<p>I’ve been hinting at it for a couple years now, but it has now been done. I was a runner, picked up biking a good bit when I got injured, and have always had a slight ability to swim… Sooooo maybe I should do a triathlon?</p>
<p><img alt=”” class=”floatRight” height=”180″ src=”https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-snc7/s720x720/321669_10150307307914396_772254395_7646809_1996487962_n.jpg” width=”250″/>I did a good amount of biking again this summer, but running much never made it into the schedule. My hamstrings are healed, but other parts of the lower body (hips, mainly) are still telling me to take it easy. The result? A season of well-rounded training and no focus on any one thing. I’m in good general shape, but not great at anything… seems to be the triathlon way (when not elite)… so I went and signed up for <a href=”http://www.setupevents.com/?fuseaction=event_detail&amp;eventID=1668″>this race</a>, which fell a week before my niece’s two birthdays… A great chance to spend some time with the family get a race away from home under the belt. Having the family there was also a big plus… Despite not being able to actually see them (read on… no glasses), it was good to know I had a cheering crew.</p>
<p>I meant to take a look at training programs and put a solid effort into one, but that never happened so I came into the race hoping to just get through it comfortably and have some fun. For the most part, that was a success. I did do a full-length trial of the race a few weeks before, which went just okay, and also practiced my transitions a small amount, but not enough to get really good at them so I’d err on the side of doing things right rather than trying new/fast methods.</p>
<p><strong>Prerace</strong><br/>
Up at 4:30, packed the car up (everything set out the night before), ate my typical nutella and peanut butter sandwich, and was off a bit before 5. Arrived 15 minutes later, got an amazing parking spot, setup my transition area, found out that the water temperature had “miraculously” dropped eight degrees in two days (I left my wetsuit at home home when the water was 84 at the time of my departure on Friday morning), hopped on the bus to the swim, sat around for about an hour, realized I was still wearing my glasses, had to check them with my baggage, which I’d get back at the end of the race, and eventually was off.</p>
<p><strong>Swim (1500m, 26:21, 31st of 42 in age group, 2:30 total lost)</strong><br/>
A few things going against me here: 1) Swimming is my weakest sport of the three, 2) I only had one saltwater swim under my belt, 3) I had never swam in zero visibility water before, 4) we were wetsuit legal, but I didn’t have one… a wetsuit is good for approximately thirty seconds every five minutes. I was not expecting a stellar time out of this 1500m adventure. What I <em>really</em> didn’t expect is to lose complete focus only 200m in. I threw away my form, my breathing, and resigned to merely getting through it. I was near last place in my age group as I shuffled stroke types, picked up some speed on my competitors towards the end (my cardio overtook swimming ability), and finally… finished. Had I had a wetsuit, figure around 24:00, which would have been top half of the group. Through this post, I’ll add up theoretical time lost due to me being a dummy or not caring to do things the right way.</p>
<p><strong>Transition #1 (2:47, 36th of 42, 4:00 lost)<br/>
</strong>As swimming to biking is a transition I make fairly regularly, I was pretty set for this. What I wasn’t set for was the 1/3 mile run to the transition area, barefoot, with tender/wet feet on a shell and concrete pavement. OUCH! Moving on… GPS on my wristband on the handlebar, helmet on bike… Not much to it. I did opt to wear socks since I haven’t been running enough to callus my feet and didn’t mount the shoes to the bike since I didn’t bother to practice that. Everything went according to plan and I was off. Most folks did this transition in 1:15. I know what I could have done faster, but 1:30 faster? Ungh.</p>
<p><img alt=”” class=”floatLeft” height=”180″ src=”https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/s720x720/303291_10150307305024396_772254395_7646786_485032035_n.jpg” width=”250″/><strong>Bike (12mi, 34:54 [20.6mph], 12th of 42, 7:00 lost)<br/>
</strong>Very happy to be done with the water and onto the sports I’m comfortable with. I don’t have a tri bike (more aerodynamic, geometry saves your running legs better) as I can’t even justify the cost of a new road bike to replace my very aged one… It still gets me going pretty well. The best part of being near last place at this point is I was passing people like crazy. I probably picked off at least 50 folks and was only passed by 1. I ended the ride having hit my goal pace on the nose… 21mph. Googling leads me to believe a tri bike is 1-2mph faster. I’ll go with 1.5 for my “what could have been” time, which would have saved 3:00.</p>
<p><strong>Transition #2 (2:08, 38th of 42, 8:15 lost)<br/>
</strong>Not sure where I lost time on this… Park the bike, take off shoes, put on shoes. Left my running shoes tied so I just slipped them on, but I was still near slowest on this. The fastest guys did this in 55 seconds. I don’t get it.</p>
<p><strong>Run (3.1mi, 20:33 [6:35/mi], 9th of 42, 8:15 lost)<br/>
</strong>I guess I can still be categorized a runner based on this placing. Overall, I felt really good. My brain shut off with half a mile left (out of energy), but I managed a heck of a kick right into the finish. Had I not let mile 2 get away from me a little (it’s easy to lose focus in the middle miles of a race), a sub-20 would have been possible. No lost time here, but when in running shape, I’d have had a top 5 finish… but I’m not :P</p>
<p><img alt=”” class=”floatRight” height=”180″ src=”https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/s720x720/304830_10150307306349396_772254395_7646797_539700448_n.jpg” width=”250″/><strong>Lessons Learned</strong></p>
<ol>
<li>Never trust the temperature or the person taking it. ALWAYS bring your wetsuit.</li>
<li>Write yourself a note to put on your swim cap. When leaving for a remote swim, it’ll tell you to leave your glasses at your transition spot.</li>
<li>There is a lot of time in transitions.</li>
<li>Among folks who swim, I’m not a very good swimmer (kind of knew this already).</li>
</ol>
<p>I finished the race in <a href=”http://www.setupevents.com/files/WilmMenAG1.htm”>17th out of 42 in my age group</a> in a total time of 1:26:41. Best case scenario for the shape I’m currently in (if I knew how to transition, wore a wetsuit, had a tri bike), 1:18:30, would have gotten me 8th; it would be too easy to set a goal of 1:25 next year assuming I do another couple of these and figure out what I’m doing. I’m very pleased, feel great, and likely have the bug to do more. I cannot fathom how folks do Ironmans (2.4mi swim, 112mi ride, marathon), but that would be an amazing goal. For now, I’ll work on my swimming a bit, get a few more races under my belt, and set a goal of 1:20 next year.</p>
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