Triathlon - The Full Report

Let me begin by saying that the triathlon was a blast. Was it hard? Yes. Was I glad when it was over? Yes. Will I do it again and again? You bet.

My buddy Kasey and I left the hotel at 5am to head to Magic Kingdom to catch the bus to the race site. We had dropped our bikes off the day before, but we arrived with the rest of our gear to set up. Here are some pictures of race day morning.

The transition area.



Here's Mo.



Here I am in my tri-suit (it's convenient because you can wear it for all three events).



Me and Mo.



My gear (cycling shoes and socks, running shoes and socks, water to drink, water to rinse my feet, my race belt, swim cap and goggles, and my helmet, gloves and glasses are sitting on Mo.)



Race Rundown:

After we got areas ready, we went over to the swim start area. There was a large sandy area where the competitors were waiting. You swim cap denoted the wave that you started with. There were 22 waves that started 3 minutes apart and this helped somewhat with the congestion.

As I waited to start and watched the previous waves begin (I was wave 15) I was plotting my swim strategy. Start on the outside, cut towards the center buoy, swing wide on the second buoy...

As my wave entered the water, I positioned myself on the inside corner and started doing my usual OCD pool behaviors (fixing my swim cap, adjusting my goggles). If you ever watch a swim meet, what swimmers do before they jump in is much like what basketball players do before a free throw. It's a ritual of sorts that lets you do something with your nervous energy.

They fired the gun and I was off. Instantly, I realized that I couldn't see a thing. Stupidly, I had never practiced lake swimming, which is so very different from pool swimming. In the lake, it was like swimming through muddy water. I couldn't see anything in front of me and needless to say, there wasn't a pool-like line on the bottom of the water pointing the way straight. A number of people went straight off of the course. It was like watching drunken swimming.

I swam most of the distance with my head help out of the water (like a water polo player) which was very tiring on my neck. I also switched to breaststroke at the buoys to plot my course to the next buoy. It felt like it took forever, when in reality it took me about 16 minutes. Next to labor and the end of the marathon, it was probably the longest 16 minutes of my life. Now that I better know what to expect, I think I can definitely get in under 15 minutes next time.

Exiting the water was exhausting. I did a light jog to the transition area (mainly because people were watching and cheering) but I really felt like laying down and taking a breather. No such luck.

I hobbled over to the transition area (you are barefoot for the swim and have to run on pavement) and started putting on my cycling gear, dripping the entire time. I walked my bike over to the "mounting" area and got started. Compared to the swim, the bike was a breeze. I actually had a grin on my face the entire time I was chasing people down. On the straight aways, I was averaging 19-20 mph. On the hills, it was 12-13 mph. There were a couple of no passing zones that were very frustrating because you had to wait for the lane to widen to pass the slower folks.

I held back a lot on the bike because I didn't know how tired my legs were going to be and I wanted to have something left for the run. My average bike speed (between hills and flats) was around 16.5 mph. About 45 minutes later, I came back to the transition for the second time. Surprisingly, I didn't crash or fall coming into the transition area, which I fully expected to do since I was clipped in.

This transition was much faster because all I had to do was ditch my cycling gear and put on my running shoes and belt. The first quarter mile was quite painful. My legs felt so heavy and I felt like I was barely moving. My matra for the entire run was "nice and easy...nice and easy." Seriously, I said this for the entire time. Nice-and-ea-sy, one syllable per step. I just wanted to make sure that I could run the entire race, so I was focusing on going steady and fighting the urge to push it.

I took it easy until the last quarter mile when I gave it everything I had left. It was at least 85 degrees outside without a cloud in the sky, so I was mindful of the heat. I thought I was averaging about 11-12 minute miles, so I was shocked when the results showed that I averaged a 9:30 minute mile, which for me is fast on any given day, let alone after an hour of swimming and cycling. I think that's the split that I'm most proud of.

All in all, it was a great Mother's Day. My overall rank was 257th and I was 35th in my age group. I'm pretty proud of those results and I can't wait to up my training to do even better next time.