The race started at 9:30am and I decided to bike to the triathlon location ( about 20 miles south of where I live). I set off at about 7:45 in the morning. The weather was clear but very cold and the miles on the bike were really cold with a bone chilling side wind.
I programmed the GPS in my phone which I placed on top of my back pack so it would wisper the directions in my ear. It worked pretty well except that the address indicated on the race website, the ONLY address on the race page was incorrect. I ended up in the middle of nowhere, cellphone battery dead (it had not charged properly the night before and asking directions to people in the area yielded no result.
I started to to feel slightly panicky. It was now less than 20 minutes before race time and I had no clue where I was or how to get there.
At about 9:15am I asked a guy I found in the parking lot of a bike shop about the race and by chance he knew where to go. He owned a truck with a bike rack and offered to take me there. Pffeww..
I arrived at about 9:25am to pick up my race packet, get tagged with my numbers and set up my transition area. Needless to say it was completely insufficient time to do a proper job of setting things up properly.
I put all my gear down at the transition area and headed to the pool.
The swim was taking place in a 50 yard pool and I lined up in the crowd with my expected finish time.
The day before I had done 6:30 for 325 yards so I entered the waiting line on the side of the pool about 3/4 back.
This was going to be the first time I tried my Pear Izumi P.R.O race suit.
When I entered the water, I felt like a shark sliding on the water. Amazing.
After a 5 second countdown, I was off starting hard and soon catching up to the guy in front of me. I passed underneath him at the pool turn, kicking the side of the pool wall hard. I kept going hard for another 3 lengths and passed another 3 or 4 swimmers. This was going pretty well, but I was getting a bit tired already. When I finished my 6th pool lengths, I emerged from the water expecting to see race organizers at the end of the pool to capture my swim finish time. But I saw no one. Perplexed, I tured around wondering if I had miscounted the laps or if I needed one more. No.. It seems I was done, I hesitantly came out of the pool and jogged to the transition area.
I had no trouble finding my bike. I pulled it out of the rack.
I had had no time to put my shoes on the pedal in advance as I had wanted to do, so I jogged to the transition area exit timing mat with my shoes in one hand and the bike in the other. After the mat, I put my shoes on with one hard, holding the bike with the other. Not the most efficient transition method I am sure.
The biking started uphill and I pushed hard and passed a lot of people from the get go. It was a 12 mile biking consisting of 2 laps. towards the end of the first lap, going downhill at full speed I spotted a volunteer gesturing towards me. I thought he meant for me to turn right so I started breaking hard, sliding my rear tired sideways for a good 30 yards, but when I got close , I realized that the volunteer was gesturing for a car to slop and let me pass.I turned back on the track and accelerated again.This is when some fast riders from the lead group passed me. I pushed hard to follow them, but as the crowd led them back to the transition area, I failed to spot the turn for my second bike lap. I arrived in front of the transition area and sensing something was wrong I asked when to start my second lap and another volunteer pointed back uphill in the distance.
I clipped my pedals back on and reaccelerated back up hill to the turn point.
What a colossal waste of time!
The second lap was uneventful. I arrived to the transition area, hooked my bike and slid in my shoes with no socks. Great transition!. I started running but at the exit of the transition area I got a bit desorientated and made a right turn uphill instead of a left downhill turn. After a few hundred yards a volunteer called me back to the right path. I ran hard. I had done no brick training and my legs felt a bit weird after the bike. I did not feel too bad but had the weight feeling that I was running so slow. Just like I was running on a treadmill.
Nonetheless I passed crowds of heavy runners without too much effort.
At the end of the run, I goofed again. I entered the transition zone and instead of running towards the finish line I turned left in the transition area.
I had to turn back once more and finish the race.
In all, I think I wasted a few minutes in my total time. Another lesson for me> Triathlon is not like a simple run. There are many other things to think about and if I am not thinking about what I am doing. I am definitely making a lot of mistakes.
I programmed the GPS in my phone which I placed on top of my back pack so it would wisper the directions in my ear. It worked pretty well except that the address indicated on the race website, the ONLY address on the race page was incorrect. I ended up in the middle of nowhere, cellphone battery dead (it had not charged properly the night before and asking directions to people in the area yielded no result.
I started to to feel slightly panicky. It was now less than 20 minutes before race time and I had no clue where I was or how to get there.
At about 9:15am I asked a guy I found in the parking lot of a bike shop about the race and by chance he knew where to go. He owned a truck with a bike rack and offered to take me there. Pffeww..
I arrived at about 9:25am to pick up my race packet, get tagged with my numbers and set up my transition area. Needless to say it was completely insufficient time to do a proper job of setting things up properly.
I put all my gear down at the transition area and headed to the pool.
The swim was taking place in a 50 yard pool and I lined up in the crowd with my expected finish time.
The day before I had done 6:30 for 325 yards so I entered the waiting line on the side of the pool about 3/4 back.
This was going to be the first time I tried my Pear Izumi P.R.O race suit.
When I entered the water, I felt like a shark sliding on the water. Amazing.
After a 5 second countdown, I was off starting hard and soon catching up to the guy in front of me. I passed underneath him at the pool turn, kicking the side of the pool wall hard. I kept going hard for another 3 lengths and passed another 3 or 4 swimmers. This was going pretty well, but I was getting a bit tired already. When I finished my 6th pool lengths, I emerged from the water expecting to see race organizers at the end of the pool to capture my swim finish time. But I saw no one. Perplexed, I tured around wondering if I had miscounted the laps or if I needed one more. No.. It seems I was done, I hesitantly came out of the pool and jogged to the transition area.
I had no trouble finding my bike. I pulled it out of the rack.
I had had no time to put my shoes on the pedal in advance as I had wanted to do, so I jogged to the transition area exit timing mat with my shoes in one hand and the bike in the other. After the mat, I put my shoes on with one hard, holding the bike with the other. Not the most efficient transition method I am sure.
The biking started uphill and I pushed hard and passed a lot of people from the get go. It was a 12 mile biking consisting of 2 laps. towards the end of the first lap, going downhill at full speed I spotted a volunteer gesturing towards me. I thought he meant for me to turn right so I started breaking hard, sliding my rear tired sideways for a good 30 yards, but when I got close , I realized that the volunteer was gesturing for a car to slop and let me pass.I turned back on the track and accelerated again.This is when some fast riders from the lead group passed me. I pushed hard to follow them, but as the crowd led them back to the transition area, I failed to spot the turn for my second bike lap. I arrived in front of the transition area and sensing something was wrong I asked when to start my second lap and another volunteer pointed back uphill in the distance.
I clipped my pedals back on and reaccelerated back up hill to the turn point.
What a colossal waste of time!
The second lap was uneventful. I arrived to the transition area, hooked my bike and slid in my shoes with no socks. Great transition!. I started running but at the exit of the transition area I got a bit desorientated and made a right turn uphill instead of a left downhill turn. After a few hundred yards a volunteer called me back to the right path. I ran hard. I had done no brick training and my legs felt a bit weird after the bike. I did not feel too bad but had the weight feeling that I was running so slow. Just like I was running on a treadmill.
Nonetheless I passed crowds of heavy runners without too much effort.
At the end of the run, I goofed again. I entered the transition zone and instead of running towards the finish line I turned left in the transition area.
I had to turn back once more and finish the race.
In all, I think I wasted a few minutes in my total time. Another lesson for me> Triathlon is not like a simple run. There are many other things to think about and if I am not thinking about what I am doing. I am definitely making a lot of mistakes.
Me running from the pool to the transition area
The transition area (T1 and T2)
The finish line... Well marked but I ran left of it first for whatever reason
