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Race report - first triathlon (long)
Hey people,
I've been lurking in these groups for a while now, and I've learned a lot from reading all of your posts. I don't usually have time to participate but I just completed my first triathlon so I figure it's time to give back to the community by entertaining you all with a race report. I'm sure it will be a lengthy post, so if you're anxious to get on with whatever the latest flamefest is, feel free to skip it. g First, a bit of background. Last October when I quit smoking for the nth and final time, I decided I needed to set a positive goal that would give me something to focus on and cement the transition from self-destructive to healthy lifestyle. Now, one might say that simply breathing clean air is in itself a worthy goal, but apparently the concept of that wasn't enough for my stupid mind. It needed to be expressed in a physical sense. So, I figured, I'm turning 30 next June. It's about time I stopped with the half-ass "smoking in moderation" crap. I will complete a triathlon before that year is up. And so it began. As it turned out, substituting an unhealthy addiction for a healthy one worked better than I had even imagined at the time. I highly recommend this to anyone struggling with something similar. The basic strategy was - do aerobic exercise at least 5x per week. Any time I felt the urge to smoke, do more aerobic exercise instead. This worked out great. The physical exertion was the perfect outlet to get rid of that twitchy, I-want-to-kill-something nic fit feeling. And the pain of being out of shape was a great reminder of how stupid I had been and how far I had left to go. Many was the time when I stopped in the middle of a run to puke, or by the side of the car before driving home after a hard swim. Great stuff, I tell you. A small disclaimer is probably in order at this point. I've never been overweight and have always been in fairly good shape, kept active with biking, tennis, etc. Never smoked more than a pack a day, and by the time I quit I was down to around 5 or 10. So my particular story shouldn't be taken out of context if you happen to be a 3 pack a day, 100 lbs overweight type of person. Choose the pace that fits your situation, don't kill yourself. But do suffer. Pain is the feeling of weakness leaving your body. OK, enough with the past. You folks probably don't care to hear about my struggle to change idiotic behaviour patterns anyway. Heheh. Actually I made all that up to excuse my slow times. Just kidding A word on my training regimen, or lack thereof. My plan was to focus initially on swimming, which I had no experience at all in. Mix in some cycling (mostly commuting to work) and weight training, then phase in the running starting in January. This pretty much went according to plan, though I ended up doing most of my biking in the gym until May. (Pacific NW, rain, laziness...) My primary goal was to concentrate on becoming a good swimmer, so I wouldn't drown. Biking and running were things I'd done since I was a kid, at varying levels of commitment. My bike is a hybrid and I'm not a fast runner, but I could easily handle the distances that would be involved with the sprint tri I signed up for. Well, maybe not easily, but I could certainly finish it, even if at a patheticly slow pace. Or so I reasoned at the time. Those first months of swim training were a humbling experience. At first, I could barely do 50 yds, and would have to rest for a minute afterwards, gasping and dying. Seems like it took forever before I could do three lengths in a row. Other notable milestones were my first sub-minute 50, the first time I seriously tried breathing every three strokes (asphyxiation, pain), finally mastering breathing every 3 (freedom, balance, relaxation), first 1000, first 1500. I have to say that the Total Immersion book played a huge role in jump starting my technique to the point where I could swim without getting tired. Particularly where body position and balance are concerned, those drills are invaluable. I'm not sure what I look like when I swim, but I suspect it's some hybrid of the "TI" and "Larry" styles. 45 degree body rotation, long strokes, arched back, loper. I'm a 6 beat kicker though. No matter how far the swim. Although realistically it turns into sort of a 2 beat over long distances. (KICK kick kick KICK kick kick). Kicking for me is a natural, inseparable element of swimming. Even if I'm not using it for power, it's essential for balance. Plus it's nice to have in my arsenal when I feel like sprinting. My ankles are inflexible by nature, so I'm constantly stretching them to keep the kick propulsive. Going into the race, my 400 time in the pool was 8:39. Slow, but not too bad considering it was a really relaxed swim. I figured I could easily do at least 8:00, probably better, which was well within the "respectable" range for last years' race results. My favorite workout is something I