After 4 months of training, it feels good to say I'm a triathlete. My official time was 1:27:41. That's about 3 minutes under my goal time. HELL YEAH!
Words do not describe how much fun I had at the race on Saturday. Here's how it all went down...
The Setup
I met my fellow Tri Buddies at a Bi-Lo parking lot at 5:45am to caravan over to Clemson. We got there around 6:30, found our places in the transition area and got our gear all setup. Then we got our body markings and timing chips just in time for a warm up jog and a warmup swim in the lake.
The transition area filled up fast. Everybody was super nice.
After the warmup swim, we milled around on the beach waiting for the start when I happened to hear my name shouting through the crowd – Lindsey and the kids had made it just in time and brought some motivational posters. It was the exact distraction I needed. So awesome.
The Swim
Promptly at 8am, they fired the horn and the first wave of swimmers set out. I was in the third wave so I had the pleasure of standing and watching how far out they had to swim and getting more and more nervous with each minute.
Watching the first waves start...and getting a little nervous. Can you spot me?
At 8:07, it was time and we made a mad dash into the water. The start was definitely a little rocky. I was trying to keep pace with everybody around me but with all the kicking, splashing, accidental hitting, etc., I was starting to think I wasn't going to be able to hang. But soon after, the crowd started spread out and I had some room. From there, I was able to find my rhythm and my training kicked in.
There I am! The start was rough...people everywhere, a few kicks in the face and lots of splashing.
The swim was a big triangle out in front of the Y-Beach. Yeah, did I mention that about 10 minutes before start, they informed us that they had changed the swim course from a simple square to a seemingly-much-larger-looking triangle? I do not like surprises on race day.
The Swim Course (as recorded by my watch). A giant 750m triangle.
After rounding the first corner, I really found my rhythm and the rest of the swim was like being back in the pool. Except for the surprise attacks on your feet from a random swimmer behind you.
Not gonna lie...I was pretty out of breath at the end of the swim...and then I had to run up a huge hill to my bike. Neat!
Once out of the water, you had to run up the beach, up a big hill, around the side of the transition area and through the "Swim Finish" gate. I did not anticipate how much this would suck. As I ran up the hill, I spotted my family and a surprise visit from my good friend Nigel to cheer me on, but since I was too busy gasping for air, all they got from me was something that resembled a smile and nod.
Total Swim Time (including the run to transition): 17:28 Way better than I thought I would do.
Transition 1
My first transition time was not stellar. First off, I could not for the life of me get my stupid wetsuit off my feet. After several yanks and tugs, I finally got it off. But things didn't get any better...
I threw my shoes on, put on my bike helmet and sunglasses and went to pull my bike off the rack and I couldn't pull it out from under the bar. I yanked it a few more times and it finally came out...but knocking over two bikes beside me in the process. Well shit. I felt bad, so I stopped, went back and put the bikes back up then ran like hell for the gate to mount the bike.
Total T1 Time: 2:59 Ooof.
The Bike
I made it to the 'mount line' and hopped on my bike without issue. Woot! From there, it was off to do the super fun, super awesome 'nothing but uphill' bike course. Ugh..
Trying to figure out where the hell the 'mount line' is. You'll get penalized if you get on the bike too early.
Found it...and off I went!
The first couple of miles of the bike course are relatively flat, which was a life saver. I was able to catch my breath after the absurd run to T1 and drink some water.
Surprisingly, I didn't struggle with bike course as much as I thought I would. It was probably the adrenaline and the caffeine gels I downed.
The Bike Course (as recorded by my watch). 10 miles of stupid hills.
Within a blink, it seemed, I was rounding the final turn of the bike course...just in time to see James holding his "GOPHER" sign. LOL
How can you not be motivated by this??
I managed to dismount the bike and run into transition 2 all without issue (despite laughing the whole way at James' sign).
Dismount to transition 2 was relatively smooth.
Total Bike Time: 38:39 Not great, but better than my practice runs.
Transition 2
Transition 2 was a breeze. Stash the bike, ditch the helmet and throw on my visor and I was out of the gate.
Total T2 Time: :49 seconds Like a boss.
The Run
I was prepared for sore legs for the first part of the run, but I did not plan on my calf muscles cramping up almost immediately...I figured if anything, it would be my thighs. So I adjusted my pace to something akin to a turtle to let them get acclimated. After mile one, I was back to my normal pace and feeling OK...just in time to get a mild side-stitch cramp. Neat.
After pushing through the side-stitch, I finally had my rhythm...about halfway through the course.
The Run Course (as recorded by my watch).
On the last stretch of the run – the portion over the dike – I looked at my watch and saw that I was on pace to meet my goal of 1hr 30min total time. That's when I decided to kick it into high gear to see if I could beat it. So I ran like hell across the dike, back on to Hwy 93, over the bridge, and around to the finish line...coming in about 3 minutes under my goal. Sweet!
Total Run Time: 27:49 Definitely not my best.
The Summary
Total Race Time: 1:27:41 I'll take it!
(for all you data geeks, here's a link to the stats collected from my watch during the race).
So in summary, I had a total blast. From the planning, learning, training and competing...the whole process was just plain fun. I got in shape, met some goals, acquired some cool new gadgets and made some new friends. I'll definitely be doing more of these.
Lessons Learned
- I think I trained just right for the swim. Couldn't be happier about that portion of the race
- I'll definitely be investing in a nice road bike so I can have a fighting chance on the bike leg. While my hybrid bike is completely badass, there are a few things working against me if I really want to get a decent time next go 'round.
- I think I should have done more long-distance running training so I would have been better prepared for fatigue. My run time could have been a lot better.
- Training for a triathlon (and racing in one) is so much better with a partner. A huge thanks to my friend Rance Bryan (aka 'Coach Rance', aka 'Training Partner', aka 'So Glad He's Patient When Training With Me') for encouraging me to signup and providing some much needed coaching along the way.
"Coach Rance" gave some much needed education along the way.
And of course, a huge thanks to my family for all the help and support! I'm one lucky guy (and Avery is clearly so over it).
