I did it!
Going into my first triathlon, I wanted to have fun, finish, and do it in under 2 hours.
My reasoning for 2 hours went like this... Um, swimming should take like 8 minutes....the majority of people bike it in around 45 minutes, my bike is slow...you must complete the bike in 1 hour and 30 minutes...I'll take about an hour, running...I should run it in around 34 minutes. Then I thought, I will be slower then this at all of these things so I just want to finish in under 2 hours.
Henry said it felt humid out but I thought the weather felt perfect on race morning! The breeze by the lake was cool enough that I didn't get into the water to warm up for fear that I would actual be cold when I got back out. Despite the beautiful weather and friendly athletes, I was nervous! I have never been so nervous before a race! I could feel my heart pounding in my chest and throat. The weird thing is, I have no idea what I was nervous about. I was just nervous.
A few minutes before the race was to start, we were instructed to line up along the shore line. I was told that we would start in the water but it didn't really happen that way. For the first wave, the announcer was kinda like "You can start getting in to the water a little" so they did but people were just about ankle deep. Then after they took off, my wave just stood there. Someone on the sidelines said "yall should get in the water" so we did but I was maybe knee deep, and I was one of the ones in the front so I suspect a lot of people weren't in the water at all.
The announcer said "Can I get a 10 count" and then this air horn sound went off. I was confused, that was not the sound that the first wave had but everyone started running. I panicked, I started swimming right away. I didn't start my watch and I didn't try to run any deeper. I just started swimming. Tons of people ran pasted me as I swam. I tired myself way too quickly.
That being said, swimming went okay. I didn't do as good as I had hoped for but I did decent. There were 70 people in my wave/age group and I think I was around number 17 to finish the swim.
(Henry later confirmed that was not the official start, it was just some lady along the shore line. Perhaps she learned that air horns should be saved for soccer games...or at least are not to be used around a starting area of a race).
A lot of people talked about transition times and things to do to make it faster....I talked to Henry over the fence while I put on my shoes and shook water out of my ears.
Biking went okay as well. Basically, I did as good as I could with the tool that I had. I love my pink mountain bike but it just can't preform the way road or tri bikes can. I feel like I am decently athletic and strong but people flew passed me up hills like I was sitting still.
I felt like the course was really hilly but I was never miserable. I haven't mastered reaching for my water bottle while riding yet, so I stopped once to drink some sports drink. My left calf crapped up when I stood on my tippy toes to remount my bike but it went away rather quickly.
Although I took way longer than most people the biking went by pretty fast.
I honestly thought the run was easy. I mean, it was hilly and I had to take walk breaks but it went by so fast! This may just be because I am not used to 5ks (which by the way, I am excited to have several 5ks in the coming months).
I saw Henry at the 2.9 mile mark. I started to walk for a second. He shouted "hurry, go, you are almost there"! I didn't really realize what he meant, I just thought he was encouraging me. But he was watching the clock. He knew I was going to be cutting it close. When I went around the next corner and he was at the finish line he should "you've got it", again I thought he was just being encouraging but when I finished he explained that he had been watching the clock,...I finished in 1 hour and 58 minutes.
So I met all my goals! I had fun! Everyone was so friendly and encouraging. Being part of the CHOA team was really awesome. Although I didn't know everyone, it was just nice seeing everyone in the same shirt and feeling that connection. I also finished in the time that I wanted. That always feels good.
During the race I wasn't sure if I would do it again. But now that I have finished and looked at times and thought about my experience, I can say that I would do another one. Although I finished way at the back of the pack, I realize I could be do pretty well in this sport. It really just gets down to the bike. My swim wasn't great but with training, I believe it could be. My run looked like it was about average but I think it is possible to make up for that in swimming. So ya, I think I should explore better bike options and see what I can do.
My reasoning for 2 hours went like this... Um, swimming should take like 8 minutes....the majority of people bike it in around 45 minutes, my bike is slow...you must complete the bike in 1 hour and 30 minutes...I'll take about an hour, running...I should run it in around 34 minutes. Then I thought, I will be slower then this at all of these things so I just want to finish in under 2 hours.
Henry said it felt humid out but I thought the weather felt perfect on race morning! The breeze by the lake was cool enough that I didn't get into the water to warm up for fear that I would actual be cold when I got back out. Despite the beautiful weather and friendly athletes, I was nervous! I have never been so nervous before a race! I could feel my heart pounding in my chest and throat. The weird thing is, I have no idea what I was nervous about. I was just nervous.
A few minutes before the race was to start, we were instructed to line up along the shore line. I was told that we would start in the water but it didn't really happen that way. For the first wave, the announcer was kinda like "You can start getting in to the water a little" so they did but people were just about ankle deep. Then after they took off, my wave just stood there. Someone on the sidelines said "yall should get in the water" so we did but I was maybe knee deep, and I was one of the ones in the front so I suspect a lot of people weren't in the water at all.
The announcer said "Can I get a 10 count" and then this air horn sound went off. I was confused, that was not the sound that the first wave had but everyone started running. I panicked, I started swimming right away. I didn't start my watch and I didn't try to run any deeper. I just started swimming. Tons of people ran pasted me as I swam. I tired myself way too quickly.
That being said, swimming went okay. I didn't do as good as I had hoped for but I did decent. There were 70 people in my wave/age group and I think I was around number 17 to finish the swim.
(Henry later confirmed that was not the official start, it was just some lady along the shore line. Perhaps she learned that air horns should be saved for soccer games...or at least are not to be used around a starting area of a race).
A lot of people talked about transition times and things to do to make it faster....I talked to Henry over the fence while I put on my shoes and shook water out of my ears.
Biking went okay as well. Basically, I did as good as I could with the tool that I had. I love my pink mountain bike but it just can't preform the way road or tri bikes can. I feel like I am decently athletic and strong but people flew passed me up hills like I was sitting still.
I felt like the course was really hilly but I was never miserable. I haven't mastered reaching for my water bottle while riding yet, so I stopped once to drink some sports drink. My left calf crapped up when I stood on my tippy toes to remount my bike but it went away rather quickly.
Although I took way longer than most people the biking went by pretty fast.
I honestly thought the run was easy. I mean, it was hilly and I had to take walk breaks but it went by so fast! This may just be because I am not used to 5ks (which by the way, I am excited to have several 5ks in the coming months).
I saw Henry at the 2.9 mile mark. I started to walk for a second. He shouted "hurry, go, you are almost there"! I didn't really realize what he meant, I just thought he was encouraging me. But he was watching the clock. He knew I was going to be cutting it close. When I went around the next corner and he was at the finish line he should "you've got it", again I thought he was just being encouraging but when I finished he explained that he had been watching the clock,...I finished in 1 hour and 58 minutes.
So I met all my goals! I had fun! Everyone was so friendly and encouraging. Being part of the CHOA team was really awesome. Although I didn't know everyone, it was just nice seeing everyone in the same shirt and feeling that connection. I also finished in the time that I wanted. That always feels good.
During the race I wasn't sure if I would do it again. But now that I have finished and looked at times and thought about my experience, I can say that I would do another one. Although I finished way at the back of the pack, I realize I could be do pretty well in this sport. It really just gets down to the bike. My swim wasn't great but with training, I believe it could be. My run looked like it was about average but I think it is possible to make up for that in swimming. So ya, I think I should explore better bike options and see what I can do.
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