call the "pyramid", which consists of 2 50s, 2 100s, 2 200s, 2 100s, 2 50s. On longer days, throw in 2 400s in the middle. Rest 10 breaths after a 50, 20 after a 100, 30 after a 200. Go faster on the "descending" slope of the pyramid. I did that one a lot leading up to the race. Interspersed with the occasional long swim - 1000 or 1500 yds. I also swam a couple hundred yards in lakes maybe four times, just to get a feel for the navigational and coldness aspects. In case you haven't noticed, when it comes to swimming I am obsessed. When I pass a body of water I have an overpowering urge to jump in. I don't feel right unless I swim 5x a week. I just raced yesterday, and all day at work I couldn't wait to swim again tonight As far as cycling goes, that's something I've always done and am fairly good at. My bike isn't very fast - it's a Trek 7500 hybrid upgraded with Continental tires. Great commuting machine, which is mainly what I use it for. An excellent workhorse to handle roads, trails, curbs, and rain. Not the best device for maintaining say, 20 mph over a 30 mile training ride. Not even within the realm of possibility. So I contented myself with riding 15 mph, climbing as many hills as I could find, and building up the engine, so to speak. Plenty of time in the future to buy some expensive lightweight race bike. Running is another area that demands some level of obsession, at least from a technique perspective. Given that it produces more injuries than any sport I know of, I figured I had better make sure I was doing it right before doing it very often. I have high arches and tend toward underpronation and an outward splay of the feet. Or at least, I used to. I've trained myself to the point where even when walking I now keep both feet lined up in a || pattern, almost unconsciously. I'm also a forefoot striker who enjoys running barefoot. On dirt, that is. Not sure I ever want to try that on pavement. As with cycling, I run with a fairly high cadence, and try to focus on increasing stride length while maintaining cadence when I want to speed up. All of this technique stuff has recently materialized to the point where I can run comfortably for 5 miles or so with no lapse in form. I still have a long way to go as far as speed. I think my fastest timed mile so far was 7 minutes, and typically I go around 8 to 8:30 when running outside. In other words, slow. Borderline jogger. When inside, I do intervals on the treadmill, using the "pyramid" method - 6 mph, 7 mph, 8 mph, 9 mph, 8 mph, etc. Rest periods in between are 5 mph. This seems to work pretty well at keeping me from dying of boredom on the treadmill, on those days when I need to squeeze a quick run in at the gym. I have yet to really try a "fast" 5K distance in training, so who knows what I could do if that were the only thing on the agenda for the day. I plan to find out soon when I focus more on running. OK, on to the race description. The triathlon I signed up for was, aptly named - "My First Triathlon". What a title, eh. It sure looks cute on the T-shirt too. Luckily there are no fuzzy bunnies or flowers on there. I arrived early so I could watch the previous days' race and get a feel for the course. The lake was beautiful, clear, and cold! Much colder than the ones around my house that I had practiced in. Not quite wetsuit temp, but cold enough to cause tingly extremities after doing a few 100s in there. I went in several times that day and stayed in around 10 minutes, to try and acclimate. Saturday's race went in 4 waves of 100 each. The first guy into the water started breaststroking like mad, taking an early lead. Then he proceeded to flip over and backstroke for the next half of the swim! I think he continued on like that for the whole race, alternating between breast and backstroke. Only a few people caught up to him too, this guy was an animal. His backstroke was easily faster than my freestyle. I think he ended up coming in third for the swim. I'm not sure how he did overall. Other than the front pack, the race was pure chaos. It looked like people were getting thrashed, beaten, and kicked everywhere. Based on this I decided that the next day I would start at the front of the first wave, just behind the first row of people into the water. I figured it was better to be up front with the good swimmers, who would know how to pass me properly. If they wanted to pass, let them work for it. Showing up early turned out to be a great idea. Not only did I get to watch the first days' races, I was able to do a couple of quick swims in the lake, drive up and down the bike and run courses, and generally get familiar with the whole deal. Sunday morning I rose at 6 AM, relieved that the dream about missing the race was just a dream. I was psyched and ready to go. The 50 cent hot shower in the state park was a welcome convenience, considering I slept on the ground in a tent. By 6:30 I was at the local cafe, getting coffee. 