Sprint Triathlon Race Recap!

Last Saturday was my first Tri.   It.   Was.   Awesome.

One reason it was so great, I won my age group. =) Yep, one of the great things about local races is you never know who is gonna show up and some days whether you know it at the time or not you can actually be right in the competitive mix of things.

So this quick breakdown.

Overall time: 1:14:15

Broken into pieces:
525m swim: 9:00
Transition 1: 1:27
11.7mile Bike: 37:33 (I think this is the distance, I can't remember exactly and can't find the exact number anywhere...)
Transition 2: 1:10
5k Run: 25:04

So those are my times. Whoever is interested in reading more about my thought process, how crazy the swim was and how running after biking is the most bizarre thing ever then please read. It is a short novel, consider yourself warned =)

To start, I didn't wear my watch. I brought it and I had a friend start my watch when I started and stopped it after I finished. I figured regardless of what happened at least I'd have my own total time.

Here is where we put our bikes and transition gear. Tara (on the right) you have seen in many pics prior  and Lena is a fellow running clubber =) Both amazing athletes. My bike is the one in the middle with white tires.

So, that being said, I set up shop and got out all my crap and made my way to the pool.  The pool was the most confusing part of this entire event.  There were people in all kinds of swim gear, swim caps and goggles along with lots of volunteers.  We were all trying to get organized so that we'd get in the pool with the right group of people.

I was in wave #2. I ended up switching my swim time at the last minute and put myself in a group of  1:50/100m swimmers.  For those of you who don't know a thing about swimming it like when you put yourself according to how fast you run at the start of the race.

Pool:
If you end up swimming with people faster you could have gotten toe tapped and or swam over (I saw both happen while patiently....nervously.... waiting for my wave) OR on the flip side of things you could be tapping people and swimming over them thinking "get the hell outta my way you turtle" =) I thankfully felt like I was in the middle of my lane. I knew I wasn't the fastest but I wasn't the slowest either.

You hop in the pool, then one at a time someone tells you when to start. So then you swim and hope for the best.  When your down to your last lap the volunteer taps you on your head, or yells at you to get out of the pool at the other side.  So after 21 laps of wave splashing water sucking and total whirlpool craziness I happily jumped out of that pool. I had no idea how I did. My brain was thinking two things: 1. holy crap this is out of control, and 2. like Nemo says, "just keep swimming, just keep swimming"

This is me in the swim green cap! Thanks Amber for cheering me on and taking some good pics! =)

Onto transition 1: (thats right, this post is a novel, but I warned you)

Here is where I run from the pool to my bike. I then proceed to throw my goggles and swim cap down, dry my feet on my towel, and then put my bike shoes on. I also put on my helmet and shades.  I grab my bike off the rack and start running with it to the "bike out" area.

Here is my transition area all setup. I put my helmet on first, then my bike shoes and took off. On the way back, I remove my bike shoes and helmet, throw on my running shoes, grab my race number and go~

Once across the pad I hopped on the bike and hoped for the best. This course is a tough one. For the first 4 miles you climb and then luckily get relief and come flying down the next 1.75 miles or so until you start that same loop over again. So total, you climb for 8 miles give or take and then spend 3.7 flying.  It was so much fun. I have no complaint whatsoever about the bike. I was calm and felt good but pushed myself pretty hard.

Transition 2:

I came in on my bike, hopped off at the "bike in" area, ran my bike back to the rack, then proceeded to put on my running shoes (no socks this entire time.....). I have no complaint about biking/running with no socks. Although afterwards I did notice some kind of blister-scrap thing above my heel...I am not sure what happened but I am glad I didn't notice until later.

The Run:
Let me tell you what it feels like running after you just spent the last however long riding hard... It feels like you just did 3 sets of heavy squats, 3 sets of lunges and then all of a sudden a gun goes off and you are supposed to run a 5k. I could feel my quads and my calves wondering what the hell my plan was because as far as they were concerned, they had hung in there during my ride and did not expect to work overtime.

This feeling lasted for pretty much the entire time but faded as I kept running. Not having a watch on I had no idea at all how fast I was going. I wasn't breathing crazy hard but I was working. I just kept thinking in my head I have no expectations about this run, I am just going to not stop and give a good effort. I did walk through both drink stations which in a normal 5k would have been a big BOO but I figured that the swim, bike and hot weather were good enough excuses to hydrate. I finished up this run thinking for sure I ran a 10 minute mile the entire time and figured.... ahh what the hell. It was my first Tri and I did my best.

This is me on my way in from the run. Have I mentioned how much I love Colorado. Looks at those mountains in the background.  Whats not to love. P.S. I completed the entire tri with this whole outfit on. It was a combo of sports bra, one piece swim suit and running shorts.

When the actual split results came in and I saw my 5k time of 25 minutes I was on the moon! I had no idea I was basically averaging an 8:00minute mile with protesting legs and water stops. I could not have been happier. Next time I will know what to expect and most likely plan some more workouts with a good run to finish it all off.  I was totally surprised by that crazy leg feeling.

Some awesome friends (Tara B, Scott, Me, Lena, Tara C) who all participated along with the race director down front. He is also our lead man in our running club. Nice race Melver, we all had a great time!

And thats it! I had a great time. I had some great friends to enjoy it with and can't wait to find another one.... like an Ironman or something.  =) Of course, I have a lot of things on my list so the Ironman will probably have to wait a while but it is gonna happen at some point.

Happy Running all -Jen

Anyone else have a race last weekend?