Ah, my first triathlon. For a few years now, my buddy and I have been saying how we've wanted to do a triathlon. For whatever reasons, though, we never got around to training for one. We're both somewhat athletic/competitive, so it wasn't really a fear of the unknown that prevented us. Rather, I think we were both just preoccupied with other things. Nothing huge, just your standard twentysomething goings-on.
But about 4 months prior, we both got our acts together, and began training. We bit the bullet and got a gym membership for pool access. This was actually something I think we were both sort of opposed to. We don't need a gym to find a way to stay in shape. For years, we had gotten by working out on our own, without having to pay upwards of $70/month for a membership (hey, that's city living, I guess). But if we were going to train properly, we needed access to a pool, and there aren't too many options in Boston. We ponied up the cash, and got moving.
I wasn't too concerned about running. I had just finished a marathon (not exactly world record pace, but hey, I finished), so was feeling alright about running. I'm not the speediest of people, though, and knew that I would have to incorporate sprint workouts in my training schedule. Fortunately, a local running shop was holding weekly sprint group runs.
I wasn't too concerned about cycling, either. I had some logged a good amount of miles on my bike, and knew that I could jump back into things easily enough. Taking advantage of spin classes at the gym would also help.
Swimming. Now that's a problem. Yes, I knew how to swim. Rather, I knew how to stay afloat, and in some instances, make forward motions. But "real" swimming? Not entirely. Now, my buddy swam in high school, so he was able to give me some good rudiments of swimming, but I was mostly on my own. I did some research, watched some videos, and hit the pool. Short of getting a swim coach, logging some serious hours was the main path to becoming better. This can be dangerous, as I'm sure I've picked up some bad swimming habits, but I was very slow in my swimming process. I didn't try to do too much too quickly. I took time to really focus on my technique. Figure out what worked and what didn't. I read some more articles, watched some more videos. And while I'm a far cry from a great swimmer, I feel that I've made some very good strides, or strokes, as it were. I knew that if my triathlon training had slightly more focus on the swim, I could be in good shape after a few months.
Which brings us to the Hopkinton season opener. This was a sprint triathlon, which was .25 mile swim, 10 mile bike, and a 5k run. Pretty standard. We arrived early, and got ourselves ready for our first taste of triathlon.
It was a cold taste. 40 degrees cold. and windy. What a day for an inaugural race. Oh hey, but at least the water was 62 degrees (and we were donning our trusty wetsuits, keeping us a bit warmer as we waited to start our swim wave.)
They gathered us on the shore, and sent of the first wave of triathletes, but not before informing us all that one of the buoys wasn't properly anchored, and was actually slowly floating with the current, changing the swim course.
We were in the 5th wave (newbies), and we anxiously awaited our call into the water. The time in between waves was lengthening, because they were trying desperately to anchor down the rogue buoy, but to no avail.
The 4th wave was in the water, ready to start, when they decided to cancel the swim portion for the rest of the triathletes. Why, you ask? Oh, well, the rescue boat had managed to flip over in the bad conditions on the water, and they themselves needed to be rescued. Not having a rescue boat for 100+ swimmers is not a good thing.
Everyone was upset, but we respected the decision. And I'm sure some people were relieved (mainly the two schmucks who weren't wearing wetsuits). They would start our chips at the swim-out, and then we'd head to transition and start the bike portion of the race.
By this time, we had been standing around for 45+ minutes in 40 degree weather, so we were all cold. My feet especially, since they were not being warmed by my wetsuit. This was no good, since it felt like I was running on stumps. My feet had no feeling.
I got back to my bike, and threw my socks on my feet, which is tough to do when you can't feel/move your feet. Got the rest of my gear on and took off. The course starts immediately with an uphill, which is tough to hit when you're starting cold...very cold. I tried to get my legs fresh, but it wasn't happening. Additionally, I wasn't paying close attention to my bike setup. My seat wasn't high enough, so I wasn't getting enough extension on my legs, which is just terrible. Totally my fault. Most of my workouts had been spin classes, and I just didn't pay enough attention on the few training rides I had. Shame on me.
I was able to get into a bit of a zone with the ride, but didn't ever feel speedy. I felt like I was trudging along too much. Not enough high-cadence workouts was to blame for that. Fortunately, since it was cold, I wasn't losing gobs of liquid from sweating (which I do profusely in just about any situation), so that was a plus.
After finishing the bike, I came out of transition, and tried to get into a groove. We had to run up that same hill as the bike start, so you had to push through to really get a good speed going. And did I mention that my feet still hadn't thawed out? Cycling doesn't push as much blood to your feet as you'd think. They stay surprisingly stationary, so if they're frozen to begin with, they won't necessarily warm up. I had tried wiggling my toes during certain points on the ride, but that still wasn't enough.
It took about 1/2 a mile until I got my feet back. I was able to keep a pretty decent pace (~7:22). Sort of happy with that. I definitely died on the hills and in the wind. Something to work on for next time. I finished, feeling alright, feeling like I should've started my sprint earlier.
I ended up with a ~34 minute bike, and 22:53 run. The bike was not nearly as good as I was hoping. I should be well above 20mph on a 10 mile ride.
Back to the drawing board
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