7 AM and I was at the race site, setting up my bike transition area, guzzling coffee and water, eating biscotti and trail mix. Spent the next two hours before the race stretching, drinking water, relaxing. Jumped in the lake around 10 minutes before race time and splashed around a little. The lake didn't seem as cold that morning. Maybe my two swims the previous day had worked. 5 minutes to go, and we all started to line up at the shoreline. There were only around 150 people for Sunday's race, so they were doing us all in one big wave. Excellent, I thought. Even better that I got my spot right up front. I positioned myself behind and in between two people in the first row, both of whom looked slightly younger than me. They looked confident, like swimmers. The air horn went off, and I sprinted in between them, dove in, and started stroking furiously. Turned slightly to the left, and slipped into a nice drafting position behind some dude wearing bike shorts. There I remained for a while, until his form deteriorated and he started doing a weird scissor/frog kick combination. At that point I looked up, and gave chase behind a woman wearing a purple wetsuit. Settled in behind her for a while, marveling at how much easier it seemed to swim when you were drafting someone. I had practiced this before, at the Y when there were 5 people in my lane. This lady was significantly faster than me, but the combination of draft and race adrenaline motivated me to stay right with her. I felt people tapping against my feet, probably doing the same thing, drafting off me. Or maybe they were trying to pass but couldn't find room. Heheh. Kick harder, make them go around. I continued the same pattern throughout the race, mostly drafting behind people, occasionally changing course when the person in front of me went off. I had no concept of how fast I was going or whether I was using good form. All I knew was that not many people were passing me or the rest of the pack, which I assumed was good. Then we rounded the final curve and people started trying to make breaks for the front. I tried a couple of times, but there were too many people swimming shoulder to shoulder and I figured it wasn't worth going wide around them. A couple of people slithered past like salmon in a fish ladder. As we neared the shore and hit 5 ft water, the dude in front of me dropped and started walk/running. Bad move. I swam faster and passed him. The bike transition was pretty uneventful. Since I have a hybrid bike with platform pedals, I simply slipped on my running shoes (Nike Scramble, baby! 30 bucks g), hopped on the bike, and was off. My Orca trisuit was definitely a good investment. It would have been even better if I had thought to buy a race belt. As it was, I was left with a stupid paper number, 4 safety pins, and a $140 trisuit. I decided it wasn't worth swimming with a paper thing hanging off me or risking damage to the suit, so I pinned the tag to my T-shirt and wore that on the bike and run. It would have been really nice to be more aerodynamic on the bike, but such is life. If that turns out to be my biggest mistake, I thought, then I'm lucky. Besides, the bike is the easiest part. And it was. The course was pleasant, scenic, somewhat hilly in a rolling sort of way. I actually would have preferred some nastier hills. I kept passing people on the hills and getting passed again on the flats. Overall I probably conserved more energy on the bike than I had to, but I was pretty happy with my average speed of 16.5 mph. That's about the only measurement I have at the moment since I forgot to use my watch to time the splits, and I am still waiting for the official results. After an invigorating bike ride, I cruise down the hill back to the transition zone, and that's when I start to realize that there is such a thing as too much hydration. 500 yards into the run, and not only do I have a lovely cramp going from chest to abdomen, I have to **** like a racehorse. Apparently I drank too much water on the bike, when I really didn't need it. I was trying to follow the suggestion of 8 ounces to go with the gel I ate, but combined with the water I drank before the race, it was just way too much. I still managed to maintain a semi-normal running pace and pass a few people. Semi-normal for a slow training run, that is. Nothing like the steady build up that I had planned. At the turnaround point, I decided to hell with it and wasted 2 minutes for a bathroom break. Came out feeling much lighter, still cramped, but glad I had done it. Proceeded to run what I thought was a 8:30 to 8 minute pace for the rest of the run. Kicked it up to maybe 7:00 pace at the end. Not bad, but a far cry from the all-out finishing sprint I had planned. It just seemed kind of stupid to do that at the time, considering nobody from my age group was anywhere near me. I'm assuming at this point that that was probably a bad thing I forget what the clock said when I finished. Less than 1:30 I think, which was within my modest target zone. Hopefully