2007 Rookie Triathlon
I kept trying to tell myself I was participating for fun and not really racing, but it's hard not to race at a race. I was feeling sick to my stomach off and on yesterday and it carried over today, except it was more about the on than off today. (In fact, I'm pretty sure everyone around me at the race this morning got tired of hearing about me being sick to my stomach.)
Overall, I'm happy with my times. I wouldn't have minded going slightly faster in each event, especially given that the distances were so short, but I'm going to use the stomach excuse. I don't feel like typing up a blow by blow race report so I'll just provide some random thoughts as they occur to me.
300 meter swim - 5:21 1:47/M 4/78 in age group
T1 - 2:08
11.1 mile bike - 39:10 17 mph 13/78 in age group
T2 - 1:41
run - 18:52 9:26/mi 42/78 in age group
total - 1:07:15 15 out of 78 in my age group, 264 out of 701 overall, 51 out of 310 for women
I really wanted to finish the swim in around 5 minutes and I was pretty darn close, so I'm happy with that. The bike... I dunno, I guess I wanted to go a little faster on the bike for such a short distance (that's slower than my last two triathlons which boggles me). And the run, well, I really didn't feel well on the run. I was hoping to go a little faster and I was initially a little bummed based on my GPS time, but I had forgotten to stop it. So actually, I had a pretty good time for my run. I just felt like I couldn't ever find my legs on the run and my stomach had really kicked into icky-overdrive by that point.
I started at the very front of the pack on the swim because there was no way I was going to get in the middle of that mess and I knew I could keep pace. The swim went by really fast. I also felt very different not being in a wetsuit and had to constantly keep my body position in check. I need to do more open water swimming while not wearing my wetsuit and get used to that again. Everything lately has been in my wetsuit.
This was the first time I did a race leaving my shoes on the bike and it worked out really well and definitely shortened my transitions a lot. Roger did it to and in fact, afterwards, he summed up my thoughts exactly when he said he sort of lingered in T1 perhaps longer than he needed to because he kept thinking he was missing something. I felt the same way. It does make T1 seem way too fast. The only thing I did wrong with the shoes on the bike was that I took my feet out of my shoes perhaps too soon at the end of the bike and ended up having my feet on the tops of my shoes for far too long. It was downhill anyway so it didn't much matter but I still need to work on how long it takes me to get my feet out.
The run just really stunk. It was seriously the longest two miles ever. My legs felt bad for the first half mile or so, which is normal, but I just couldn't ever find any energy to kick it up. I kept trying to increase my turnover to no avail. It was very annoying. Coming back into the finish, Laurie ran up behind me and said, "Run in with me." So I did and to my surprise, I was able to pick it up a little bit. She's usually much faster than I so I don't know if she slowed down or if I was able to get in a good finishing kick.
One thing I will say is that despite the weird tummy stuff, it was actually really fun to see so many people I knew. I was able cheer on so many friends and I really felt like I was part of a community with so many people cheering for me. It was great. After the race, I hung out with a variety of people and tried to enjoy myself (while alternately moaning about my belly). All in all, it was a lot of fun and I'm glad I did it and I'm actually quite happy with 15th in my age group.
Overall, I'm happy with my times. I wouldn't have minded going slightly faster in each event, especially given that the distances were so short, but I'm going to use the stomach excuse. I don't feel like typing up a blow by blow race report so I'll just provide some random thoughts as they occur to me.
300 meter swim - 5:21 1:47/M 4/78 in age group
T1 - 2:08
11.1 mile bike - 39:10 17 mph 13/78 in age group
T2 - 1:41
run - 18:52 9:26/mi 42/78 in age group
total - 1:07:15 15 out of 78 in my age group, 264 out of 701 overall, 51 out of 310 for women
I really wanted to finish the swim in around 5 minutes and I was pretty darn close, so I'm happy with that. The bike... I dunno, I guess I wanted to go a little faster on the bike for such a short distance (that's slower than my last two triathlons which boggles me). And the run, well, I really didn't feel well on the run. I was hoping to go a little faster and I was initially a little bummed based on my GPS time, but I had forgotten to stop it. So actually, I had a pretty good time for my run. I just felt like I couldn't ever find my legs on the run and my stomach had really kicked into icky-overdrive by that point.
I started at the very front of the pack on the swim because there was no way I was going to get in the middle of that mess and I knew I could keep pace. The swim went by really fast. I also felt very different not being in a wetsuit and had to constantly keep my body position in check. I need to do more open water swimming while not wearing my wetsuit and get used to that again. Everything lately has been in my wetsuit.
This was the first time I did a race leaving my shoes on the bike and it worked out really well and definitely shortened my transitions a lot. Roger did it to and in fact, afterwards, he summed up my thoughts exactly when he said he sort of lingered in T1 perhaps longer than he needed to because he kept thinking he was missing something. I felt the same way. It does make T1 seem way too fast. The only thing I did wrong with the shoes on the bike was that I took my feet out of my shoes perhaps too soon at the end of the bike and ended up having my feet on the tops of my shoes for far too long. It was downhill anyway so it didn't much matter but I still need to work on how long it takes me to get my feet out.
The run just really stunk. It was seriously the longest two miles ever. My legs felt bad for the first half mile or so, which is normal, but I just couldn't ever find any energy to kick it up. I kept trying to increase my turnover to no avail. It was very annoying. Coming back into the finish, Laurie ran up behind me and said, "Run in with me." So I did and to my surprise, I was able to pick it up a little bit. She's usually much faster than I so I don't know if she slowed down or if I was able to get in a good finishing kick.
One thing I will say is that despite the weird tummy stuff, it was actually really fun to see so many people I knew. I was able cheer on so many friends and I really felt like I was part of a community with so many people cheering for me. It was great. After the race, I hung out with a variety of people and tried to enjoy myself (while alternately moaning about my belly). All in all, it was a lot of fun and I'm glad I did it and I'm actually quite happy with 15th in my age group.
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