900 (33000/204700) aka The Triathlon Post

So yesterday was my very first triathlon.  And this is my race report, as suggested by my very supportive friend/hockey teammate, Shirley.  :)

Start with Friday night.  Or Friday all day, really.  Work was a little slow for a change, so I had a lot of time to think about the impending race.  And I was really, really nervous.

I tried to work through that, mostly by getting things ready.  When work was over, I headed over to Super Target to get a waterbottle cage for my bike, a bike bag for my tire tools and a replacement tube (which I went to get at Peloton Cycles a little later), some Gatorade, and some stickers to label my bike with its name (Hikaru, for the interested).  I then went and got my wetsuit, and my replacement tube.

Back home I installed my waterbottle cage and my bag, put the stickers on, and loaded my bike into my car.  Then I packed my bag, used Shirley's check list to make sure I had everything, and attempted to sleep at about 11:00PM.

Sleep didn't come easily, but I wasn't up much longer than half an hour.  I'm going to attribute that to being up at 5:00 that morning for Masters practice.  My alarm went off at 5:00 and I got out of bed to have a shower, which was almost too nice.  I never shower in the morning, and it felt good yesterday, especially since it had a nice calming effect.  After the shower I got dressed in my tri clothes, put some long pants and jacket over the top, and had some breakfast (cereal and vanilla yogurt) before heading out.

I parked in a lot at the Windsor Middle School, which was about a quarter mile from sign-in/the transition area.  I ran into Kimberley (I'm not sure if I've mentioned her here before, but I met her at stroke clinic and she plays softball with us now - she invited me to do this tri with her) as soon as I got there, and also into Jenny (who swims with my Masters team).  Kimberley found a friend from her tri group - Molly - who we hung out with all day as well.

After getting my race packet and going to body marking (which was interesting, having someone writing on my arms and legs with a huge marker - I was number 80, which went on both upper arms, and had my age - 29 - on my right calf), Jenny, Kimberley, and I went and racked our bikes together.  The racks at this race were awesome - little short ones that only held two bikes per side.  That meant everyone got some space to the side to lay out their towels and stuff.

So I started getting ready.  I had no idea how I wanted to do things, so I just made it up, mostly.  Laid out my bike and running shoes and socks together, as well as my ballcap (for the run) and some towels.  We decided to get part way into our wetsuits in the transition area before walking over to the swim start, which was about half a mile away.  Wetsuits on to the waist, we put our pants into the drop bags they gave us and headed over.  Once we got to the swim start, we put our jackets/sweatshirts into the drop bags (it was about 55º out at 7:30AM) and got our wetsuits, swim caps, and goggles on then got some photos (on Molly's camera, so I don't have them back yet) before we waded out into the lake to get acclimated.

At this point I was feeling nervous but not scared.  All of us were in the second wave (women 39 and younger) but Molly, who was in the first wave (29 and younger).  Our caps were baby blue (wave one were red, and wave three were yellow).  Kimberley and I, plus another gal from the tri group named Liz, went over to the far right toward the back of the wave two swimmers once wave one went into the water (7:55AM).  That's when I started feeling a little afraid of what was about to happen.  I thought maybe it was just me being anxious to get things started, and was babbling a little, trying to calm myself down.

At 7:58, the buzzer went off, signaling our wave to start.  I ran into the lake (which was reportedly 63º) and didn't feel cold at all.  I kept walking until the water was up to my chest, then dove into start swimming.

And immediately started having a panic attack.  The farther out I got, the more I panicked, and probably made it about 100 meters before I had to roll onto my back and just float because I was hyperventilating.  A couple other swimmers from my wave came to ask if I was okay, and I told them I was having a panic attack.  They asked if I wanted one of the boats to come get me, but I said no.  If you get rescued by a boat, none of your times for the rest of the race count.  The older guy who was asking if I was okay stayed with me for a long while, telling me to swim slowly, put my face in and swim just like I was in the pool.  He really helped me by assuring me that I was okay, that he was a strong swimmer and that he'd be there to help me if I got into trouble.

I was doing a lot better about halfway there, but I'd still freak out every 50 meters or so and have to flip onto my back to catch my breath.  I veered off course a lot, and would get scared every time I got too far from the buoys, but I kept at it, and just tried to power through once I spotted the red flags at the swim exit.  I just kept thinking how bad I wanted out of the lake, back where my feet could touch the bottom.  Finally I found the shore, got my feet under me, and stumbled my way back up to land.  A pair of volunteers helped me out, and I swear, I felt like I was going to pass out, there was so much adrenaline coursing through me.  I don't remember how the ground felt on the shore under my feet, or the pavement on the way to the transition area over to my bike.  All I can remember was how hard I was breathing, and how lightheaded I felt.  I was literally shocked when I got to my bike and saw that I'd beat Kimberley over there.  I was sure I'd been in that lake forever.  In reality, it was just over twenty minutes.

