Step 1: Finish Olympic Triathlon. Check

The First Triathlon

The day finally came for my first triathlon.  The race started at 7:00 AM at Echo Reservoir.  What is interesting about this race is that the parking for the race is 2 miles away.  That means that you have to park your car and pack everything into a backpack and ride to the race.  The 2 miles wasn't a difficult ride, but I might have brought more stuff if I had room.  I also would have worn warmer clothes.  I learned a lot about triathlons that weekend. I mostly learned that I had no idea of what to expect.

 The Swim

The swim started in "deep water" aka deep water start.  Normally this would have sucked treading water while waiting for the starting gun to go off.  This time however I was wearing a wetsuit that floated really well.  I guess that has something to do with why it is supposedly faster.  Even if it wasn't faster I was glad I had it because the water was coooold.  Both of my friends that were in the race told me to find someone fast and stay on their toes.  It sounded like a good idea in theory, but once everybody started swimming it was impossible to distinguish the fast from the slow in the begining of the race.  Looking back at it now, I wish that I had started closer to the starting line of the race.  I had to crawl/swim over a lot of guys to get in a place where I wasn't crowded.  Once I finally separated from the large group I ended up being about 2 -3 minutes behind the lead pack and 2-3 minutes ahead of the second pack.  Basically like usual I ended up swimming alone.   I had been warned that the wetsuit was "supposed to feel tight"  and that in the beginning it might be hard to breath.  Well they weren't kidding, it was hard to breath.  It also didn't just last for the beginning of swim it lasted the whole time.  I also felt like the right sleeve was too far down my arm and it was preventing me from getting a good reach in my swim.  When I got out of the water I literally felt like I was going to be sick.  I think it was due to the lack of oxygen.  I ended up being 1st in my age group for the swim.  A short lived lead that was about to be lost.

T1

I am pretty sure that most of the other athletes ran as fast as they could to there bike and were on their bike within a few minutes.  Me on the other hand, I did run most of the way but I was still feeling sick from the swim. I was really slow getting my shoes, helmet, sunglasses, and gloves on.  Oh wait, I left the gloves on the ground.  Shoes and socks with wet feet was a challenge of its own.  The seasoned athletes all brought a small towel for their feet.  That was a good idea, wish I had thought of it.  After about 4 and 1/2 minutes of fumbling around I eventually grabbed my bike and ran to the bike exit.  It was interesting that you had to carry your bike out of the transition area.  I eventually made it on the road and was off.

The Bike

The first part of the bike I spent fumbling with my GPS.  I didn't think to turn it on before I got on the bike, so it had to find the satellites before it would start recording.  Once it finally started recording I noticed that I had it set up for running.  I decided at that point that I didn't care about the GPS and just concentrated on biking.  I had one person pass me almost immediately on the bike and the next person didn't pass me for about another 5 miles into the bike.  After that it seemed to be a steady stream of people passing me.  I knew that the bike was my weakest sport, but it was difficult to be reminded again, and again, and again.  The ride itself wasn't very difficult.  It was an out and back race, with the first half a slight hill the whole way. I felt comfortable on the bike but not very fast.  It wasn't until after the race I learned that comfortable meant 2nd SLOWEST in my division.  I had a GU about 5 miles into the bike and another one in the same spot on the way back.  My legs felt pretty good and I eventually finished.

T2

The second transition was supposed to be an easy one.  You would think that I could remember where I was supposed to put my bike, but I couldn't find my spot.  I eventually found that another racer had put their bike in my spot and that is why I couldn't find it.  Again, I spent WAY too much time in the transition.

