As seen here:
https://forum.slowtwitch.com/...__P7492940/#p7492940


I had a background in running. 17:04 5k and 2:51 marathon from a couple years back but I had been dealing with injuries and i had completely quit running for a year. After a couple months of light jogging, my buddy asked me to do the oregon 70.3. I was about 20 pounds heavier than my previous race weight and barely in shape. I had 3 months to train. I'm a competitive type person and I had no desire to do the triathlon with the goal of "finishing." I wanted to race it to the best of my fitness ability on race day. I think I'm an ok swimmer for someone that has never swam competitively and no idea on form. Maybe 1:50 pace for 3200 in a pool without flip turns. I had never cycled before. I bought a used "neil pryde diablo" from craigslist.

I did a practice Olympic triathlon at the beginning of june. The swim went HORRIBLY. I heard that it can be chaotic but totally underestimated it. I thought I'd start in the back to let some of the chaos subside and I could do my own thing. BIG mistake. It was a very narrow path to swim and I was stuck between the fat people that couldnt swim and the next wave of fast women trying to pass. I had a total panic attack and just stood there. I'd try to swim but I was hyperventilating. I had the feeling of being in a war and having grenades thrown down on me. I completely froze. I ended up back stroking 90% of the race. The bike; it was a short course. I think it was around 20 miles. I was on gatorskins, but it was flat and fast and I averaged 19.5mph. The run, I had no idea what shape I was in, but i finished the 10k in 40:40 or so.


The Oregon 70.3. Being that it was single file and a nice wide river to swim, It was a totally different experience. I was completely calm the entire time. I freestyled the whole thing and never felt any panic. I had tinted goggles and didnt have any trouble sighting like other people. Not at least until the end when I wasnt paying attention to the kayaks and kept running in to them.

The bike... i switched out my gator skins for Michelin power time trials and latex tubes. I also went and got a bike fit. The fitter got my bike to wear he said my ergonomics are in the realm of a tri bike. They claimed it was totally flat in the race description. I'm new to cycling but that didnt seem that flat to me. There were lots of rolling hills and a few really steep ones. I tried to push myself of the bike but still hold back. I averaged 19.88. I was happy with that, considering it was almost 3 times as far as my Olympic and much more elevation, I averaged like .4 faster. Probably mostly due to new tires. By the end of the bike, I was starting to get a little nauseous. Like I had drank too much liquid

The run, it was immediately clear it was going to be hot and I'd get overheated. Couple that with the fact that I didnt think I could hold down any more liquid and I already felt like I had liquid sloshing in my stomach. At the aid stations, I'd just take a sip of Gatorade and pour water on my head. I was going to aim for about 1:30 finish time, but after like 4 miles, I knew it was going to get ugly and I just started jogging. By like 8 miles, I really started to break down. I knew I was getting dehydrated, but I also felt like I would vomit. I was still only taking small sips. After 8 miles, I felt like I was barely moving. I'd walk through the aid stations and slow jog the rest of the time. It really took everything I had just to finish. I finished the run in 1:42:33. I was pretty disappointed with that. I really wanted to break 5 hours, especially with the smoking fast downstream swim. I finished in 5:02:48.

I was sick for a good 6 hours after the race. Completely dehydrated, but I would vomit anything I tried to drink.



There is another Olympic triathlon on the exact same course that I did a month ago. I'm going to do it again and see if i can redeem myself on the swim