My First Tri

so this past weekend i raced my first Triathlon. i am not new to racing, just to triathlon. i have run many different running races from 800 meters to 13.1 miles. i love the race atmosphere. i don't really get butterfly's anymore just a calm excitement. anyway let me walk you through it...

4:43 am...alarm goes off and i almost can't remember why it's going off! my plan was to eat a small breakfast, get my bottles ready, walk the dogs, and take off about about 5:15 since the race was about 1 1/2 hours away according to MapQuest. registration opened at 6:45 and if you know racing you know the later you get there the longer the lines. i don't like to be rushed so I'm always at my races early. so i ate my usual pre-race breakfast, cinnamon raisin bagel with peanut butter and a banana. next i made one bottle for the pre-race and one bottle to take on the bike. my pre-race bottle was 16 oz of water mixed with Base Performance Amino blend (their website is in my links) this stuff is great for endurance athletes who need the proper nutrition for their muscles to handle the demand of a three sport race. my second bottle was 16 oz of water mixed with Accelerade. this is a carb and electrolyte replacement drink. third bottle was just 24 oz of water to drink up until i got to the race. anyway i got my bottles ready walked the dogs and then racked my bike on top of the truck and it was go time!

5:20 am...go time! on the road heading to McMinnville Tennessee.

6:50ish am...i roll in the parking lot and i look to be about the 30th person there. i have to go to pick up my race packet which has my number for the run, and my number to stick on my helmet. it also has tons of other brochures about other races and products. my number ends up being 76. this means there are 75 people that projected a faster swim time than me. at this point I'm kind of wondering how legit that is. (we'll come back to this in the swim portion later) i had heard the rumors already about slow swimmers submitting fast times so that they could be near the front only to get run over by the fast swimmers and causing a headache for everybody.

from hear on out i don't really remember the times until we hit 8 am...

after getting my race bag i head back to my truck to put my bike back together and to get my gear. next step is to head to the transition area. for those of you who don't know, a transition area is exactly what it's called. you go to this area to transition from the swim to the bike (T1) and from the bike to the run (T2). It's here where i am "marked". they write my race number on my right arm and right knee. then right my age on my left calf and my "class" on my right calf. this was my first Tri so i was signed up as a beginner so they stuck a big "B" on my right calf. turns out there were quite a few B's roaming around.

once marked i found my spot on the rack. the rack is where you hang your bike. time to set up my transition area. you want your running shoes, race number belt, and hat in one place and your sunglasses and helmet in another place. so my run stuff was on a towel next to my front wheel. the bike is hung on the rack using the tip of the seat so that your back wheel is off the ground and your bike is facing your exit. my sunglasses were inside my helmet which was sitting on my aero bars.

once i had everything set up it was time to warm up. i put my shoes on and went for about a 5 minute jog then stretched. at this point i think it was about 7:30. next i took my bike out and rode the first mile of the course then stretched some more. now i think its about 7:45 and i start drinking my Base Amino drink. i listened to the race overview and rules then headed down to the pool. i did a quick 200 meter warm up and then stretch and tried to remain loose. at this point it's around 8:15 and the pool deck is filling up fast with the 450 some odd competitors.

5 minutes before race starts...so they are shouting out directions trying to get the first 30 swimmers in the pool. here's where the fun begins. i know you can't really judge a book by it's cover but for the most part you can just a swimmer by their "cover". remember I'm number 76 with a projected swim time of 2:55 for 200 meters which isn't too bad, and 75 others say they will swim faster. i was being modest with this time. so they load the 2 min swimmers first and start the race. 1 swimmer every 10 seconds swam 50 meters went under the rope then back down, under the next rope and back out, under that last rope and swim to the exit, which was a zero entry so that made the exit very smooth. anyway as they are moving through the first 25 swimmers I'm watching and noticing nobody looks nearly as fast as their projected times, even the very first guy. so they start getting the 2:30 swimmers in the water and i say "what the hey" so i get in with the 2:30 swimmers. at this point there are no thoughts. I'm in the water following the line to the starter and I'm in full on race mode. i don't hear anything and my peripheral vision is black.