they'll post the official results on the website soon, and I will follow up with the times. This particular event counts both transitions as part of the bike, so I won't have those. Should have remembered to tap the old chrono. Overall, it was a good race. I finished feeling strong, and didn't drown. Triathlons are so much fun, I am now thoroughly addicted. I can't wait to do another one. I'm not sure if I'll do another sprint this year, but next year I'm definitely doing the "My Next Triathlon", which is a follow-up to this one, followed by the Black Hills Triathlon next fall. That one is olympic distance. Hopefully by then I'll own a better bike and be somewhat competitive. In the meantime, I plan to enter every 5K I have time for, plus a couple of 10Ks before next fall. Hopefully some longer open water swims too, if I can find any. Thanks to everyone on the newsgroups for all their informative and inspirational posts, and for taking the time to read this. Wishing you good health and speed, Chris aka "Thrashing Slug" |
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Race report - first triathlon (long)
Thanks for the post. I haven't done a tri. yet but would like to and your
story is inspiring. Also: I know it's kind of gross but if you've got to pee and there's no time I think most runners just let it go. take a shower later...or jump back in the lake! "Chris Durkin" wrote in message om... Hey people, I've been lurking in these groups for a while now, and I've learned a lot from reading all of your posts. I don't usually have time to participate but I just completed my first triathlon so I figure it's time to give back to the community by entertaining you all with a race report. I'm sure it will be a lengthy post, so if you're anxious to get on with whatever the latest flamefest is, feel free to skip it. g First, a bit of background. Last October when I quit smoking for the nth and final time, I decided I needed to set a positive goal that would give me something to focus on and cement the transition from self-destructive to healthy lifestyle. Now, one might say that simply breathing clean air is in itself a worthy goal, but apparently the concept of that wasn't enough for my stupid mind. It needed to be expressed in a physical sense. So, I figured, I'm turning 30 next June. It's about time I stopped with the half-ass "smoking in moderation" crap. I will complete a triathlon before that year is up. And so it began. As it turned out, substituting an unhealthy addiction for a healthy one worked better than I had even imagined at the time. I highly recommend this to anyone struggling with something similar. The basic strategy was - do aerobic exercise at least 5x per week. Any time I felt the urge to smoke, do more aerobic exercise instead. This worked out great. The physical exertion was the perfect outlet to get rid of that twitchy, I-want-to-kill-something nic fit feeling. And the pain of being out of shape was a great reminder of how stupid I had been and how far I had left to go. Many was the time when I stopped in the middle of a run to puke, or by the side of the car before driving home after a hard swim. Great stuff, I tell you. A small disclaimer is probably in order at this point. I've never been overweight and have always been in fairly good shape, kept active with biking, tennis, etc. Never smoked more than a pack a day, and by the time I quit I was down to around 5 or 10. So my particular story shouldn't be taken out of context if you happen to be a 3 pack a day, 100 lbs overweight type of person. Choose the pace that fits your situation, don't kill yourself. But do suffer. Pain is the feeling of weakness leaving your body. OK, enough with the past. You folks probably don't care to hear about my struggle to change idiotic behaviour patterns anyway. Heheh. Actually I made all that up to excuse my slow times. Just kidding A word on my training regimen, or lack thereof. My plan was to focus initially on swimming, which I had no experience at all in. Mix in some cycling (mostly commuting to work) and weight training, then phase in the running starting in January. This pretty much went according to plan, though I ended up doing most of my biking in the gym until May. (Pacific NW, rain, laziness...) My primary goal was to concentrate on becoming a good swimmer, so I wouldn't drown. Biking and running were things I'd done since I was a kid, at varying levels of commitment. My bike is a hybrid and I'm not a fast runner, but I could easily handle the distances that would be involved with the sprint tri I signed up for. Well, maybe not easily, but I could certainly finish it, even if at a patheticly slow pace. Or so I reasoned at the time. Those first months of swim training were a humbling experience. At first, I could barely do 50 yds, and would have to rest for a minute afterwards, gasping and dying. Seems like it took forever before I could do three lengths in a row. Other notable milestones were my first sub-minute 50, the first time I seriously tried breathing every three strokes (asphyxiation, pain), finally mastering breathing every 3 (freedom, balance, relaxation), first 1000, first 1500. I have to say that the Total Immersion book played a huge role in jump starting my technique to the point where I could swim without getting tired. Particularly where body position and balance are concerned, those drills are invaluable. I'm not sure what I look like when I swim, but I suspect it's some hybrid of the "TI" and "Larry" styles. 