Another Triangle Tri Novice Race Report from a Semi-Lurker

Member

(This was written for friends who don't exactly know much about this sort of thing, hence a couple explanations)

Pre-Race:
Not nervous at all, suprisingly. Found Sarah at the portapotties when we arrived. I set up at my spot in the transition area (where you put your bike and run stuff and go to after each event). It was warm, but not horribly so and the humidity wasn't so bad. My friend Sarah (her thrid Tri) and I got prepped and headed over to the swim start where we got completely swarmed by mosquitos. Oh PS, you think portapotties are gross, try going in one BAREFOOT!

Swim:
We chatted while the 11 groups before us took off, 4 minutes apart. Someone had to be pulled into a boat and one of the lifeguard canoes tipped over. It’s our turn and we wade into very murky lake. It’s WARM as hell almost kind of in a gross way. Our hands, invisible to us only 6 inches from our faces the water was so dirty. Whee! Still, not nervous just excited. Sarah and I said see ya later and we all took off. Within only about 50 feet I had to breaststroke because my freestyle was suddenly very inefficient and I couldn’t see unless I kept my head up out of the water. So I alternated breast and free until I rounded the buoy and got some kind of rhythm on the way back to shore. I only got kicked a couple of times, but no biggie. I climbed out of the water and checked my watch to find that my time equaled my 750 swim in the pool. Sweet! Oh- I had not actually swam in a lake since 1997, so considering that I think I did pretty good.

Transition:
I ran up to my transition spot to get prepped for the bike. I took my time because I figured rushing would slow me down more. Dry off, socks, shoes, shorts, shirt, water, helmet…off I go out the chute and onto the road.

Bike:
Thanks to my friend Kelly for the loan of her awesome road bike. The day before I accidentally let all the air out of the back tire so I had to take it up to the cycle shop where Kelly's hubby pumped the tires up and re-adjusted the seat for me. At this point I still had NO CLUE how to switch gears, (I'm no gearhead!). In fact, it wasn’t until Sarah was showing me the bike she rented when I realized, the shifters are behind the brakes! Ack! Seeing as how I hadn’t used them while training, I figured I’d take my chances with their current setting. No problem though, I didn’t have to go any slower than 15mph (sometimes up to 25mph on the downhills, of course dredging up my irrational fear of a tire just detaching for no reason) except on the climbs. The bike overall was way more fun than I was expecting. I had a great time. Passing was really fun and I had all kinds of space since our group went off last.

Transition:
I rolled into the transition area where Brad took a photo of me on my way in. He was stoked because the only photo he got of me in the marathon was my blurry butt making it’s way out of the right side of the frame. I dropped the bike and off to the run course, totally stoked I was having so much fun! I couldn’t believe how well everything was going since the past week I had felt so tired and worn out.

Run:
The first half mile was crazy. When you get off a bike going about 18mph and then you hop off to run, no matter your pace you fell s.o. s.l.o.w. This is why they call a bike/run training combo a BRICK. Your legs feel like bricks. But that goes away once your legs get moving in the new direction and I felt super. The run just flew by, way faster and easier than JUST a 5K. The run course was totally shaded and compact. I loved it. I actually came in 10th out of 53 in my group for this part.

Post-Race:
When I cruised over the finish line, I had to do a little math to figure my time (I had my watch but messed up and didn’t get my splits right). I was so hyper when I finished, not a bit tired (later on at about Noon I totally crashed and spent the rest of the day on the couch). I was fully expecting not to care much for the triathlon, but I really enjoyed myself. It was very satisfying, not like how I feel after a running race at all. I definitely look forward to trying more, but most likely not this year. Time to focus on that half marathon in 8 weeks!

Stats!
Overall time: 1:39:25 (168/225 women overall, 29/53 Novice)
Swim (750 yards): 16:22 (162/225)
Trans 1: 3:47
Bike (13 miles): 52:58 (192/225)
Trans 2: 1:29
Run (5K): 24:52 (best 5K time for year so far) (98/225, 10/53 Novice)