The Run 

The run was trail run that ran parallel  to the bike course.  For some reason I had forgotten that it was a trail run and I brought my super light road shoes.  The good part was that the shoes are fast.  The bad part is that they are thin on padding so rocks in the trail weren't my friend.  Like the bike I felt pretty comfortable on the run.  Like the bike, comfortable also meant slow.  One thing that I noticed was that there were a lot of people wearing hats.  It took about half of the run to see why.  After all the riding, and now running, it was hot.  I found myself wishing that I had a hat to keep the sun out of my face and perhaps the sweat out of my eyes.  The aid stations were about every mile or so and they were giving out water and HEED.  I tried the HEED and about 1/2 mile later my stomach started to ache.  I decided to not try the HEED again.  Overall the run was ok.  Looking back I could have pushed it harder, but I felt ok about it.

What I learned

• I didn't really know what to expect and I was dumb for not asking my triathlon friends more questions.
• I like the wetsuit, but not that brand.  I am too fast in the water to feel sick because my wetsuit was too tight.  I will rent another one that is larger or buy a bib john before my next race.
• I wish I brought a small towel.  That would have saved me at least a minute off my time.  I ended up using a spare shirt that I had, and it didn't work very well.
• I need to be organized BEFORE I come into T1. Maybe if I strap the gloves to my handle bars they might actually make it on the ride with me.
• Start the GPS BEFORE the swim.
• I suck on the bike. I need more training and aero bars.
• I am too fat.  I didn't actually learn this on the race, I already had a pretty good idea that I was too fat.  That being said it became very clear that the real competitors were in a lot better shape than me. 

Final Thoughts

Earlier this week my daughter started the "pre" swim team.  It is basically just training without any racing.  After the first day she said to me that she was the slowest, and in the "slow" lane.  She was pretty discouraged and didn't want to go back.  I told her about how when I started swimming I to was in a "slow" lane but I took it as a challenge rather than a bad thing.  I explained that I would pick a person that was just a little faster than me and try become faster than them.  Once I was faster, I would pick the next fastest person.  Eventually I became the fastest in the pool.  She like the idea and said she would go back.

I have made it my new goal to approach biking like I did when I started swimming in school. I am going to make it my strength and not my weakness.  My first goal is to average 20 + MPH on the bike on my IronMan.  August 7th is coming fast and I am riding like crazy.  I will post more about my biking progress another time. 

Race Day Success!

It was early for me to get up at 5:00 AM but the excitement of doing something completely new allowed me to ignore the fact I only had 6 hours of sleep.  I had prepared all of the things I needed for the race the night before so my only concern was to get some food and coffee in me.  I had a cinnamon bagel with peanut butter as the spread, and packed 2 more bagels in case I got hungry later.  I brewed coffee poured my mug and went outside to wait for Greg.  Our plan was to leave my house at 5:45 to be at the lake by 6:45.  I waited until about 5:50 and I sent Greg a text, " R U up".  A couple of minutes went by and I began to get nervous.  Even if I drove up to the race myself I couldn't compete without a paddler.  Then I got the text back, " be there in a few minutes".  I was very relieved.  Greg indeed showed up a couple of minutes later and by that time I had finished my coffee.  We decided to stop by Einsteins Bagels on the way.  I refilled my coffee and Greg got himself some food and we were on our way.  It is interesting how peaceful it is that early on a Saturday morning. I can't remember the last time I was up that early on a weekend.  The traffic was minimal and we made it up to Deer Creek in about 45 minutes.

Greg and I.  Greg was the only person with a paddle board

When we got to the lake it was about 7:00 AM and we had to get ready pretty fast because the safety meeting was at 7:30.  We unloaded Greg's paddle board and went to the pavilion where they were handing out the race packets.  This was my first swimming race outside of college and I wasn't sure what to expect.  When we got to the pavilion it was clear that it was going to be like any running race.  They were handing out gift bags and numbers.  I was really glad that they allowed us to use permanent markers rather than having us safety pin a bib to our chest like they do in running. That could hurt!  Once we had all of our gear ready we went down to the boat dock where they were doing the safety meeting and the start of the race.  There was supposedly 70 racers but it was hard to tell given that each racer had a paddler while there were a lot of people it was hard to tell who was going to race.  The safety meeting basically went over the course, and reminded the paddlers to NOT run over swimmers.  I guess it was a problem last year.