45 degree body rotation, long strokes, arched back, loper. I'm a 6 beat kicker though. No matter how far the swim. Although realistically it turns into sort of a 2 beat over long distances. (KICK kick kick KICK kick kick). Kicking for me is a natural, inseparable element of swimming. Even if I'm not using it for power, it's essential for balance. Plus it's nice to have in my arsenal when I feel like sprinting. My ankles are inflexible by nature, so I'm constantly stretching them to keep the kick propulsive. Going into the race, my 400 time in the pool was 8:39. Slow, but not too bad considering it was a really relaxed swim. I figured I could easily do at least 8:00, probably better, which was well within the "respectable" range for last years' race results. My favorite workout is something I call the "pyramid", which consists of 2 50s, 2 100s, 2 200s, 2 100s, 2 50s. On longer days, throw in 2 400s in the middle. Rest 10 breaths after a 50, 20 after a 100, 30 after a 200. Go faster on the "descending" slope of the pyramid. I did that one a lot leading up to the race. Interspersed with the occasional long swim - 1000 or 1500 yds. I also swam a couple hundred yards in lakes maybe four times, just to get a feel for the navigational and coldness aspects. In case you haven't noticed, when it comes to swimming I am obsessed. When I pass a body of water I have an overpowering urge to jump in. I don't feel right unless I swim 5x a week. I just raced yesterday, and all day at work I couldn't wait to swim again tonight As far as cycling goes, that's something I've always done and am fairly good at. My bike isn't very fast - it's a Trek 7500 hybrid upgraded with Continental tires. Great commuting machine, which is mainly what I use it for. An excellent workhorse to handle roads, trails, curbs, and rain. Not the best device for maintaining say, 20 mph over a 30 mile training ride. Not even within the realm of possibility. So I contented myself with riding 15 mph, climbing as many hills as I could find, and building up the engine, so to speak. Plenty of time in the future to buy some expensive lightweight race bike. Running is another area that demands some level of obsession, at least from a technique perspective. Given that it produces more injuries than any sport I know of, I figured I had better make sure I was doing it right before doing it very often. I have high arches and tend toward underpronation and an outward splay of the feet. Or at least, I used to. I've trained myself to the point where even when walking I now keep both feet lined up in a || pattern, almost unconsciously. I'm also a forefoot striker who enjoys running barefoot. On dirt, that is. Not sure I ever want to try that on pavement. As with cycling, I run with a fairly high cadence, and try to focus on increasing stride length while maintaining cadence when I want to speed up. All of this technique stuff has recently materialized to the point where I can run comfortably for 5 miles or so with no lapse in form. I still have a long way to go as far as speed. I think my fastest timed mile so far was 7 minutes, and typically I go around 8 to 8:30 when running outside. In other words, slow. Borderline jogger. When inside, I do intervals on the treadmill, using the "pyramid" method - 6 mph, 7 mph, 8 mph, 9 mph, 8 mph, etc. Rest periods in between are 5 mph. This seems to work pretty well at keeping me from dying of boredom on the treadmill, on those days when I need to squeeze a quick run in at the gym. I have yet to really try a "fast" 5K distance in training, so who knows what I could do if that were the only thing on the agenda for the day. I plan to find out soon when I focus more on running. OK, on to the race description. The triathlon I signed up for was, aptly named - "My First Triathlon". What a title, eh. It sure looks cute on the T-shirt too. Luckily there are no fuzzy bunnies or flowers on there. I arrived early so I could watch the previous days' race and get a feel for the course. The lake was beautiful, clear, and cold! Much colder than the ones around my house that I had practiced in. Not quite wetsuit temp, but cold enough to cause tingly extremities after doing a few 100s in there. I went in several times that day and stayed in around 10 minutes, to try and acclimate. Saturday's race went in 4 waves of 100 each. The first guy into the water started breaststroking like mad, taking an early lead. Then he proceeded to flip over and backstroke