I competed in my first triathlon!
27 July 08
Yesterday I competed in my first triathlon. I raced the sprint distance, which consisted of a 500 m swim, 11.2 mi bike and a 5 k run.
I have been biking and running for fitness for the past few years. I decided last year that I want to try racing a triathlon. The swim was my one hold up. Growing up in FL, I always had a pool to "play" in but never took swimming lessons. I did a Tri101 workshop last April with Coach Troy (www.coachtoy.com). I decided that I could do it if I just set my mind to it. I started swimming at the local college pool in May. I watched other people doing laps and understood the basic concept. Unfortunately breathing was a problem. I might get a few yards before I could breath and I couldn't figure out what I was doing wrong.
After a few weeks of try to teach myself I found someone to give me lessons. Christine was an excellent teacher. After 30 minutes with her I was able to swim 25 yards before I had to stop and catch my breath. I kept practicing and suddenly things started falling into place. One day I could swim 50 yards, then 100 yards and then was swimming more than 100 yards without getting out of breath. I was starting to feel very confident in my new skills.
I was training quite a bit on the bike and run as well. I was working with a coach to help get me conditioned to compete. Race day came and I felt as ready as I was going to be. I had two main goals for the race:
1. Finish the race
2. Don't be last.
Of course I want to win but I didn't think it was wise to set unrealistic goals.
I arrived at the park Sunday morning around 5:30. I want to have plenty of time to set up my transition spot and do a practice swim. The smarted thing I did was the practice swim. It was the part I was most worried about and the part I was a little over confident in.
The water was warm and there were only a few others in the water with me. I started out attempting to swim with freestyle like I have done in the pool. I quickly realized just how different swimming in the lake was going to be. I couldn't see anything in the water and had not done a good job training myself to site. I didn't go very far before I decided practice was over. I was slightly discouraged but not much more nervous after the practice swim. I was already rethinking my expectation for the race.
I was the last wave to go so I had time to watch how everyone else handled the swim start. Since I was now expecting to be bringing up the rear, I stayed to the back of the group so I would get in the way of the better swimmers. The whistle blew and I tried to control my breathing and attempt proper swimming but quickly realized it was pointless. So I did whatever I could to keep moving towards the end. I never felt panic in the water just determination not to give up. I was even capable of joking with one of the lifeguards about my bad since of direction and I almost swam into his kayak. Some how I managed to not be last out of the lake. I even pasted people from earlier waves still hanging on to kayaks.
I ran (while others walked) from the water to transition and switched to bike mode in less than two minutes. Then I ran (again while others walked) to the bike mount and took off with the determination to make myself proud. I immediately started catching and passing people. I felt rather strong and it certainly was a confidence boost to keep passing people. I ran most of the way back through transition to switch to the run. I took off at what felt like an ok pace but it was hard to tell with so many people faster and slower than me around. I finished the bike and the run faster than I was anticipating.
I finished 7th out of 130 in my division (FT-Females) and 123rd out of 475 total females. I completed the swim in 14:24, the bike in 35:13 and the run in 27:48. I more than exceeded my expectations and really enjoyed the experience. Now I ready to start training for the next one.
I would like to thank my family and friends for all their support, Christina for teaching my to swim even though I didn't do it in the race and Coach Troy for helping my accomplish more than I thought I could.