You Need Me On That Wall!

My first Triathlon was the Table Mountain Tri in June of 2007.

Here are the stats:
Pool swim, 500m: 10:41
T1: 1:44
13 mile bike: 39:22
T2: 1:07
3.1 mile run: 29:07
Total: 1:22:02

I wrote all this out just after the race.

This race was all about lessons learned for me. I managed to overtrain and overtaper at the same time. I trashed my legs with too much mountain biking last weekend and an overnight backpacking trip mid-week. I also somehow managed to not do any tri training for about 10 days leading up to this race. I think I need a written plan for the last week leading up to the race.

I had a very late wave start time: 10 am. So I had way too much time to sit around and wait to start to begin with, then the race start was delayed. The police closed part of the run course for an investigation, so the organizers had to reroute. My wave started at 10:40, the temp was about 80 degrees.

I was worried about the swim, because I'm not a swimmer (or cyclist or runner for that matter). But it was over before I knew it, and I didn't stop or backstroke at all.

My son took pictures and caught me with my head up.



So on to T1.



I'm big into visualization, so I have run through the transitions many times in my head. I hope I will get faster with practice, but I'm happy just because I didn't forget anything and I didn't have to go back for anything.

Headed out for the bike:



I rented a road bike for the race. I planned to ride my mountain bike, but I'm very happy I got this one. It's so much lighter. I adjusted the seat height and handlebars, but the seat was still too low and the handlebars in the wrong spot. The chain came off twice while shifting. I'm still glad I used this bike just because I know I worked a lot less than I would have with my heavier MTB. The time I lost fixing the chain, I more than made up for by pushing less weight, and I know it helped on the run.

I had water and gatoraide on the bike and drank about half of each. My biggest problem on the bike is my lack of experience. I shift the wrong way sometimes and I don't trust the bike around corners. I hit the brakes and slow down through most corners.

So I headed out on the run. No problems in transition. I tried to drink some water since the temp was getting into the high 80's by now.



The run was two laps now instead of one and about a tenth of a mile longer. Still a good run with two water/gatoraide stations. As usual for me my second lap was faster than my first. It takes me a long time to warm up and settle in to a pace.

Here I am, proud survivor of my very first Triathlon:



All in all a good day. Could have done without the heat and the almost three hour wait from marking to start, but still a good day. The race was pretty well organized and the volunteers were great. I've pretty much got my 17yo son convinced to do this with me next year. Hope we get the chance.