I first heard about triathlons this summer while working at the YMCA and immediately knew it was something I wanted to do. We were signing people up for a Sprint Tri (300 yard swim/12 mile bike/3 mile run) and I thought what the heck and signed myself up. Not knowing what I had gotten myself into I began running everyday when I woke up and occasionally taking my mountain bike for a few laps around the neighborhood.
I soon learned that the mountain bike I got for Christmas when I was 10 was not gonna cut it. I love the bike, but it was not made for the type of competition I was preparing for. I'll attach a pic so you guys can see what I mean.
Can you imagine how long it would've taken me to bike 12 miles on this thing?
Eventually I got more serious in my training and even started swimming some laps in our neighborhood pool. I had never swam laps before so I grabbed some goggles and made it about 25yds before I was sucking wind. As time went on I was able to go farther and farther until I thought I was ready (I had no clue how far 300yds was in the water).
As it got closer to race day I drove over to Millbrook, AL with my dad and bought a 1980's model Dave Scott Centurion Tri-Bike from a guy for $200. It's not the best or fastest bike out there, but it was a good buy for what I was doing. Not to mention I didn't have an extra five grand to spend on a new tri-bike.
Isn't she a beauty? I went to Academy Sports and bought a speedometer/odometer for about $20, something I highly recomend because you know exactly how far you've ridden and how fast you're going at any particular time.
I had never rode a bike quite like this one and it showed on the first ride through my neighborhood. I was weaving all over the rode and got a little too close to my neighbors mailbox and couldnt hit the brakes fast enough. I slammed into the mailbox and then skidded to a stop on the pavement. Extremely embarrassed I quickly looked around to see if anyone had seen my mishap. Luckily it was mid morning and no one was there to see me so I got up and attempted to fix the mailbox that was leaning heavily to the right. After that I walked my new bike about 2 miles back to my house telling myself I'd never ride the stupid thing again.
This is the lovely scar I now have on my arm to remind me of the mailbox I couldn't avoid.
After awhile I decided to give it another go on the bike and started getting more comfortable on it. Pretty soon I was biking up to 8 miles a night and running 2-3 miles after work with one of my friends. I started going to an indoor pool where I could swim laps and know exactly how far I was swimming (a very helpful thing to do). As the date for the Sprint-Tri approached I felt I was prepared for the competition and ready to see how I'd do. About a week before race day I went and bought a pair of tri-shorts that were tight as spandex, and I wasn't comfortable wearing around people, to compete in. It's a good investment though because you can save alot of time in your transitions by not having to stop and change into different clothes. At this point I now had to trust that I'd done enough training and hope for the best.
I woke up bright and early on the morning of September 11 and started getting everything together for my first triathlon (I was so nervous I only got about 3hrs of sleep that night). When I got to the location I was shocked to see so many people there to compete. I figured I'd be competing against about 40 or 50 people and it turned out to be closer to 200 people. It didn't take me long to see that most of these triathletes were much more experienced and had much nicer bikes than I did. This didn't help my nerves, but I stayed focused and went to the registering booth to get my numbers sharpied on my body. Most competitors had their numbers written on their uppers arm, but since mine were covered with tattoos the girl just wrote them on my forearm. Next I headed over to set up my transition area and laid my helmet, shoes/socks, and shirt with my number pinned on it next to my bike so I could quickly grab it all when needed. Once the transitions closed it was time to listen to our instructions and head over to the starting line.
They sent us into the water one at a time and as soon as I jumped in I immediately panicked. I have no idea why this happened but it did and made for a miserable swim. Instead of sticking to the strict form I spent all those hours practicing I began splashing and kicking frantically and wasted most of my energy in the first 100yds. With 200 more to go I started wondering if it was even possible for me to make it to the end. We were swimming in a lake which meant green water filled my goggles and I was constantly veering off course. To make matters worse the guys behind me were starting to catch up and smacking me in the legs and torso while I struggled. Determined not to quit I mustered up enough energy to finish the 300yds and make it back to land. As I jogged over to the first transition my entire body tingled from muscle fatigue, it was unlike anything I had ever felt. When I got to where my bike was racked I took a few moments to drink my electrolyte water and prepared for the 12 mile bike.
The bike leg was a nice change of pace from the swim and allowed me to re-focus and prepare to finish the race. It was mostly nice and flat roads, however there were a few hills mixed in the middle of the course. I wasn't comfortable enough to take my hand off the handlebar to take a drink of my water so I had to go the entire 12 miles without fluids. Most of the other triathletes were solid on the bike section and flew past me on their suped up bikes, but I didnt let it bother me because I knew I wasn't going to win I just wanted to finish with a respectable time. As I came to the end of the 12th mile and headed into the second transition I caught my second wind. I think it was because I knew I only had a 3 mile run left and I would have completed the race I trained months and months for. It didn't hurt that there were hundreds of people cheering us on as we coasted into the transition area. I racked my bike and threw on my shirt and a pair of shorts so I didnt have to cross the finish line in my spandex-like tri-shorts.
As I headed out on the run I noticed my goggles bouncing off my chest. I guess I was so nervous and exhausted after the swim I forgot to take them off. I decided to toss them in the grass next to the lake and that would be the last time I'd ever see them. I quickly noticed that my body was running out of energy and the 95 degree heat was starting to get to me. I made it about a mile and a half to two miles before I stopped at a water station and walked for a bit. Not wanting to get passed and desperately wanting to get to the finish line I started jogging again. Eventually the steep hills got the best of me and I had to walk off and on for the last mile. When I got to the last turn I could hear the crowd cheering and got a burst of energy that allowed me to cruise through the finish line. I grabbed a water and an orange slice and headed to meet up with my family.
Completely and totally exhausted I sat on the curb and watched as the rest of the competitors finished and waited for the calculations of our times. I finished in 1hr 24min and 48sec, nowhere near the top but inside of an hour and a half which is what I was going for.
The complete list of results can be found here: 2010 PT Solution Sprint Triathlon
Overall the experience was great and I learned a lot of valuable information for the next time my next triathlon. For starters I'm going to spend atleast three times as much time in the water training. I felt this was the area of the race I was least prepared for and used up way too much energy in the first three minutes. Going into the competition I thought my form was good and my endurance was where it needed to be. In hindsight it was the exact opposite. I didn't really have much form at all and I was winded almost as soon as I got started.
Also I realized that no matter how tired I think I am it is never a good idea to stop and rest in the transition areas. If you don't believe me just take a look at everyone's split times on the results link and you'll see. Everyone near the top of the list had transition times well under a minute and most closer to thirty seconds. Mine however, were terrible and took around two minutes each. If I had sucked it up and hustled on and off my bike I could've rested while either on the bike or jogging which would've meant I was still moving and not standing around drinking water.
Mostly it all came down to training. I needed to have trained longer and gotten my body used to what it was about to go through. I could've done this by practicing the transition from one leg of the race to the next. What I mean is swimming my laps and getting straight out of the pool and onto my bike for a few miles. You don't have to do the entire 300yds to 12mi transition, but atleast get your body used to going from swimming to biking. The same goes for biking to running. When training for the individual sports it's best to be able to go farther than what you'll be required to do on race day. If you are going to have to swim 300yds then I'd suggest swimming 500yds. If you have to bike 12 miles then I'd bike 15-20 miles. Running, I feel, is the most important thing you can do while training because it challenges your endurance and will help you in the other two sports. Not to mention you can run anywhere with no equipment needed. If you have to run 3 miles then I would train running 5 or more.
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