Well, my first triathlon has come and gone. It was a real experience, to say the least. I was really nervous about this race, mainly because I didn’t know when to really exert myself. I didn’t want to push too hard at the swim or bike, just to find out that I had run out of energy for the run. I should clarify; I wasn’t lollygagging through the race. I was pushing the entire time.
I’ve decided to break down the event into the three sports instead of treating it as one since I still have the mind-set that I went to the park to do three events, back to back.
The 1500 meter swim was first on the agenda, and started at 8:00am. This was a two loop, open-water swim in Big Fish Lake. It entered and exited on the beach area about 150 meters from the transition area. We went out clock-wise; which was better for me because I can get a better feel for where I am when I breathe on the right. But I still played it safe and swam at a comfortable pace and stayed wide of all the buoys. Exiting the beach area just a bit more than half of the pack back, I felt fresh and ready to get on the bike. It took me 32:49 to make the loops, and another 2:36 to transition onto the bike.
The 40K bike race was a blast. The out and back route was a scenic, rolling course with little wind. Not too much happened during this leg of the event except I realized two things. One, gearing really does come into play during a road race. I was riding a 50/34 chain ring while the Tri bikes were equipped with a 54/39, giving those riders an advantage on the down hills and flats; I still ended up passing many of them on the hills but could have done better with the bigger gear ratio. The second thing I realized was that riding was more legs than lungs for me. While I was exerting myself during the ride, I was limited by the leg muscles and the concern that they would be fatigued before the running began. I finished at 1:16:35, and was on to running less than two minutes later.
The 10K run was the last leg of the event. It was another out and back route, and was mostly rolling, shady dirt roads. This was just fun! I was in my element; I was experienced enough to push it to the limit without crashing. And since this was the last leg, I planned to give it all I had. I could feel I had another gear in me after mile one; my legs found their rhythm and I settled into a nice pace.
Once I hit the first hill and realized that many of the racers were not prepared for the run, I picked up the pace and started to pass, and kept passing the entire time. I ended up finishing the run in a time of 43:37, and an overall time of 2:37:33.After the finish, I felt great. I got some liquids and we hung out for the results and the drawing – I won some Heed! So I walked away from my first Tri feeling good, enjoying the lovely weather with Paula, and winning some swag.
Competed in the race on Sunday, June 20th 2010
