Report from my 1st Triathlon!!

Well I did it! I completed my first triathlon and it was an amazing experience!! First off, I need to thank my fan club - Mom, Ted, Travis and Micaela for showing up and cheering me on. I was worried about how I would look (i.e. like a complete idiot) so I was kindof embarrassed about having anyone I knew there, but in the end I was so thankful for their support!

To start off my report, some background ... it was the 3rd annual Dew U Try the Tri in Springfield, IL. A really small supersprint distance catering to the newbies out there like me. The swim was a 150 meter swim (3 laps) in a really narrow health club pool, a 5 mile out and back bike ride, and a 1.3 mile run through a park. From my training times, my goal was to do the whole race in under an hour. I was figuring 4 1/2 to 5 minutes for the swim, 30 minutes bike, 15 minute run and the transitions were a wild card, but I assumed I could do them in less than 10 minutes hence the 60 minute goal.

Race morning was pretty chilly, and the temp was 48 degrees when I arrived at about 7 a.m.. There were 79 people signed up for the race and looking around the transition area there was a big mix of participants ... some very fit looking folks with fancy bikes, quite a few kids (the youngest was 9!!) a few plus sized people and a lot of people who looked kindof like me - not in too bad a shape but obviously inexperienced in the multisport world. Given that the race was small, it wasn’t too stressful setting up my transition, and the racks were alphabetically labeled so it was easy to figure out where to put my stuff. As I was setting up my space I noticed that most of the bikes around me were road bikes, but I wasn’t going to worry about that. I got body marked (do they really need to write my age on the back of my calf?? Like I want to know that I’m being passed by a 14 year old or 70 year old during the race!!) and then I went for a quick 5 minute jog to warm up. It was still a little chilly outside, but I stripped down to my race outfit which consisted of my DeSoto tri shorts and my Zoot tank top, then I grabbed my swim cap and goggles and headed inside. Some people were warming up in the pool, but I didn’t bother. I was nervous enough about the swimming and I had already accepted than I was going to look like a complete spazz in the water. After the pre-race talk we grouped up according to our swim times. Having practiced my 150 meter swim twice, I knew I was about 4:45 so I lined up in the last group which was labeled “4:45 - 5 minutes.” Then we all formed a big line that wrapped around the pool and got ready for the start.

SWIM: We entered the pool in 15 second intervals with the superfast “real swimmers” going first. It was a 3 lane pool so each racer went down and back, crossed under the lane rope, went down and back etc. through all three lanes for a total of 3 laps. The lanes were super narrow so swimmers were hitting each other as they were going in opposite directions and passing was impossible. I was near the end of the line and there were about 10 swimmers behind me. I thought it would take forever for my turn to start, but it actually went pretty fast and it was exciting watching all the swimmers ahead of me. I was going through the swim in my mind as I waited, I just kept thinking, “relax, long slow strokes, breathe easy, if you freak out breast stoke - recover and dig back in.” It turned out my worries were not needed because I ROCKED the swim! It felt effortless, I was breathing great and the only problem was the slow woman in front of me forcing me to TREAD WATER near the end of my first lap. The guy behind me had to stop too and I was pretty irritated because I was swimming so well. At the wall she let me and the guy pass and I motored on and left the guy behind in my wake. At the end of my second lap I caught another swimmer who let me pass so I was able to swim my third lap with no obstacle. I was able to freestyle the whole thing except for the times I had to slow down/stop for those in front of me - woo hoo!! I had never done that before!! Of course, I was glad to be done because I’m not sure I could have swam another lap!

T1 - Pretty smooth transition. Out of the building, swim cap and goggles off with a quick walk to my spot. Threw on the bike helmet -debated for a nanosecond about throwing on a jacket due to the chill, but opted against it because it didn't match my shorts and it was kindof bulky. I threw on my shades and attempted to dry feet - note to self, have a small hand towel in transition because all my gear was sitting on my beach towel to keep it off the asphalt so I couldn’t really get the towel around my feet - oh well, feet are dry enough... throw on my socks, slip on shoes, tie laces - yes, lace locks would have been quicker, grab race number belt and get bike off rack. Look around, notice there aren’t many bikes around, and also see some people returning from the bike course already and starting their run! Yikes!! ... brief period of thinking I suck then realize they started their race 15 minutes before me so I’m doing fine. Quick walk/slow jog with my bike to the bike start .... Mount my bike and see my Mom shooting pictures and hear my stepdad jokingly say, “Don’t fall” as I’m thinking to myself over and over, get feet into pedals, start to pedal and for god’s sake Don’t Fall!!

