Race day - Finally!

Well, this morning was my first triathlon. I signed up for this triathlon about 3 months ago and have been trying t0 train up to this day ever since. I've managed to loose about 50 pounds and have increased my run distance from 0 to 3.6 miles. So I was feeling pretty confident that I would be able to finish everything, but most of my anxiety was over my self image which is still not what I want. When I think of triathlons, I see images of the Ironman and the people who run them. Intellectually I know that sprint triathlons are not like that, but until I did one that image was stuck in my mind.

Pre-Race.

I woke up this morning at about 5:20 and started getting ready. I made sure I used the bathroom at the house because I know the ones at the YMCA pool where the triathlon is held are not really that nice. I then cooked my normal breakfast (Canadian bacon and eggs), got everything together and headed to the location. I only live about 15 minutes away so I got there about 6:25. We were supposed to be there by 6:30, but 7:15 would have worked out just as well.

I got my bike off the rack and ensured my tires were pumped up. The grabbed everything I needed and headed to the transition area. I setup my stuff and realized that I did not have my water. Oh well, plenty of time to get the water later, time to get chipped. So I headed up the hill to the registration tables. I had picked up my number yesterday so I just needed to get my timing chip and get my number inked on. After that, me and everyone else had over an hour to wait for the race. To try to relax (I was full of nervous energy) I went back to my car and read a little of a book. At about 7:30 I changed my shirt (I had already sweated through my first one due to the nervous energy), and headed to the pool.

Swim:

The swim was going to start at 8 so along with a bunch of others, I stretched and did a couple of warm up laps. Then it was time to start! They had mentioned that you could not dive in so I was a little surprised to see the first people taking a running jump into the water. They must have been going about 8 feet out on the jump. I did not see any clumping in front of me (I was about 40th in line) so the people in front of me seemed to do a good job of estimating their time. Finally its my turn and I jump in just like everyone else. I get to the first wall and I'm a little out of breath, mostly due to excitement. I had decided to not try flip turns with everyone else in the pool so I just touched the wall and kicked off into the next lane. We had 8 lengths to swim and I settled into a rhythm. I caught the guy in front of me on the 7th length and passed him for the last length. I climbed out of the pool and ran to my sandals. The transition area was about 50 yards away in the third parking lot down the hill from the pool. I did not want to try running barefoot on the parking lots

Bike:

When I got to the transition area, I took the time to dry off some and put on socks and my bike shoes. I then put on my helmet grabbed the bike and headed out. The bike route was 2 loops through the local neighborhood. The only thing I didn't like about it was that there were many sharp turns and it was hard to get into a rythym when you would have to slow down for a 90 degree turn and then head up a hill. The bike went well with some of the better riders passing me and I passed some of the others. After the second loop I headed back to the transition for the run.

Run:

During the transition, I drank some water and a GU gel. When I headed out my calves started feeling very tight so the first thing I did was to stretch them out. I also noticed that my back was feeling a little sore when I started the run, but not enough to stop me. The first half of the run was not much of a problem, but I started to overheat on the second half. I dumped a half cup of water on me and continued on. I walked a little on the last big hill then ran to the finish.

All in all I am very glad I did this and cannot wait to do it again. (In september!) Hopefully they will post the split times soon so I can find out how I did.

Later, Scott

Update for the last 3 weeks

I have kind of found myself in a funk since my vacation a couple of weeks ago. We thoroughly enjoyed the beach. Spending a week on the beach should be a monthly occourance! I only ran on the beach once (it was not too bad), but I did go walking for several miles almost every morning I was there. The girls only managed to get moderately burned (other than my oldest daughters chin), but my wife managed to worry too much about the kids on the first day and skipped putting sunscreen on sections of her legs and got pretty roasted. She ended up wearing long pants to the beach for the next several days.

Since we got back, I have only managed 1-2 runs a week. My schedule has just been fluctuating. We had my brother in-law and his family stay with us for several days and my motivation has just flagged for the last 2 weeks. My distances have increased a little, but the frequency has not. I am finally feeling that my motivation is returning. Yesterday I did 50 minutes of laps in the pool and this morning I did 8 miles on the bike followed by 2.6 miles running. That is actually a little more distances than my triathlon this Saturday.

SATURDAY!!!!!! It just does not seem possible that the Triathlon I signed up for 4 months and 40 pounds ago is this week! I am both nervous and excited. Most of my nervousness is getting out with all the super fit people. I know I can do the course, but I hate the idea of showing off my body to all the people there. Even though I have lost about 48 pounds, I still have another 50 pounds on me that I wish would go somewhere else. I hope that once I get there, I will relax about it, but my squishy shape is still a source of anxiety to me now. I wore my new triathlon shorts this morning for my bike/run and they felt pretty good. I should be fine with them for the swim/bike portion, but I will probably throw on some running shorts over them for the run portion. Some things just don't look that good in Spandex!

I just got the pre-race info in the email. Most of it looks like I expected, but the one thing I did not expect was to not be able to use headphones. To tell you the truth, it never occured to me that we would not be able to use them. I guess I will not be using my Nike+ for this. I am still debating whether to use my HRM. I am leaning against it due to the dificulty of keeping the sensor on while swimming. I will have enough distractions without that also.

If I survive this weekend ;) my next event will be a 60 mile bike ride next weekend.

Later,
Scott