So last Saturday was my first Triathlon. I have been training for a couple of months and even though my coach strongly advised against me doing a triathlon right now, not to mention a race that was in its first year (which apparently meant it would be disorganized)... I decided I was getting antsy to compete and really wanted to do it.
I got there early and checked in, got my timing chip, set up my transition station... I met up with Abbey (fellow team fastlane team mate who was racing as well) and her boyfriend... we had to wait and wait and WAIT until the race started.
The water was DISGUSTING! I kind of wish I had taken a picture of it. It was seriously green, and I couldn't see a thing in it. It also smelled like someone who had oral surgery and had stinky blood breath! There was also a dead carp floating in it. I had never seen the half mile (I did a sprint) layed out all at once before, it's much less intimidating when you swim laps to that amount. I had never worn a wetsuit to swim before, it was a little tight around my chest area and restricted my arms a little bit. When I first got in the water I started hyperventilating. It was cold, my wetsuit got wet inside, there was slime hanging off my feet... When we got going, everyone was running into each other which I expected but it was scary nonethless. I couldn't seem to keep my face in the water to get into my stroke so I did a breath stroke and a back stroke most of the way... and veered off course a little bit while I was on my back. Initially I was really discouraged, wanted to cry and give up... but I kept going, it's a good thing I am so stubborn!
It was pretty disappointing. When I was one of the last people out of the water I got to the transition area feeling like a failure and I saw my friends there! Shaun, Thomas, Jeremy, Dook and baby Django all there to cheer me on! It felt awesome! I heard Django say "Mama!" That was enough to refuel me for sure! I had a very clumsy transition (I think it was two and a half min. or so) my wetsuit got stuck a little on my timing chip plus I was dragging from being angry at myself for my poor swim time but... I got on my bike and took off. It took a few min. to get my muscles working from my swim to my bike but when I got in the groove it was good. I passed a few people and felt pretty awesome on the hills. About halfway through the course on a road that was about 50 MPH (cars were speeding past MUCH faster) there were cyclists slowing and people gathered. There was a man laying unconscious on the ground who had been hit by a car. I wasn't sure what to do... I already have a lot of anxiety about riding in traffic. The image stuck in my head and threw off my ride for a while and slowed down my time. I picked back up my pace and rode in. My friends said they were happy that I wasn't the one that got hit (since they'd heard about it).... I transitioned again and went out for my run...
The run was much less grueling than I thought it would be after the other two events. I set a decent pace and passed many more people than I thought I would. I walked a few steps about half way when I got my water and then picked back up. I wasn't sure when the end of the course was or I would have ran a lot faster but I sprinted at the end (esp. when I heard people yelling to the guy in front of me "don't let a girl beat you".) Passed through the finish line to cheers, it felt AMAZING!!!
It was kind of a mess, very disorganized, but I am seriously so glad that I did it. I am really proud of myself and I know the next time I will do MUCH better! I came home and watched the lake stench off of me and ate lots of food, and went to work.
Amazing. I love it! Lessons for next time... be more prepared for the open water swim, buy my own wetuist instead of borrowing one, practice transitioning, mentally prepare for the worst on bike and keep a faster pace (and hook back up my cyclometer so I know what my pace is). Run faster (because I can) and wear my watch so I know what my pace is...
Results: #1282
Overall: 132
DIVPL: 9/15
SEX/PL: 38/64
Swim Time: 19:27 (I can swim this MUCH faster)
T1:2:49
Bike time:46:44
T2:1:43
Bike Time:31:16
Time:1:41:57
Pace:10:05
That's right... I X'd up for my race and I'm pretty sure I'll do it again!!!
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4 comments:
You are freaking AMAZING!!! Wow!!!!
I really think I would like to do this one day... Although, the swim in the lake sounded absolutely disgusting.. especially with the dead fish in there.
I can't swim well, because Im afraid Im going to breathe in water when I turn my head to the side, so I end up swimming with my head up or on my back....
How far is each segment?
I think you would be awesome at it for sure! The thing about the swim is that I don't think they are generally that horrible, it was just an exceptionally disorganized race with a really awful lake.
When I started training my swimming was AWFUL but I got some coaching and I feel a lot more comfortable with it now. I wold recommend it for sure if you want to train.
The swim was a half mile, bike was 17 I think (I could be wrong), and run a 5K (3.1 miles)...
Great job! I think it is very empowering to other people, by other people, I mean me, to see a mama out there doing that! You are awesome! Thanks for sharing with the blogging world!
- Jeanie
kelly, this is awesome! you should be so proud of yourself for not giving up. if i had been in water like that, i probably would have died, haha. i hope the guy that got hit was okay. why didn't they have the road closed for the race? weird. good luck on your next one!!
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