triathletes, they are punctual.
At first, I was a little intimidated, everyone seemed to have high tech bikes, new gear and the swagger of a seasoned triathlete. When I racked my bike, I was pleasantly surprised that the two guys on either side of me were also first-timers. In fact, one of the guys had the same experience as me, he was also using the triathlon to lose a few pounds and get in shape.
It was nice to have someone to chat with to keep nerves to a minimum. I had about a 45-minute wait and it was a little boring. However, I was entertained by the two guys across from me who were spraying their bodies with Pam nonstick spray. Apparently, spraying Pam on your body helps you slide out of your wetsuit. While I guess that may be true, I did not want to smell like an empty brownie pan for the balance of the race.
After what seemed like an eternity, they called us down to the beach for a pre-race briefing. By then, part of my support crew and cheering section had arrived, Karla and Daniel. Both are accomplished athletes in their own right, however, they've been slowed by injuries this summer. Daniel was suppposed to compete with me, but was laid up by an unfortunate bike accident. Before heading into the water for the start, Karla offered a helpful tip. She told me to just walk out into the water and ease into my pace. It was helpful advice as I was able to relax and establish my swim pace.
The plan was to go out with a nice, relaxed breast stroke and return with a faster front crawl. My strategy worked to perfection, by the end I was near the front of my group. Swim complete, 15 minutes 26 seconds.
Onto the transition: I had my jammers on underneath my wet suit, so I stepped into my running shorts and shoes, zipped up my bike jersey and put on my helmet and unracked my bike. Since I didn't have clip-on bike pedals and bike shoes, I figured I could wear my running gear on the bike, which would save me time on the second transition. I walked to the mounting area and off I went. Transition one was a respectable 2 minutes and 14 seconds.
I headed out for the first of two laps on the bike course, almost immediately the elite racers came around for their second laps. They flew by at a dizzying pace. I'm still amazed at their speed. The course, a narrow single lane, had rocks, ruts, blind curves and slowpokes like me getting in the way. After separating my shoulder a month before on the same course, I just wanted to finish the bike portion safely. My chain popped off once and while I was bending over to fix it I accidentally dropped my sunglasses and left them behind. I was fortunate in that I didn't need sunglasses because it was an overcast day, but I was still bummed.
Transition two, racked the bike and snapped off the helmet. A quick gulp of sports drink and I was off for the run. Transition two was a quick 1 minute and 11 seconds.
On to the run...
Arggh...Uphill. My legs felt really heavy and it took a while to work out the lactic acid from the bike ride. I was also a little intimidated. The course description indicated the run was a "gradual ascent." Being a flatlander from Michigan, a "gradual ascent," I thought, is like a normal driveway...gradual. This ascent was straight up the side of a mountain for 2 and half miles. I was beginning to regret not pre-running the course (lesson learned). My legs didn't lighten up until about mile one, but it was still a challenge. At mile two, there was a volunteer at a curve who yelled, "come on, just one small peak left." As I rounded the corner and saw the "small" peak, I wanted to go back and impolitely correct her characterization, but I didn't want lose any ground. It was another big hill, then another climb on the other side of the ravine. It was starting to suck.
After the second mile, I could see the end in sight and got a burst of energy that carried me up over the final ascent. While I was struggling, the views were spectacular. It seemed as if I could see the entire Fort Collins metropolitan area and the full extent of Horsetooth Reservoir, a long narrow man-made body of water. Once I hit the downhill, my pace picked up considerably though my ankles were getting sore from the dodging rocks on the uneven trail.
After the fourth mile marker, (less than a mile to go!) I hit my runner's high. I felt really silly as I started to reflect on how great it was that I was doing a triathlon, but reality kicked in and I realized I still had to finish. I came off the trail, and it was about a 250 yard run on the dirt road to the finish.
Another competitor in the 40-45 (they wrote your age on your calf) group passed me. He was a tall lean runner, who gave a little encouragement as he passed by. He was about 50 feet in front of me as we were coming around to finish, and another competitor, who had completed the race looked at me and said, "come on, you can catch that guy." With that challenge, I kicked it into high gear and started a dead sprint to the finish. I made up most of the ground, but finished a few second behind.
Run time, a disappointing, 58 minutes and 55 seconds good for 148th. I could have pushed myself harder on the run--my goal was to complete it in under 50 minutes, which clearly didn't happen.
Final time 2 hours, 41 minutes and 35 seconds, good for 148 out of 187 and 19th out of 24 for my age group. Not bad for my first triathlon, but I think I could have done better.
Overall I enjoyed the experience, and so I immediately signed up for another sprint triathlon, the Octoberfest in Longmont, Colorado on Sunday, September 20. This is more of a traditional sprint tri, and it's flat. I'll keep you posted.
Labels: Colorado, exercise, fat tire, Michigan, triathlon, weight loss, workout
posted by Mikey @ 3:49 PM
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