750m lake swim, 18 mile bike, 5k run
My first “real” triathlon
I call this my first “real” triathlon because the swim was in an open body of water. A 300m pool swim just doesn’t compare.
Clearly nervous
At the start of the race, you could tell I was nervous. With 4 minutes before the start, I was standing on the beach, behind everyone in my wave, fiddling with my goggles. On my head, over my eyes, adjust the straps, back on my head, wipe off the fog… I looked ridiculous.
The swim
The water was 69 degrees (sounds cold, but it was refreshing, especially with a wetsuit). I hit the water and took it slow, trying to stay within myself. Overall, I did pretty well. I did have to float on my side about 4 times, and take 2 nice long breaths before continuing my stroke. Other than that, it was smooth (but slow) sailing.
2 most important things I learned:
- I had to look up every 6-8 strokes to make sure I was staying on course (made it really hard to synchronize my breathing)
- A full-length wetsuit is harder to take off than it looks (practice would have helped)
The bike
The bike was a big improvement for me. I averaged 15 seconds faster per mile from my first tri (and this course was 8 miles longer). Still near the back of the pack in my age group. I’ve got a lot of work to do here.
The run
The run is still my strong leg. Jelly legs for the first mile, but I felt great for miles 2 and 3.
Near perfect weather, low humidity, water temperature was good, great atmosphere finishing right on the beach by the lake. A nice dip in the water to cooldown.
The result
750m lake swim – 15:38
T1 – 2:58
18 mile bike – 1:03:47
T2 – 1:18
5k run – 24:44
Overall time – 1:48:23