for the next half of the swim! I think he continued on like that for the whole race, alternating between breast and backstroke. Only a few people caught up to him too, this guy was an animal. His backstroke was easily faster than my freestyle. I think he ended up coming in third for the swim. I'm not sure how he did overall. Other than the front pack, the race was pure chaos. It looked like people were getting thrashed, beaten, and kicked everywhere. Based on this I decided that the next day I would start at the front of the first wave, just behind the first row of people into the water. I figured it was better to be up front with the good swimmers, who would know how to pass me properly. If they wanted to pass, let them work for it. Showing up early turned out to be a great idea. Not only did I get to watch the first days' races, I was able to do a couple of quick swims in the lake, drive up and down the bike and run courses, and generally get familiar with the whole deal. Sunday morning I rose at 6 AM, relieved that the dream about missing the race was just a dream. I was psyched and ready to go. The 50 cent hot shower in the state park was a welcome convenience, considering I slept on the ground in a tent. By 6:30 I was at the local cafe, getting coffee. 7 AM and I was at the race site, setting up my bike transition area, guzzling coffee and water, eating biscotti and trail mix. Spent the next two hours before the race stretching, drinking water, relaxing. Jumped in the lake around 10 minutes before race time and splashed around a little. The lake didn't seem as cold that morning. Maybe my two swims the previous day had worked. 5 minutes to go, and we all started to line up at the shoreline. There were only around 150 people for Sunday's race, so they were doing us all in one big wave. Excellent, I thought. Even better that I got my spot right up front. I positioned myself behind and in between two people in the first row, both of whom looked slightly younger than me. They looked confident, like swimmers. The air horn went off, and I sprinted in between them, dove in, and started stroking furiously. Turned slightly to the left, and slipped into a nice drafting position behind some dude wearing bike shorts. There I remained for a while, until his form deteriorated and he started doing a weird scissor/frog kick combination. At that point I looked up, and gave chase behind a woman wearing a purple wetsuit. Settled in behind her for a while, marveling at how much easier it seemed to swim when you were drafting someone. I had practiced this before, at the Y when there were 5 people in my lane. This lady was significantly faster than me, but the combination of draft and race adrenaline motivated me to stay right with her. I felt people tapping against my feet, probably doing the same thing, drafting off me. Or maybe they were trying to pass but couldn't find room. Heheh. Kick harder, make them go around. I continued the same pattern throughout the race, mostly drafting behind people, occasionally changing course when the person in front of me went off. I had no concept of how fast I was going or whether I was using good form. All I knew was that not many people were passing me or the rest of the pack, which I assumed was good. Then we rounded the final curve and people started trying to make breaks for the front. I tried a couple of times, but there were too many people swimming shoulder to shoulder and I figured it wasn't worth going wide around them. A couple of people slithered past like salmon in a fish ladder. As we neared the shore and hit 5 ft water, the dude in front of me dropped and started walk/running. Bad move. I swam faster and passed him. The bike transition was pretty uneventful. Since I have a hybrid bike with platform pedals, I simply slipped on my running shoes (Nike Scramble, baby! 30 bucks g), hopped on the bike, and was off. My Orca trisuit was definitely a good investment. It would have been even better if I had thought to buy a race belt. As it was, I was left with a stupid paper number, 4 safety pins, and a $140 trisuit. I decided it wasn't worth swimming with a paper thing hanging off me or risking damage to the suit, so I pinned the tag to my T-shirt and wore that on the bike and run. It would have been really nice to be more aerodynamic on the bike, but such is life. If that turns out to be my biggest mistake, I thought, then I'm lucky. Besides, the bike is the easiest part. And it was. The course was pleasant, scenic, somewhat hilly in a rolling sort of way. I actually would have preferred some nastier hills. I kept passing people on the hills and getting passed again on the flats. Overall I probably conserved more energy on the bike than I had to, but I was pretty happy with my average speed of 16.5 mph. That's about the only measurement I have at the moment since I forgot to use my watch to time the splits, and I am still waiting for the official results. After an invigorating bike ride, I cruise down the hill back to the transition zone, and that's when I start to realize that there is such a thing as too much hydration. 