First Tri - Race Report

So here I was about to get inducted into the world of triathlons!! The challenge of the day:

1. .5 mile swim in a bay
2. 12 mile bike
3. 3 mile run

My plan was simple, don't drown, have fun on the bike, and survive the run. With really no training, I thought that was a good approach.

Wakeup was 5am. WAAAAY too eary. Race day breakfast: egg sandwhich on a bagel and some oatmeal. We arrive at the race location a little after 6am. A few diehards there, but its not crowded yet. Its a local YMCA triathlon, so only about 250 participants plus relays. My cousin and I head to registration, get out numbers, and get marked up. Transition area was next. Racks were organized by number so it made it easy. My cousin and I staked out our spots. Since we had back to back numbers, we got spots next to each other. Using a video from BeginnerTriathlete.com, I organized my area. Seemed simple enough. We rested and chatted to a few people the rest of the morning. Race start time was 8am.

About 20-30 minutes before the start, people start warming up in the water. Since it was my first open water swim, I thought I might as well give it a shot. So out we went. No biggie. There was no wind so the water was like glass... perfect conditions.

T-minus 5 minutes... everyone started walking towards the far end of the beach. So off we went. The swim course was a little funky as it was about 40 yards from the beach the the first buoy, then about 600 yards parrallel to the beach to the next buoy, then back to the shore. The bad thing was with around 100 people lining the beach and 40 yards to the buoy, the first part of the race would be psychotic. It was like rugby, but in the water. So I made the decision to start on the far outside.

Swim - So my decision to start on the outside probably cost me a bit of extra distance, but no biggie... I just want to finish. So after plowing over a couple of people, I got into the flow of things and crossed back over into the line of swimmers. All I know is that .5 mile felt really, really long (I can't remember the last time I swam that far). I did fairly well and I came out of the water in 9th place out of the first wave. Swim time: 10:49

T1 - The crappy thing about the swim, is that there was like a .2 mile run along the beach to the transition area. The beach was not sandy... more of a shell/seagrass beach... and it hurt! Later I found that I got a shell or something stuck in the bottom of my big toe. So I finally jog into T1, find my area (which I was thankful for the numbers, because my mind was blank) and begin to clean/dry my feet. We just used 1 gallon jugs to clean our feet but one fellow had a nice rubbermaid bin that he just stepped into. Got my socks and bike shoes on, put my sunglasses on, then added the required helmet, grabbed the bike and off I went. Here comes my first tri lesson learned: If you put your bike shoes on in T1... MAKE SURE YOU TAKE OFF YOUR CLEAT COVERS BEFORE THE RACE!. I hoped on and went to clip in and nothing worked. I was heading towards a small hill and still was clipped in, so I reached down carefully (while moving) and removed the covers tossing them into the grass. They were later recovered. Crisis averted. Overall T1 time: 1:47

Bike - The 12 mile route was fairly flat with some rolling hills. Of course they felt like mountains today. I used the first part to spin a bit to get my legs going. Because I hadn't biked, I really felt it on the hills. It was like I put the 60 lbs back on that I have lost. I got passed by a number of people... most on $4k bike setups with disc wheels and aero helmets... they are supposed to pass me right? What I didn't get was some of the drafting. Its just a local event, so I doubt anyone cared... but its not an Olympic distance... and its a fun event, so why bother?? Wimps I say. So I cruise into T2 and finish the bike. When I finished the bike, I was in 18th place.Bike time: 34:00

T2 - Relatively straight foreward compared to T1. Off with one set of shoes, on with the running shoes. Off with the helmet, on goes the visor. Take in some fluids, and off I went. T2 time: 1:17

Run - It was an out-and-back course that measured 2.84 miles by a garmin, which must have been uphill slightly heading out. I just felt like garbage. I made the turn and actually started catching someone. Key point is "started" as I soon lost sight of him. The run wasn't as painful as I thought and my cousing who is a marathon runner... did catch me, so I was excited. Overall, I lost like 50 some places on the run, ouch! Ok, so you know your going slow when you are holding conversations with the spectators on the side of the road. That was me the entire way, whether it be family, friends, or volunteers. Run Time: 26:00

Total time: 1:14:00

Not bad for my first triathlon. Up next... Post Race week