Days 12-14: Triathlon Success!

In previous triathlons (I’ve done 2 before) I always just jumped in the water and tried to start swimming…MISTAKKKKEEEE!   So using that knowledge, I decided to bike the run course (about 3.5 miles) so I can get the blood flowing and my heart rate up.  Then they allowed some practice swimming so I took advantage of that by swimming about 100 yards.  This was my first swim in a wetsuit and it was glorious.  After getting out of the water, I was ready.  There was little nervousness..just a  little uneasiness because of the results of my last triathlon (dead last place in my age group and second to last in males overall).   Let’s do this.

I always wonder what other people are thinking as they are going through a race.  In my mind I am all over the place, I will go from crossfit to work to phillies to hoping not to die.  During the swim portion of the race all I could think was “don’t quit”.  I was doing ok in the swim but the whole not breathing thing just gets to me. (I should note here that the warm up, paid off.  The 0 to 60 was not nearly as much of a shock as it has been in races past)  To be honest, I almost quit twice just because I couldn’t remember why I was doing this to myself.  Then I remembered I’m doing it to prove to myself that I’m not getting too old, that I can still push myself to limits that were previously unknown to my body.  I kept chugging along.

Leaving the swim, Karen saw me and cheered fanatically and was with my friend Will who had shown up while I was waiting to start.  Hearing friends and loved ones cheer you on really gives you some extra strength and can be the difference in your time.  So I ran to my bike, threw on my bike shoes, and hopped on.  I averaged 17mph through the bike portion which is a PR for me (far superior to the 14.3 mph at my previous tri).  I learned that I need to attack hills more, rather than just trying to get up them.

Finally, after 55 minutes of biking, I get back to the transition area where I need to get out of my bike shoes and into my running shoes. My legs feel like jello.  My back is hurting from the bike.  I am in pain.  But I know I am less than a half hour from being done with this gruesome test of fitness.  With the exception of stopping for water (about 10 yards) I never stopped running…if you can call a 9 minute mile pace running.  I hear the finish line and I start sprinting, holding back vomit and tears as I cross the finish line.

Post Race

Did I achieve my goal?  Where is Karen?  This was definitely need my wife kind of moment, where I just wanted a hug (I don’t care how fruity that sounds).  When I found her and got out of the finish chute I just collapsed, I needed to sit, my legs just didn’t want to function, body was physically and mentally exhausted.  After a few minutes on the ground and a bottle of water I feel up to walking and finding some food to get my body needed nutrients.  I have an apple, banana, and some muscle milk for the protein and start to wonder about my time.

Wandering around the ground we finally find the posted times.  I am nervous as I try to get through a number of competitors and look at a sheet of paper with almost 1000 names on it.

Searching….searching….Success!!!

The swim that I thought almost killed me was just the opposite..I killed it!  Sub-20 (19:54) minutes on the swim!   The bike I knew I did in about 55 minutes and the run was not great at 28:05.  For a final time of 1 hour 48 minutes and 31 seconds.  Beat my goal by more than 10 minutes!

Even with this completed goal I know I can do better.  Maybe that is the sign of my competitiveness…I will never be completely satisfied with my results.  I’m happy that I beat my goal, but I can go through the race in my head and  identify places where I know I can take another 10 minutes off by next year.  9 minute mile is not great, and my transition times are pretty weak too, throw on that my lack of attacking of the hills and I know I can do a sub 1:40 time.  I found that I am in the bottom half in both the bike and run…that’s not very good and MUST be corrected.

In the end, it’s always going to be me versus myself….but it’s not always a bad thing to think it’s me versus the world.

Points for the weekend:

Friday:  15 points
Saturday : -5 (I celebrated with a  few beers)
Sunday:  -10 (no beer, but I kinda splurged at the Phillies game)

Week 2: 80 Points
Week 1: 115 points
Total: 195 points