They divided us into 4 heats, the 10 mile race at 8:00 AM, 10K at 8:05, 5K at 8:10, and the 1 mile at 8:15. The race started in the water at the "start/finish" buoy.  They would do a quick photo and then start the race.  I watched the 10 mile and 10K race start and headed into the water.  I put on my cap, goggles, and earplugs and was ready to race!  The water was a nice 74 degrees and I was glad that I didn't wear a wetsuit. My goggles immediately fogged up and I could hear the announcer say, "15 seconds to the start".  I quickly pulled them off and rinsed them out and put them back on. Then, " 5 seconds to the start".  The goggles were still  fogged. Oh well it was too late now.  Then the starting horn went off and I was on my way.

The beginning of the race was like swimming in a school of fish.  Lots of splashing, and lots of body parts were flopping around.  Not that it mattered I could hardly see a thing with my goggles.  I remember thinking, "it is kinda scary swimming in open water".  After about 20 seconds of swimming I found a good pace and all "scary" thoughts were gone.  I was in race mode.  My goggles were still so fogged up that I couldn't see the shore to give me a heading. It was also difficult to see because the sun had just come up and we were swimming directly into the sun.  The best I could do is see the splashing of the person in front of me, so I followed the splash.  After about 400 meters I quickly pulled down my goggles and tried rinsing them again.  It was a little better, but not much.  The race was to a buoy at the end of the bay and back.  When I got about half way I couldn't see the splashing anymore and I started to feel like I was alone.  I was pretty sure I didn't pass anybody but I couldn't see people in front or behind me.  I yelled at Greg, "am I losing"?  He laughed and said that there were about 5 people in front of me and a whole bunch way behind me.  I continued to swim in the general direction of where I guessed the buoy was.  Greg signaled to me a few times that I was too far to the left or right and I made adjustments.

I could start to see a lot of kayaks up ahead and I concluded that I must be close to the turn around point. I was hoping that I wouldn't run into any other swimmers as they were on the way back but I really didn't see any.  I passed a couple of swimmers that were swimming the 10 mile race as I approached the buoy.  Once I made the turn around I adjusted my goggles again, and this time I could see!  I think that the fact that I wasn't swimming into the sun anymore made a huge difference.  I thought that I would feel pretty tired at the half way point.  Surprisingly I felt just fine.  That was a good and a bad thing.  Now that I could see I started swimming a little faster.  I occasionally  passed a 10 mile or 10K swimmer on the way back.  I had a really good grove going on and felt strong.  Now that I could see it was a lot better experience.  I dare say that I was having a really good time. I swam with my strong pace until I came to the 1 mile turnaround point.  I had been waiting for that buoy all the way back.  I knew that I was only 800 meters from the finish so I picked up my pace.  I had way too much energy for that part of the race.  Sure my arms were tired, but I expected to be tired like I get when I run marathons or even a hard day of training and I wasn't.  I finished strong and got out of the water feeling fine.

Getting out at the finish with Greg behind me.

My wife and kids were there at the finish to greet me and we hung out to hear how I did.  After about 30 minutes they had the results.  I came in 5th place for the men, and 7th overall.  My time was one hour and 15 minutes.  That was exactly at a 1:30/100 meter pace.  Ironically that was what I was training for.  I had been doing sets of 100 meters on 1:30 for the past 2 weeks.  Next year I will try and train a little faster, but this race was perfect.  I now know what I need to do in order to get a better time next year.

Greg and I after the race

Overall it was a great experience.  I learned that I need to make a change in my goggles so that I can see.  Also, given that I wasn't completely tired by the end of the race I should have gone out harder or swam the 10K.  Next year I will be faced with trying to swim a faster 5K or swim the 10K.  I think in 2012 I will do the 10 mile.  Tomorrow I am going to talk about the gear I did used yesterday including my new tri-suit.