BIKE - Start my bike and my heart rate is way too high (not wearing my heart rate monitor but I can still tell) so I gear down and spin trying to take it down a notch. Course is an out and back on the road, relatively flat except for two overpasses. My legs feel great and the sun is starting to really come out so I’m not feeling cold. I get passed pretty early by an older guy, 59 according to his calf, but he encouragingly calls out, “good job, keep it up!” Several folks coming back the other direction are also giving encouragement. I pass 2 people before the turn around and follow the older guy’s example and encourage them as I pass. At the turnaround I look at my watch and see that I have BLAZED through the first half, much faster than expected - then as I start in the other direction and feel the headwind blowing directly into me I realize why I made such good time the first half! I manage to pass 2 more people on the way back, of course one was a kid riding what appeared to be a 3 speed, and one was a woman my mom’s age riding a cruiser so I can’t honestly claim that I was a speed demon on the bike. I get passed myself by the guy who started right behind me in the pool, he's pretty fast on his bike. As I’m nearing the end I realize that I am breathing pretty hard and my heart is pounding .... Egads! I still have to run after this! So I force myself to slow down the last 1/2 mile. I pull into the transition area and see that my fan club has grown to include my cousin Travis and his wife Micaela - all cheering ... thanks guys!!

T2 - Easy transition since I already have my running shoes on. Hang up bike, try not to knock all the other expensive bikes off as I do this which proves to take more time than it should. Pull off helmet, flip race number to front and take off. Immediately start to jog in the transition area .... gotta look strong for my spectators!!

RUN: I am ridiculously out of breath about 100 yards from the transition, I take a left turn through a field and am briefly out of sight from spectators so I take the time to walk. I walk about 30 seconds, come out of the field and start running again, but very slowly. Head into the park, sun is shining, weather is fabulous and I am seriously hurting. In training, I can run 2 miles after biking pretty easily, but I have clearly used up too much too soon. I’m getting a side stitch before the half way point, and again I take a quick 30 second walk break (again out of sight because I was behind a little hill). Start running again and decide to run or shuffle or whatever the rest of the way NO MATTER WHAT! I hear my stepdad yelling for me across the park and just keep running, side stitch is now on both sides but I just keep breathing through it. About 1/4 mile to go and Micalea is there cheering me on, Mom taking pictures, stepdad encouraging me to lengthen my stride, my cousin Travis tells me to “finish strong.” Finish line in sight - surely I won’t die before I get there! Breathing is totally out of control, pain in sides increasing and then thank goodness! the finish! By my watch, just a little over 40 minutes for my time ... Damn! I ROCK!! Nice volunteer hands me a medal - I didn’t realize I would get a medal, how fun, it’s like a toy surprise!!

My family comes over to congratulate me, I head over to the post-race food and grab a donut, frosted sugar cookie and gatorade which has to be the finishing meal of champions ... screw the bananas and muffins. Then we hang out for the awards and door prizes. They had some really great prizes for such a small race - bike computer, aerobars, Rudy Project sunglasses, spa gift certificates, running and bike store gift certificates but I didn’t win any of them - boo :( I did however get a surprise of my own by winning 2nd place in my age group!!! And I won’t let the fact that there were only 2 of us in any way diminish my accomplishment :)

So to summarize: fabulous swim! strong bike ... maybe a little too strong. Disappointing run with 2 walk breaks but a great learning experience on the importance of pacing your whole race. All in all, a fabulous first race and a reminder that you can accomplish anything you put your mind to!

Official Race Times
Swim 3:51
Bike *22:33 (pace 13.3 mph)
Run *13:23 (pace 10:17 mile)
Overall race time 39:45
Overall ranking 58/79
Ranking among women 21/35

*The splits for the bike and run somehow included transitions so are not wholly accurate. Per my watch I had 21 minutes for the bike (~14.3 mph) and 13:40 for the run.