The course was about 2 hours from my house in some small little town I'd never heard of before. They ran 4 triathlons, one each hour for 3 hours of 400m swim, 16K ride and 4K run and then the little longer sprint triathlon that I entered. I expected it to be a family type affair with a broad mix of people. This was a serious event! I consider myself in pretty good shape, but most of these guys were in excellent shape. The average age was probably late 30's and almost all guys (2 women I think). There were some pretty cool bikes and other fancy gadgets. In my group there were about 30 people and I'm sure I was the only newbie. I now take back everything I ever said about smoking, drinking, out of shape Germans. I never saw so many fit German athletes in one place!
We started out in the pool and when the whistle went, I let the other 5 folks in my lane go first. I had practiced with a slower pace and knew I could do 10-15 of the 24 laps without stopping, but I started out a little too fast and ended up taking a quick break after each 50 or so meters. I was also getting passed by the 100th meter and so I'd use my rest to pull off to the side and let others get around me. I was third last out of the pool with a time of 14:35, right around where I expected to be. I made a wrong turn and by the time I figured out what they were screaming at me in German, I changed course and ended up being last out of the complex. My mid summer swim lessons kept me from drowning, but my weakest link needs a little work still!
The first transition area was very comical for me. I chose to wear a 1/4 zip cycling jersey for my tri top. With my wet body, I couldn't pull it over my body. I think I struggled for 3 minutes trying to get it on. I also took a while to put my socks and shoes on. It appeared that no one else wore socks. On the way out I knocked my computer off the bike. Dianne told me some of the top finishers were out of the transition area in seconds. I was over 4 minutes. I need practice here (and a Tri top)! I couldn't get my HR monitor to pick up my HR as I headed out. I should have probably turned it off and back on again. As I rode away I was thinking to myself that I wonder if I put my helmet on backwards. I didn't, but it sure summed up the way I felt!
On to the bike I made up a little time, but was hopelessly behind most people by now. The course was a 7 loop out and back circuit. A couple of guys just flew past me. They were strong and looked good on their tri bikes. I averaged 233 watts, which is slightly higher than my typical cruising speed of around 200 watts or so. The bike part was very comfortable and I could have gone longer and a little harder.
The bike to run transition went a lot better and I was out of there pretty fast. I need speed laces though!
I felt pretty good on the run, averaging a 7:21 pace for the 6K run. I had given up trying to get my HR monitor to work, but I'm sure I was in the high 130's or slightly higher. I couldn't sustain this pace for 26 miles (yet ), but no problem for the 6K. I passed a few more folks and was feeling pretty good.I finished the race feeling good. It was great to have Dianne and Conner cheering me on. On one pass of the run I could hear Conner screaming "Daddy, Daddy" a few times and then turning to Dianne and saying "Where are the Pringles?" A short attention span, but a good supporter! He also wanted to use the camera, so I now have many pictures of bushes and other random things.
Dianne drove us home so that Conner and I could snack on the way. Based upon his two hour eating frenzy, I believe Conner will be sprouting up about 3 inches in the next week or so.
I woke up without any aches or pains and I'm still training for another one, so things didn't turn out so bad.
One year left for athletic stories and then I go back to work!
