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Slowtwitch Forums: Triathlon Forum:
First TRI attempt

MOTIVE

Oct 7, 08 15:13

Post #1 of 2 (90 views)

First TRI attempt	Can't Post

My first TRI was completed this weekend! It was a 500yd lake swim, 13.5 mile bike, and 3.2 mile run. First a little back ground I have had little athletic experience but I have been going to a gym lifting weights and doing some light cardio for about 2 years. I did some recreational mountain biking a few years ago til my bike stolen. Started running mid-June to do a 5K. Had a great time so I kept running. A few weeks ago a friend talked me into doing a tri. So I went to the pool and worked on swimming as much as possible until the tri. Last week I went out and bought a road bike, which I was thinking about getting anyway, the tri just gave me some incentive to drop the cash.
For breakfast I ate some oatmeal and a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. I get to the event 1 hour 15min early and you would have thought I was late. People already doing warm ups with their transition area’s setup they were even making race announcements. I racked my bike and organize my bike shoes, running shoes and socks on a towel. Got myself, bike, and helmet numbered. I didn’t know what to do with my bib number so I pinned it to my board shorts, I didn’t want to mess with wearing a shirt. Took off my jacket grabbed my goggles and go to the swim start. The air temp was 57 and the water temp was 74 and I realized a wet suit would be nice. There was two waves on the start, men first, then women and teams. I positioned my self on the inside about four back with no one really behind me. When we started I ran into the water until it was over waist deep then tried to start my swim stroke. This didn’t work very well the swim start is chaos. I got swam over and knocked around. The swim was a triangle shaped clock-wise course. I never got into any sort of rhythm, couldn’t keep my head down, couldn’t breathe right, goggles fogged/filled up, got super fatigued only half way through and got passed by a girl from the second wave which I had nearly a 5 min head start on. When I finally got to about neck deep water I put my feet down and tried to run out of the lake. At this point running up the beach I feel the worst I have ever felt, light headed, dizzy, thirsty, disoriented, etc.
I just ran as fast as could to my bike where I put on my helmet and bike shoes then pushed the bike to the start. After about half a mile down the road and some water I started feeling ok. The bike course was an out and back with rolling hills, a big flat and a killer hill. I didn’t know of the pace I needed to keep so I just rode and tried to pass as many people as possible without completely burning myself out. In the first few miles there was a thick misty fog which made it kind of cool and a little hard to see. Close to the turn around is where the huge hill climb was three hard turns in it. I could see a bunch of riders grouped up towards the bottom, just before the base I put my bike in lowest gear and cranked up it passing a good number of riders. This was by far the biggest hill I’ve ever ridden up. Coming down it I was a little nervy and on the brakes most of the time (there was an ambulance parked just off the road in the top curve for any wipeouts coming down). I tried to ride back a little harder than coming back but I had no timer to tell if I was going any faster. Toward the end of the bike course we were re-routed down a side road which was a 90degree left hand turn. I was in top gear trying to catch the guy in front of me, I lean into the corner and my pedal scrapes hard and the back end of the bike washes out a little, luckily I didn’t go down. When I finally get the transition off my bike I guess I got caught up in the moment and picked up my bike and carried it back to the rack about 50 yards away, looking back pushing it would have been a little easier. Put on socks and running shoes and take off on the 5K loop. My legs have never felt that way before, kind of like rubber cement. They started to turn back to just very tired legs ½ mile into the run. Everyone was spread out during the run. A side pain came on at about the half way point so I backed off for a minute or two then picked it backup. There was no way of telling my pace so I just ran by feel and passed as many people as I could trying not to get passed by anyone else. Had a fairly strong finish where I passed two guys right before the finish line. My splits ended up being 11:12 swim, 47:44 bike, and 23:52 run, for a total time of 1:22:48. There were no transition times posted? So I don’t know where those are accounted for?
This was a very fun event much better than just running a race!
Things to do for next race: Stretch or do some kind of a warm up! Don’t pin race bid to board shorts! Get a wetsuit?, some tri shorts?, aero bars?, wear a watch for time?, sports drink/energy gel something other than water?
I don’t think there will be another tri until the spring so what type of training will get me ready for the next one?

ANY ADVICE OR INPUT IS NEEDED AND WELCOME

rubberband

Oct 7, 08 15:56

Post #2 of 2 (71 views)

Re: First TRI attempt [MOTIVE] [In reply to]	Can't Post

Congrats, and welcome!

T-times will only be recorded if there's chip timing and a mat before and after the transition area. If they just have one mat, usually it's at the exit of the T, so the T-time will be recorded in the previous portion.

I don't think you need a wetsuit for 74-degree water, and especially not for a 500yd swim. Some will disagree, I'm sure, but I'm too retarded at getting my wetsuit off to bother for something that short. I'm a relatively slow swimmer, too, so I'm not one of those 4-minute 500 guys that don't need the extra boost of a wetsuit.

I also get the disoriented feeling exiting the water. Kicking the last 100 yards or so can wake up the legs and help get them under you. I've also heard not to stand up until your fingers hit bottom, as you'll be fighting too much water to make it any faster to run before then.

As for training: hey, maybe I'm not the most qualified poster here, I'm solidly middle of the pack. I used to be a back of the pack kind of guy though, so if that kind of advice is worth anything: at this point, you just need to train all three more often. Don't worry too much about intensity or distance. If you can do more than one swim, bike, and run per week throughout the winter, you'll be in great shape for your next one. Oh, and practice your transitions! Lots of "free" speed to be gained there. And don't spend lots of money on gear yet. Good running shoes: yes. Tri shorts: yes. Anything else: doubtful until you've trained for a while.

As far as eating, personally, I'd drink some sort of sugary drink for something this short. Don't need too much, just a little bit for a psychological boost.

Hope that helps, and welcome to the club!