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June 18, 2007
My First Triathlon - A Race Report
Hello my dear blog readers! I am copying this text from an email about my race yesterday I'm about to send, so if it seems like a weird style that is probably why. Anyway, see the short and long versions below if you are curious about my first triathlon!
Short Version:
Overall I had a great time, except for when I was attempting to do the swim! My total time was 1:39.47, which was about 5 minutes faster than I had thought I could do. My age group place was 35 out of 94 which was 5-10 places better than I expected. Physically I feel fine today, although at the end I really thought it was a harder effort than running a half marathon even though the time spent was pretty comparable.
And now for those who have a high tolerance for minute details, the long version:
Setup and the night before:
I did not sleep well at all the night before the race. I was really nervous about getting all my stuff set up, getting flat tires on the bike, and having a horrible swim. As you will see below most of my fears, but not all, were unfounded. I woke up at 4:30 am and drove to the Boulder Reservoir, which is about 5 miles north of Boulder. I was one of the first people in line to enter the transition area which means that I got a sweet spot and I had a lot of time to kill! So I set up my stuff, chatted with a few people, and went for a 2 mile run to warm up and calm my nerves (okay, mostly to calm my nerves). Then I got my swim stuff, headed out to the beach, and got ready for my 8:00 am start.
The Swim (750 meters, 22:22):
I was really nervous about the swim and most of my waking thoughts the night before were about horrible things that could happen. The swim kind of lived up to my low expectations as I kind of panicked in the water and had a really bad swim. I doggy paddled most of the way because I was having a really hard time holding my breath at all. This is an area I’ll have to practice before my next tri because it was a pretty miserable experience. I think all the people freaked me out—I kept hitting peoples’ legs with my arms when I would try to do a normal freestyle stroke. My time for this leg was about 7 minutes slower than I expected, which at the time didn’t seem that bad as I felt like I was in the water for about 30 minutes.
T1 (1:12):
Somehow I kind of rocked the transitions for this race. There was a fairly long run up the beach into the transition area and once I got my wetsuit off my top I felt okay running up the hill. I pulled the legs of the suit off and then didn’t feel like drying my feet off so I just put my cycling shoes on without socks. I didn’t use gloves either and I think this helped my time. I was feeling pretty tired from my spastic swim but I was excited about the bike so off I ran to where we could mount the bikes (you had to run out of the transition area to do this).
The Bike (17 miles, 50:39, 20.3 MPH Average):
I felt really good on the bike for the most part. The course was a gradual uphill for the first 4 miles or so and then the rest of the course was downhill, flat, or slightly rolling. I passed a ton of girls in my age group by trying to keep high cadence on the uphills and get in the right gear and hammer on the downhills and flats. I really liked the course and I feel that it played to my strengths, which is keeping up a good pace unless I’m going way uphill. When I finished the bike I felt exhilarated but not particularly tired. I had thought before I could go 20 MPH at the most so I am really pleased by my time and I feel that in my next race I can do just as well, especially if I can manage not to exhaust myself in the swim.
T2 (1:26):
Okay, it is really hard to run in cycling shoes. I think I almost fell over several times in the transition area as I was trying to get to my spot. I put my bike down haphazardly, pulled off my cycling shoes (next time I think I’d try to do more of this while dismounting), and put on socks and running shoes. I grabbed my bib on my race belt and my visor and started running out of the area.
The Run (3.1 miles, 24:05, 7:46 min/mile):
I felt pretty lethargic on the run but I was pleased to see my pace under 8:00 per mile. It is really weird to run after biking hard for almost an hour – my legs felt kind of dead and I felt like I was running about 10:00 pace but somehow I was going at a relatively decent clip and passing lots of runners (I think I was only passed by two people). It was pretty hot by this point and I always have a hard time drinking and running so at each of the water stops I drank a sip of water and dumped the rest on my head. My head got a bit out of the game during the third mile, but once I was close I picked it up and finished with a decent kick. I was ecstatic to see my time under 1:40 when I finished. When I was done I could literally not drink enough water (I even drank some vile Gatorade), so I definitely need to hydrate more on the bike in my next race. I was really tired at the end but it was different from a running race, more of a bone tired than a feeling that I was going to puke.
So overall I am really pleased by how the race went and I feel really good about my chances in this race next year – I think I can get into the top 25 for my age group if I can take 5-10 minutes off my swim time, which should not be hard if I can defeat my mental difficulties with the crowded open water swim.
Anyway thanks to everyone for your good luck wishes, and for listening to me obsess about my training for the last month!!
Posted by barb at June 18, 2007 5:25 PM
Comments
Congratulations and thanks for the race report!
Posted by: Alison at June 18, 2007 6:16 PM
Barb,
CONGRATULATIONS! You did great for your first-ever tri! Plus, when you ease your swimming nerves, just think of how much faster you're going to be!
Posted by: Meghan at June 18, 2007 7:36 PM
some great perspective on racing details... nice debut!
Posted by: corrado giambalvo at June 19, 2007 2:23 AM
Hey Barb! I'm so excited for you!!! Excellent first tri - I am really impressed!
I feel your swim pain. Swimming in general isn't that easy for us runners but add in the element of open water and thrashing bodies and it can get ugly. But with time and experience you'll get that all ironed out! Plus, there are lots of races with smaller wave starts and/or time trial starts so you aren't with so many others.
Anyway, great job! Sounds like you enjoyed yourself which of course is most important! :)
Posted by: Beth at June 19, 2007 5:23 AM