YMCA of Shrewsbury
My First Sprint Triathlon
by David Smith
It is hard to
describe the feelings as the start of the race approached. I was nervous, anxious, excited, scared,
enthusiastic, doubting, and wondering if I could actually do this. I arrived early, in fact only 10 other people
were there when I arrived. I guess there
are some others like me that like to arrive early. I wanted to make sure I would be able to rack
my bike. The racks were 2x4 stands with
a piece of 8 foot 1 inch steel bar. This
was not quite what I imagined. I guess I
watched too many Ironman Triathlons on TV.
During setup one of the support bars left loose from the weight of the
bikes and everything fell to the ground.
Using the stands was not the best idea.
I think for the next triathlon I will build my own bike stand to free
stand my bike. As you will see later the
swim to bike transition was pretty bad.
I
meet up with two of my running partners and the guys who talked me into
this. That’s right I did not make this
decision on my own. They coerced me into
doing this. Just kidding! I have secretly wanted to do this and when
Chris discovered me swimming, ‘The jig is up, the news is out they finally
found me.’ (Styx Renegade) So now all my
running buddies knew what I was going to do it and I was committed to the
triathlon. The great thing was I had 2
experienced tri-athletes to draw from their experience.
While
we waited for the start of the race I chatted with them hoping to ease the
nerves. It really did not help. I had a nervous energy and excitement that
was indescribable. Fear, anxiety, and
anticipation raced through me in an unbelievable manner. I was like a little kid Christmas morning all
excited about opening presents. Would I
bonk with a DNF (do not finish) or would I bonk and have to walk in. One thing was for certain, when I finished it
would be a PR. That is the great thing
about do something like this for the first time. You are guaranteed a PR. The weather was perfect. The temperature was cool and sunny, it was
just a beautiful day. At least I would
enjoy the weather and the view.
All
the racers gathered as the event coordinators gave us our final
instructions. We all proceeded to line
up for the swim. It was an 8 lane pool
with 2 swimmers per lane. We all lined up outside and waited at the door for
our turn in a lane. The swim was 21
lengths in a 25 yard pool, 525 yards total.
It was an honor system to count your own laps. That was one of my biggest fears, loosing
count of my laps. I had practiced
counting during training and was ready to keep track. In line in chatted with my buddies and other
athletes. I did not wait long before I
started. The timing mat was at the
door. The starting indicated it was my
turn. I took a few deep breaths and off
I went.
I
started a little fast, but that was to be expected with the nervous
anticipation and adrenaline. The pace
felt good, just like I practiced. I did
not want to expend too much energy since this was only 10 minutes of the whole
race. I completed the swim in 10:31 and
out the door to the bike, transition one.
This did not go like I practiced.
The night before the race I had practiced transitions in my living
room. I’d run to my biking gear getting
dressed, then run around the living room and change to running gear. It worked well and I figured and minute for
each transition. In reality this did not
hold true.
I
toweled off quickly and dried my feet standing on a towel to keep my feet
clean. The very first thing I did wrong
was put on my bandana and helmet first.
What was I thinking! Off with the
helmet and bandana and on with the shirt.
The shirt had the numbers pinned to it and in my hurried effort to put
on my shirt the safety pins opened up and the number fell off. Now I had to pin my number back to the
shirt. Next was to put on with the
bandana and helmet again. Next the sun
glasses went on, then socks and bike shoes.
This is really starting to take a long time. Now I tried to get the bike off the
rack. It was stuck. The seat would not lift off the bar. Then it got stuck under the now bent bar. I leaned and worked the bike to get it
free. I grabbed the bike funny and it
fell to the ground. I picked up the bike
and was heading out. Now I feel a sticky
gooey substance on my hand and leg. The
gel packet I taped to the bike exploded.
It was dripping of the bike onto me and was somehow on the seat. So I turn around and grabbed my towel to
clean up. I just envisioned this sticky
mess making for a less than comfortable ride.
Now I am finally ready. The
transition time was 3:33. I think I can improve
on this for my next race.
So
now the bike section begins. I am
thankful that the transition is behind me.
As I head out I look up and see my wife.
What a pleasant surprise. She has
been such a big supporter, even if she thinks I’m crazy and a freak, you can
feel the love. She busts me a lot about
my exercise obsession, but she really does support me.
I start out good on the bike. I grab some water as I get used to the
bike. I really would have liked the gel,
but oh well. I did not realize it until
after the race, but I had a spare gel in the tool bag under my seat. I was fortunate to have done the bike course
2 times prior to the race. This allowed
me to pace myself a little better.
Knowing where the tough section would be and when I could hammer it on
the easier sections. It wasn’t long
until I was up to speed and passing people.
In fact I continued to pass people throughout the entire bike
section. I was only passed once about 2
miles from the end. We were coming down
a hill to a stop sign and a right turn onto a main road. I came to all but a complete stop before I
turned right onto the last section of the bike.
It was at that time this bike comes flying by me. I would venture a guess that he was a more experienced
rider and did not slow as much at the stop sign and handled the turn much
better then myself. I was pushing hard,
but I was not completely shot. The legs
were tired and the quads were burning, but I felt good.
I
approached the transition area and dismounted per the instructions of a
volunteer. Not too shabby. My bike time was 55:28. This was much faster than I anticipated. As I made my way into the transition area I
noticed my calves were starting to cramp.
As I hobbled toward my running shoes I looked up to see Brian (a WRFB
running buddy). He indicated I looked
like I was walking funny. Something
about dismounting a horse or looking like an old man. We had a quick laugh as I changed shoes and
dropped my helmet. I took some time to
stretch my calves, took a drink, and off I went on the run. This transition was a little better but still
slow at 1:31.
It
took a little while for the legs start to ease into the run. I was probably ½ mile into the run before I
started to pick up the pace. With the
staggered start from the swim portion, all the participants were really spread
out. I kept cruising past other runners. This was a great feeling to have this much
energy. I would give a quick word of
encouragement to fellow runners as I passed.
Even though the run felt comfortable, the legs feel different after
biking and going into the run. It is a
hard feeling to describe and must be experienced. During the run I passed Chris in the opposite
direction. The course had some loops and
double backs, that is how I was able to see Chris. He is much faster than me. In fact, he took second overall. Chris shouted words of encouragement as did
I. I was hoping to get a glimpse of Doug
during the run. Doug was the other
running buddy that was in the race. He
would end up 2nd in our age group and 10th overall. As I approached the finish line I could see
my wife, Doug and several of the WRFB members.
I pushed hard to the finish. The
run time is 23:09 with an overall time of 1:34:12. This placed me 4th in my age group
and 22nd overall. Not a bad
race for my first triathlon.
I
learned some valuable lessons from this experience. Take a free standing bike rack, just in case
you need it. Invest in a race number
belt, may be one that can hold the gels.
Definitely do NOT pin the number to the shirt. I may consider a tri shirt for the next
race. That would be one less thing worry
about in T1. I would leave the glasses
on the bike and put them on why riding.
I need to remember to start my watch as soon as I get to the bike so I
can keep track of time a little better. I
will need to invest more training time in the bike run brick. The hardest thing to do is get off the bike
and start running. The legs just take
awhile to transition to the run.
Total
time: 1:34:12 -- Swim: 0:10:31 ;
T1: 03:33 ; Bike :55:28 ; T2: 01:31 ; Run:
0:23:09