500 yards into the run, and not only do I have a lovely cramp going from chest to abdomen, I have to **** like a racehorse. Apparently I drank too much water on the bike, when I really didn't need it. I was trying to follow the suggestion of 8 ounces to go with the gel I ate, but combined with the water I drank before the race, it was just way too much. I still managed to maintain a semi-normal running pace and pass a few people. Semi-normal for a slow training run, that is. Nothing like the steady build up that I had planned. At the turnaround point, I decided to hell with it and wasted 2 minutes for a bathroom break. Came out feeling much lighter, still cramped, but glad I had done it. Proceeded to run what I thought was a 8:30 to 8 minute pace for the rest of the run. Kicked it up to maybe 7:00 pace at the end. Not bad, but a far cry from the all-out finishing sprint I had planned. It just seemed kind of stupid to do that at the time, considering nobody from my age group was anywhere near me. I'm assuming at this point that that was probably a bad thing I forget what the clock said when I finished. Less than 1:30 I think, which was within my modest target zone. Hopefully they'll post the official results on the website soon, and I will follow up with the times. This particular event counts both transitions as part of the bike, so I won't have those. Should have remembered to tap the old chrono. Overall, it was a good race. I finished feeling strong, and didn't drown. Triathlons are so much fun, I am now thoroughly addicted. I can't wait to do another one. I'm not sure if I'll do another sprint this year, but next year I'm definitely doing the "My Next Triathlon", which is a follow-up to this one, followed by the Black Hills Triathlon next fall. That one is olympic distance. Hopefully by then I'll own a better bike and be somewhat competitive. In the meantime, I plan to enter every 5K I have time for, plus a couple of 10Ks before next fall. Hopefully some longer open water swims too, if I can find any. Thanks to everyone on the newsgroups for all their informative and inspirational posts, and for taking the time to read this. Wishing you good health and speed, Chris aka "Thrashing Slug" |
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Race report - first triathlon (long)
great report
plodzilla Chris Durkin wrote: Hey people, I've been lurking in these groups for a while now, and I've learned a lot from reading all of your posts. I don't usually have time to participate but I just completed my first triathlon so I figure it's time to give back to the community by entertaining you all with a race report. I'm sure it will be a lengthy post, so if you're anxious to get on with whatever the latest flamefest is, feel free to skip it. g First, a bit of background. Last October when I quit smoking for the nth and final time, I decided I needed to set a positive goal that would give me something to focus on and cement the transition from self-destructive to healthy lifestyle. Now, one might say that simply breathing clean air is in itself a worthy goal, but apparently the concept of that wasn't enough for my stupid mind. It needed to be expressed in a physical sense. So, I figured, I'm turning 30 next June. It's about time I stopped with the half-ass "smoking in moderation" crap. I will complete a triathlon before that year is up. And so it began. As it turned out, substituting an unhealthy addiction for a healthy one worked better than I had even imagined at the time. I highly recommend this to anyone struggling with something similar. The basic strategy was - do aerobic exercise at least 5x per week. Any time I felt the urge to smoke, do more aerobic exercise instead. This worked out great. The physical exertion was the perfect outlet to get rid of that twitchy, I-want-to-kill-something nic fit feeling. And the pain of being out of shape was a great reminder of how stupid I had been and how far I had left to go. Many was the time when I stopped in the middle of a run to puke, or by the side of the car before driving home after a hard swim. Great stuff, I tell you. A small disclaimer is probably in order at this point. I've never been overweight and have always been in fairly good shape, kept active with biking, tennis, etc. Never smoked more than a pack a day, and by the time I quit I was down to around 5 or 10. So my particular story shouldn't be taken out of context if you happen to be a 3 pack a day, 100 lbs overweight type of person. Choose the pace that fits your situation, don't kill yourself. But do suffer. Pain is the feeling of weakness leaving your body. OK, enough with the past. You folks probably don't care to hear about my struggle to change idiotic behaviour patterns anyway. Heheh. Actually I made all that up to excuse my slow times. Just kidding A word on my training regimen, or