Photos from the Triathlon

If you would like to look at some of the photos from the triathlon and my training, click here.

Finally

I know, I know. I haven’t posted a new blog in like FOREVER! I left you hanging on the edge of your seats as to how I did in my triathlon, I’m sorry. Please forgive me.

O.K., now that that is over…the triathlon was great! I reached my goal and by goal I mean finished. My official time was 1:46:48 and I finished 14th out of 15 in my age group. Here in lies my first lesson learned: I should have entered in the Novice division instead of my age group. If I had done that, I would have finished 6th out of 19. At least I know this for my next triathlon since you can enter the Novice division for you first three triathlons.

Hands down, my strength was definitely the bike. I rode at a 17 mph pace which is fast than what I have been averaging. Which allowed me to finish the bike in 51:27. The swim and run on the other hand both need some help.

Some good things about the swim is that the water was warm (maybe a little too warm) and the water got deep fast which meant I didn’t have to waste a lot of time and energy running in the water. Some bad things about the swim were that by the time I got to the first buoy (first 100m) I started doing the breaststroke. Don’t get me wrong, the breaststroke is a great stroke, but I hadn’t practiced it at all. I have spent all of my time on the freestyle stroke. But when I got in the water it just got too hard not to run into other swimmers and stay on course. Yet somehow I did manage to finish the swim in 16:34 which is about the time I thought I would be at for the swim.

As for the run...I have always had a love/hate relationship with running. And on the day of my triathlon it just happened to be a hate day. It was so hard after exerting so much energy on the swim and bike to start running. It didn’t help that the course was pretty hilly. I ended up walking some parts of the course, but when I walked I would only walk on the uphills and then by the time I got to the top I would start running. I think this allowed my to keep my time somewhat decent because at 34:56 it was only about 5 minutes slower that I would have expected.

Most people I have talked to about my triathlon have asked if I would do it again and I would. I would really like to do my uncle’s triathlon in October, but I’ll have to see what my situation (not having a job and all) is before I can really commit to it. I also know that I really need to work on swimming and running before my next triathlon as well. I would like to join a triathlon club so that I can get some assistance with my training and maybe do a half marathon (in hopes that it will improve my running.) I’ll keep you posted as to my plans.