The T1 transition was a blur.  I was shaking really hard and almost fell getting my wetsuit off.  I got my helmet and my jacket on, then tried to leave with my bike without my shoes.  I re-racked my bike, got my shoes on, and jogged to the bike mount line.  That transition was just about three minutes.

The beginning of the bike ride was all about me slowing down my breathing and getting my focus back.  It really didn't take long, and the whole ride went by so fast it was shocking.  It turns out the bike portion was actually 11 miles, and I did it in under 35 minutes.  I felt awesome on the bike, fast and strong and powerful.  I passed a lot of people, didn't have any trouble at all with any of the hills, even with the fairly substantial headwind.  The best part was, and I don't even know how this is possible, that my butt didn't hurt at ALL.  Riding my bike the 6.75 miles to work, I always feel sore about halfway through.  I'm not sure if it's because of the adrenaline/endorphins, that I wasn't wearing anything under my shorts, or that they were wet from the swim, but it was the most comfortable ride I've ever had on that bike since I got it.  I loved every second, and wish I could have just kept going on my bike.

T2 was way smoother, and a lot quicker than T1.  I think it was around two minutes (I looked at my results yesterday, but there were a lot of people crowded around a tiny printout, and they haven't posted the results online yet).  At the start of the run I spotted on of my FAST teammates - Reubin - and he told me I was doing great.

The run was about as hard as every other 5K I've done.  Running is definitely not my favorite part of the triathlon.  My race number was damp because I'd had to pin it on before the swim, and it got kinda messed up in the process.  But Jenny has an extra race belt (ah HA, that's what those are for), and she said she'd bring it to Masters practice next week for me. Yay!

Anyway, the run went down a little over a mile on a bike path and then turned around to come back past the transition area, along the same path we used to get to the swim start, and across the grass a bit to end near the main stage.  The first third felt okay, then I started sprinting too early because I didn't know exactly where the end was, so I had to slow down a little.  I passed Kimberley going the other way just after the turn around, then saw Reubin again at the end of the transition area when I had just under a mile to go.  The closer to the end, the more volunteers they had to cheer you along.  I felt like I was never going to see the end of the thing, but finally someone told me I had 100 yards to go, and I picked the pace up again.  Then, finally, the finish.  The clock at the end was almost exactly 33:00:00, which meant I ran the race in ninety minutes, with my three minute delayed swim start.

I was elated!  I didn't think there was any way I'd hit an hour and a half on my first sprint tri.  My run was just over thirty minutes, which is my fastest 5K to date!

After I crossed the line, I found Molly, Liz, and Allana, who is the coach of the tri group.  They all cheered for me when I finished.  :)  We waited a bit for Kimberley, then we all headed over to get some food.  I went and changed into my dry pants and sweatshirt, then had a couple of de-meated sandwiches and some lemonade.

Unfortunately, that's when it started to rain.  I decided I wanted to head home, so I waked back to the transition area and gathered up my stuff, then started the .25 mile walk back to my car, where I proceeded to get soaked.  It was really, really unpleasant, and I was more than ready to stop being wet.

The drive home took about 15 minutes, and then I threw myself immediately into the shower.  It was heaven, even better than the one I'd had about 6.5 hours earlier.  And then, finally, DRY CLOTHES.  Aaaah.  I relaxed a bit before rinsing my wetsuit and taking it back to Runner's Roost, then home for a snack and a long nap.

And thus concludes my write up for my first triathlon.  It didn't go like thought it would, in some cases worse (the swim went horribly) and in others better (finished 15 minutes faster than I'd predicted, even with the swim fail).  I'm hoping I can do at least one open water practice before the Tri for the Cure in early August, because I think that if I can keep myself from freaking the hell out, I could probably really do well with these things.  :)

But now, I can finally say it:  I'm a triathlete!

Edit:  I found my results!

Swim: 20:29

T1: 3:31

Bike: 33:23 (avg. MPH 18)

T2: 2:22

Run: 30:23 (run pace 9:48)

Total: 1:30:06

Gender Rank: 69th (out 0f 109)

Division (30-34 year-old women): 12th (out of 20)

Overall Place: 192nd (out of 258)