SWIM...i get to the starter, put my feet up on the wall and hold the wall with my right hand. my left hand is already pointing down the lane...GO!!...I'm gone and i think i might have been smiling underwater!! i catch the person in front of me and tap their foot(means I'm passing you at the wall). i have to slow up a little. she moves over and i pass her at the wall. i catch the next person in the middle of the lane and motor on by. these are the folks i spoke of earlier. they put down swim times that they can't actually finish. anyway after passing this guy in the middle of my second lane i catch the person in front of him and have to do the slow up tap on the foot method again. i pass him at the wall and head down my third length. I'm slightly annoyed because I've had to slow down twice already to keep from bulldozing two swimmers. third length i pass another swimmer in the middle of the lane and again catch the person in front of them and AGAIN the slow down foot tap is in full effect. we get to the wall and i head under the rope. i have one swimmer in front of me that i want to catch before we exit. i catch them half way through. so i think i was about 35th-40th swimmer in the water and i passed 6. now the slow downs actually helped cause it saved my legs a little. total time 2:53

T1...the run from the pool to transition was about 100 yard on the sharpest pavement I've ever seen. extremely painful to run on which slowed my down to hobble. i probably looked like an old man trying to hold in diarrhea while walking on hot coals!! of course we all looked like this. i get to my bike and notice about 10 swimmers still putting on helmets, sitting at their bikes, putting on shoes. i had practiced this part 100 times already. my shoes were already locked into my pedals and i don't wear socks. i simply put my sunglasses on, put my helmet on and grabbed my bike. just in transition i lapped about 10 people. more sharp pavement as I'm heading to the bike loading area. i get to the mat and step on top of my left shoe and swing my leg over. total time 1:11

BIKE...I pedal with my feet on top of my shoes for about 25 yards up a hill. then while rolling down the hill i slide my feet in and adjust the Velcro straps. now it's off to the races. at this point i notice and unusual feeling in my legs...they fill like they are inflated! i don't remember at what stages but i passed 4 more folks on the bike and had 3 people pass me. anyway the bike course had some decent hills on it but if you go up you get to go down. so at some points i was going 15 mph and others i was going 34 mph. i ended up averaging 20.8 mph. it took me nearly 6 of the 11 miles to get my quads to relax. and once they did i felt much more comfortable and was really having a great time out there. the last three miles were entertaining to say the least. now you are seeing the slower folks make their way out onto the bike course and i got to see all types of bikes some nice some not so nice. one thing i noticed. a lot of people riding bikes that they had no business riding. now if i had the money i would be on a 5000 dollar bike too so i can't really blame them. in the last 100 yards i notice the kid up in front of me has a B on his calf. at this point i decide i need to stay ahead of him on the run if i want to place. so i slide my feet out and pedal on top of my shoes towards the dismount. I'm over joyed as i notice he takes one foot out but leaves his other in. he stopped his bike, stepped over the seat, unclipped his shoe then ran to his rack with one shoe on and one shoe off. however i was balancing on my left pedal with my right leg already off the bike. so i was completely on the left side of my bike as i was coming to a stop. i hit the breaks and went straight into a run...back onto that SHARP PAVEMENT, i swear satan must have paved that parking lot!! total time 33:07

T2...i "ran" to my rack and racked my bike by hanging it from the handle bars. i took my helmet off and dropped it while slipping my shoes on. i grabbed my hat and race belt and took off running. i put my hat in my mouth while i clipped my belt on then put my hat on. just in time to grab some water from the first station. which i swiftly dumped on myself since it now seemed to be about 100 degrees. total time :56

RUN...here's where the fun started. when you come off the bike and into a run it feels horrible. imagine trying to run after doing 100 squats. your quads feel like they are filled with silicone and the motion from pedaling throws off your running motion. not 20 yards into the run my left calf begins to cramp. this isn't a shock as it had done it several other times when practicing going from bike to run. it took me a 1/4 mile and three quick stretches to get it to relax. on the run i pass two and nobody passes me. the first mile felt horrible. i didn't wear a watch because i wanted to enjoy my first race and not be caught up on pacing and splits. however i couldn't tell how fast i was running because of how my legs felt. i could tell by my breathing that i was running fast but i felt like i was crawling. the second mile was all about keeping my pace and not dying. i thought to myself "holy crap it's hot out here, keep pushing, i can do all things through Christ who strengthens me, geez i want to jump in a pool, i think my legs are going to explode, i can't believe I'm finally doing this". the run at 2 hills, not really that big but after swimming and biking first they might as well have been Everest! they sure felt like it!! so i round the corner and see the finish line. i hear them announce my name and city and the crowd yelling. i gave a goofy pose to the photographer as i passed and a solid fist pump as i crossed the line. i was finally a triathlete!!

after the race i cooled down with some water and waited for the awards. Mom says i crossed the line in at least the top 10...i had trouble believing that. i ended up being 18th over all and 2nd over all in the beginner category. had i raced as an individual i would have been 2nd in my age group. it was the first time i have ever placed in a race. my highest place was 4th in my age group at a local 5k. so now i'm definitely hooked. my next race is in July and its an Olympic distance race. it will be much harder much more painful and much more rewarding. until then i'll keep you posted on my training adventures. hope you enjoyed the read...i know its kind of long.