First Try at a Tri (Read 641 times)

Just finished my first triathlon on Sunday. It was the Xterra Southeast Sport. First off it was HOT!!! Even as a local who should be used to the "Tarzan couldn't take this kinda hot" heat, it was miserable, even for an 8:00 AM start. My goals were pretty simple. Finish, then not finish last . Mission accomplished. The swim was definitely harder than I expected. It's really difficult to simulate an open water race. During training, you don't have the adrenaline rush mixed in with the flailing arms, feet kicking you in the face and having to work a little extra to stay on line to the bouys. Clear goggles is a bad idea if you are facing east in the morning. Simply put, I was worn out on the way to the bike transition. I have a ways to go before I'm ready for the full distance tri. I can't complain though. I was wanting 17 minutes and ended up with 16:48 with part of that running up a rocky hill barefoot with spaghetti legs. The bike course turned out to be easier than I expected. No huge climbs, just a lot of roots. In hidsight I could have shaved 5 minutes off with a little bit more aggressive riding. The goal was under 1 hour and I got 58:25. And now for the run.... Hellish, painful, inhumane. That's how I would describe it. I don't know how the folks doing the full tri tackled that monster, but hats off to them. Hill after insanely steep hill, it was by far the longest 5K I've ever done. I had an aide station worker tell me I was half way there. She was sandbagging. About 3.5 K in I hit a flat portion and could feel some momentum building, even hear the race MC announce people arriving at the finish line and transition area and then a monster hill. Discouraging but I did manage to run up most of it where the other hills I didn't have the momentum. The goal was 30 minutes, result 31:16. I definitely need to work on the hills both up and down, but seeing how everyone else struggled, I can't complain. If you had asked me if it was fun around the 3K mark of the run, I would have responded with a "what have I done?", but afterwards, I was looking forward to the next one.

'preciate it. There's an Xterra Sport in Richmond this weekend. Still not too late to register. I'd definitely recommend doing one to anyone seeking something new.

well done! tri is a brilliant (but utterly addicitve) sport.

congrats triathlete! welcome to the addiction