My First Triathlon

Recently I wrote a little article about training for your first triathlon.  The funny thing is I have never done one.  That doesn’t mean my advice is sour, I do know how to train and coach across multiple disciplines, don’t worry!

So finding myself not going on summer vacation after our daughter’s unfortunate encounter with the dreaded monkey bars, I realized I now had a chance to do the local Iron Girl sprint triathlon I originally thought I would be missing.

The event was on Sunday morning and I signed up on Saturday, picked up a loaner bike on the way home from a friend and packed a bag.

The sprint category consisted of a 700 meter swim, 12 mile bike, and 3.1 mile run.  I haven’t been on a bike in five years.  I swim 2-3 times a week, and run once.  That is the extent of my preparation.  I had a fantastic time.  Despite taking no steps to prepare myself it was empowering, rewarding, and fun.

I didn’t go it alone, there were several friends in the event as well, but we honestly didn’t see each other much, just in passing.

I will proudly say I had the fastest swim in my age group by a considerable amount and everything after that was acceptably mediocre.  The bike was my favorite, save for one person passing me who screamed ‘left’ about 150 times before actually completing the pass.  I made a friend to make up for it.  We completed the ride together, cheering each other on going up the hills and rejoicing in the downhill recovery.

The transition.  Oh.  Ouch.  Going from bike to run was the hardest.  Likely due to my non-biking status prior to racing.  My legs felt like jello, then like they weren’t there at all.  I desperately wanted to complete the run with no walking, which was my mini goal.  I pushed through the first mile, but my legs still hadn’t recovered.  Then I started making deals.  I walked for 2 minutes and then started to jog again, and viola my legs worked!

Crossing the finish line was a mixed bag.  I was happy to have completed it; glad I took the chance, but then my competitive side reared it’s sometimes ugly head reminding me how many people beat me.  Ah that competitors spirit!  I got my sparkly finisher’s medal and started waiting for or finding my friends.  We all convened for pictures and reveled in what we had done.

Now I need to go buy a new pair of running shoes and get a bike of my own.