I finally completed my first triathlon yesterday 8/01/2010 when I successfully completed the 2010 Brewhouse Triathlon Sprint Course held in Duluth MN. The sprint was a 1/3 mile swim, 10.3 mile bike and a 2.5 mile run. Very short course course even for a sprint tri.
This was my second OWS and first with competitors around me. It was a 0.1 mile out, 0.1 mile to the right and a 0.1 mile back to shore. The first leg went pretty well. I felt good and strong and tried not to go out to fast. I had a couple people swim over me and crossed in front of me. Everything was going good until the turn at the buoy. Things jammed up there and I basically had to stop and wait for a opening. I'm not a strong swimmer at all and was without a wet suit. Floating is a problem for me so I wasn't about to fight for position.
On the second leg I started feeling tired and slowed considerably. I rolled over and did a backstroke as best I could until I noticed the wave behind me was passing me by. Better swimmers were again bumping into me.
The final leg was a nightmare. I began wondering why in the hell I was doing this and that I had no business being in the water. I did a little side stroke and back stroke again, but ended up zigzagging right to left to right again. I think I was an extra 0.1 side to side. I also had to stop and clear out my goggles so I could see and again, floating or trading water is not a good thing for me to try. I finished in waist deep water and still ad 100 yds to go and walked it as I was feeling sorry for myself in my crapping swim.
T1 was agonizingly slow. I took the time to put on socks only because my feet are not quite ready to go barefoot in my road shoes or Zoot running shoes. I need to ride and run more in them to toughen up the footsies.
The bike went pretty well. I was only passed by one girl and one guy. The course was rough as hell and I had a tough time getting myself to ride hard on those roads. My bike is worth much more then saving a minute or three by riding hard and still not placing in my age group. I remembered to stand up for the last 1/4 mile and mash my gears to prepare my body for the dismount and run. That worked much better then my Duathlon transition to the bike.
The run was okay, but I was having some major stomach cramping when the run started. I think I drank to much coffee of the cream cheese muffin wasn't sitting well. It could also have been the pizza from the night before. I typically eat low carb meals and the pizza is pretty high in carbs, but I though loading up for the tri would be okay.
Heres the numbers
Swim = 15:54.....14th of 19 in AG
T1 = 2:52
Bike = 31:40........6th of 19 in AG
T2 = 2:10
Run = 19:23........10th of 19 in AG
Total = 1:11:57.....9th of 19th in AG
The pain that hurts the worse is the imagined pain. One of the most difficult arts of racing is learning to ignore the imagined pain and just live with the present pain (which is always bearable.) - Jeff
2014 Goals:
Stay healthy
Enjoy life
rectumdamnnearkilledem
Getting the wind knocked out of you is the only way to
remind your lungs how much they like the taste of air.
~ Sarah Kay
Oh Mighty Wing
Puttin' on the foil
Don't be obsessed with your desires Danny. The Zen philosopher Basha once wrote, 'A flute with no holes, is not a flute. A donut with no hole, is a Danish.'
Hey BT
First of all.....the swim gets easier.....Keep at it and soon you will be one of the guys swimming over top of others.
I do not wear socks on the bike.....never had. I do wear them on the run in longer distances but for the distances you called out I would have forgotten about the socks.
A rough bike course sucks......sorry to hear that. It is hard to ride at an all out effort when you have crappy roads.
Work on your transition times.......I would have risked the blister given the distances......There's an easy two minutes you pick up just in your transitions. Knock 3 mins off your swim and your probably getting pretty close to an AG award right?
Put this same race on next years calendar........you'll gain a ton of fitness over the coming year.
Thanks for the report !
Not hardly. 3 minutes faster and I move up to 8th, and knocking on the door of 7th.
Top three 40-44 sprint finishers:
1 = 0:52:20
2 = 0:54:53
3 = 0:57:14
I'm definitely going to keep at it. When I lose the 20-30 pounds I want to lose and continue to train all three disciplines, I hope to be competing for a podium spot in a year or two.
Thanks for the comments.
Not hardly. 3 minutes faster and I move up to 8th, and knocking on the door of 7th. Top three 40-44 sprint finishers: 1 = 0:52:20 2 = 0:54:53 3 = 0:57:14 I'm definitely going to keep at it. When I lose the 20-30 pounds I want to lose and continue to train all three disciplines, I hope to be competing for a podium spot in a year or two. Thanks for the comments.
Damn.....
Those friggin geezers....LOL
Ok, so we need to find 14 mins.....
BT.....Trust me.....give it 2 years. Drop the weight, keep at it and you'll be knocking on the door to those numbers.
For what sounds like a rough race you still did really well vs. the competition. Nice work, BT! When is your next?
I have another sprint tri this weekend. Its a 1/3 mile swim, 15 mile bike and a 5k run. The bike has some wicked hill climbs and I hate hill climbs. I think I need to look at getting a different cassette and that would help. My cassette is a 11-23, not the best to have in the hills. I'm thinking about doing a 10k run instead, but I'll decide this week after I get in another OWS.
I'm also thinking about a duathlon in early September. Its pretty unique in that it will be a 1.5 mile run, 8 mile bike, 1.5 mile run, 8 mile bike and finish with a 1.5 mile run. No it didn't stutter....run, bike, run, bike, run.
The voice of mile 18
Tri Rule #1 of Triathlon Training/Racing - If Momma ain't happy nobody is happy
run, bike, run, bike, run.
Yikes! That sounds kinda fun, really! But, ow...talk about a "sprint" event!