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June 18, 2006
I Am a Triathlete!
The pictures tell it all. :)
I loved it! I have found myself a new sport, that's for sure. Much better than just straight running. I suggest you all give it a try. :)
I don't have the exact results or my splits yet. They will eventually be posted on the race website but as of now they aren't there. Roughly, my time was 1:08:32 (0.3 mi swim, 13 mi bike, 5K). My swim was about 9 minutes, my bike 39 or 40 minutes and my run 21:30 or so. I won my age group but was about the 5th women overall. I do find tris very confusing results wise. I was entered in the age group division but my time was faster than some of the elites but there were also other ages groupers (I think 2, one of which was over 40 yrs old!) that were faster than me. Weird. It's kind of a strange thing since you don't all start at the same time and you don't really know who you are racing or not. I guess you're just out there racing everyone!
The Swim
I was so scared of the swim. I think I've heard or read about every horror story of getting beat up, swam over, under, around, etc... We were started in waves and I started with about 30-40 other women of around my age. I started way to the left (we were swimming clockwise around bouys) so that I wouldn't be on the inside where everyone was heading. I think I may be a little better swimmer than I think because I didn't really run into trouble. Either that or I just went out so hard they all thought I was crazy. I certainly wasn't the first one of my age group out of the water but I wasn't swimming in the midst of 40 other people either. It must have thinned out pretty quickly. I did much better with the sighting and swimming straight than my practice swim last week but per my parents, O and my sister and brother-in-law who were watching on shore, I was swimming a little wide! Either way it was really neat. It felt really long. When I got out of the water my heart rate felt like it was around 550. :) I chose not to wear my wetsuit because the water was so warm. It probably would have helped me a little for buoyancy sake but any time I saved there would have been lost in transition. :)
T1
Before the race the race announcer kept reminding everyone to not forget where their bike was. Yeah buddy, like I"m going to forget where I put my bike. Well that was no joke. I didn't forget where my bike was but I was pretty disoriented when I got out of the water. Hmm... :) I had about a 100 meter jog to get to my bike, part of which was on concrete. Yeah - my feet didn't like that. :) I survived though and felt like I did an okay job of getting my gear on and getting going. I did not attach my shoes to my pedals and put my shoes on while biking. That's a task to learn later on. My goodness I can only imagine how ugly that might have gotten. I also wear socks because I know I would get blisters otherwise. Real triathletes don't wear socks. :)
The Bike
I was humming on my bike. I was loving life. I felt good. I will be interested to see my split for that. Definitely faster than I've ever gone but the course was also flatter than a pancake so I'm not sure I will ever be able to duplicate this feat! I was passing people left and right on the bike (one benefit of starting in the 5th wave of swimmers - lots of people to go after!). I started to worry that perhaps I shouldn't be passing so many people - like they knew something that I didn't. I wasn't exerting all my effort but I was certainly working and I didn't want it to come back to bite me. I was able to stay down in my aerobars except for a few sharp turns.
T2/The Run
When I dismounted my bike I made an effort to sit down, change my shoes and take a DEEP breathe. I got a drink, I grabbed my hat and I started running. And my legs told me they were NOT happy with me. It's a hard feeling to explain. I really felt like I was running so slow but I was still catching people. I kept telling myself "you are a runner and they are not" but I was hurting. By my estimation my split was around 21:30 so I'm actually pretty pleased with that, but I literally felt like I was shuffling along at 9 minute pace. I would pass one person and then focus on the next to try and get them. One guy passed me and I tried to go with him but he was clearly running faster than me. Let me just say - I was happy to be done!
Overall it was a great time. I REALLY enjoyed it. And overall I would say that the triathlete community is very friendly. I think it's likely to be even more so in the longer tris. A "we are all in this together" type of attitude. The best part was the bike. The hardest part was the run. The most fun part was getting your number marked on your body (although they don't come off too easy!). All in all a big success for me. The top woman was around 1:02. I'm not sure I could shave 6:30 off my time. Perhaps some time off my bike but not that much! Not much off my swim and none off my run. I guess that's what hard training is for!
Summary for the week:
Sunday - off
Monday - 3500 meter swim w/12x200, core/feet exercises
Tuesday - 42 minute run, core/feet exercises
Wednesday - lift
Thursday - 21 mi bike, 2x25 pushups, 2x100 crunchers
Friday - 30 min run, 4x20 second striders, core/feet exercises
Saturday - 8.5 mi bike, 10 min run (checking out the course some)
Sunday - Charleston Sprint Triathlon (0.3 mi swim, 13 mi bike, 5K run)
Posted by beth at June 18, 2006 7:54 PM
Comments
Ahhh!!! Congratulations!!! I lost my bike today too! I had an awesome transition spot-but when I got out of the water I ran over to the wrong rack. Anyway, you totally rock!! And you even look happy in your biking and running pics!
Posted by: Audrey at June 18, 2006 8:39 PM
Congratulations on finishing your first tri! That's awesome! As Audrey said, you DO look happy out there, in pain and all! Enjoy your vacation!
Posted by: Meghan at June 18, 2006 8:57 PM
Congratulations! You do look happy in your pictures and I can also tell from your synopsis that you really enjoyed yourself. I can't wait to hear about the next one!
Posted by: Caitlin at June 18, 2006 9:14 PM
I'm so happy to hear that it went well and you enjoyed it...but of course you did, because you always have such a positive attitude and make the best you can of everything. I thought of you this morning, I even tried to look up the results because I was in such suspense, so thanks for the recap!
I bet that you can shave more time off than you think. Awesome start, though! Congratulations!
Posted by: Alison at June 18, 2006 9:47 PM
Photos courtesy of O's Photography, Inc.
Posted by: O at June 18, 2006 10:18 PM
Great job Beth!!!! i'm glad you enjoyed yourself...
Posted by: Kranky C Dale at June 19, 2006 9:19 AM
Way to go Beth!!! That is awesome. I am so glad you had a great experience in your first tri.
Posted by: barb at June 19, 2006 1:34 PM
the happy triathlete... you were probably smiling during the swim... but O needs to get and underwater camera to get that photo... this great debut looks like the first of a long series of "yeah!" events :) bests, corrado
Posted by: corrado giambalvo at June 20, 2006 1:25 AM