lack thereof. My plan was to focus initially on swimming, which I had no experience at all in. Mix in some cycling (mostly commuting to work) and weight training, then phase in the running starting in January. This pretty much went according to plan, though I ended up doing most of my biking in the gym until May. (Pacific NW, rain, laziness...) My primary goal was to concentrate on becoming a good swimmer, so I wouldn't drown. Biking and running were things I'd done since I was a kid, at varying levels of commitment. My bike is a hybrid and I'm not a fast runner, but I could easily handle the distances that would be involved with the sprint tri I signed up for. Well, maybe not easily, but I could certainly finish it, even if at a patheticly slow pace. Or so I reasoned at the time. Those first months of swim training were a humbling experience. At first, I could barely do 50 yds, and would have to rest for a minute afterwards, gasping and dying. Seems like it took forever before I could do three lengths in a row. Other notable milestones were my first sub-minute 50, the first time I seriously tried breathing every three strokes (asphyxiation, pain), finally mastering breathing every 3 (freedom, balance, relaxation), first 1000, first 1500. I have to say that the Total Immersion book played a huge role in jump starting my technique to the point where I could swim without getting tired. Particularly where body position and balance are concerned, those drills are invaluable. I'm not sure what I look like when I swim, but I suspect it's some hybrid of the "TI" and "Larry" styles. 45 degree body rotation, long strokes, arched back, loper. I'm a 6 beat kicker though. No matter how far the swim. Although realistically it turns into sort of a 2 beat over long distances. (KICK kick kick KICK kick kick). Kicking for me is a natural, inseparable element of swimming. Even if I'm not using it for power, it's essential for balance. Plus it's nice to have in my arsenal when I feel like sprinting. My ankles are inflexible by nature, so I'm constantly stretching them to keep the kick propulsive. Going into the race, my 400 time in the pool was 8:39. Slow, but not too bad considering it was a really relaxed swim. I figured I could easily do at least 8:00, probably better, which was well within the "respectable" range for last years' race results. My favorite workout is something I call the "pyramid", which consists of 2 50s, 2 100s, 2 200s, 2 100s, 2 50s. On longer days, throw in 2 400s in the middle. Rest 10 breaths after a 50, 20 after a 100, 30 after a 200. Go faster on the "descending" slope of the pyramid. I did that one a lot leading up to the race. Interspersed with the occasional long swim - 1000 or 1500 yds. I also swam a couple hundred yards in lakes maybe four times, just to get a feel for the navigational and coldness aspects. In case you haven't noticed, when it comes to swimming I am obsessed. When I pass a body of water I have an overpowering urge to jump in. I don't feel right unless I swim 5x a week. I just raced yesterday, and all day at work I couldn't wait to swim again tonight As far as cycling goes, that's something I've always done and am fairly good at. My bike isn't very fast - it's a Trek 7500 hybrid upgraded with Continental tires. Great commuting machine, which is mainly what I use it for. An excellent workhorse to handle roads, trails, curbs, and rain. Not the best device for maintaining say, 20 mph over a 30 mile training ride. Not even within the realm of possibility. So I contented myself with riding 15 mph, climbing as many hills as I could find, and building up the engine, so to speak. Plenty of time in the future to buy some expensive lightweight race bike. Running is another area that demands some level of obsession, at least from a technique perspective. Given that it produces more injuries than any sport I know of, I figured I had better make sure I was doing it right before doing it very often. I have high arches and tend toward underpronation and an outward splay of the feet. Or at least, I used to. I've trained myself to the point where even when walking I now keep both feet lined up in a || pattern, almost unconsciously. I'm also a forefoot striker who enjoys running barefoot. On dirt, that is. Not sure I ever want to try that on pavement. As with cycling, I run with a fairly high cadence, and try to focus on increasing stride length while maintaining cadence when I want to speed up. All of this technique stuff has recently materialized to the point where I can run comfortably for 5 miles or so with no lapse in form. I still have a long way to go as far as speed. I think my fastest timed mile so far was 7 minutes, and typically I go around 8 to 8:30 when running outside. In other words, slow. Borderline jogger. When inside, I do intervals on the treadmill, using the "pyramid" method - 6 mph, 7 mph, 8 mph, 9 mph, 8 mph, etc. Rest periods in between are 5 mph. This seems to work pretty well at keeping me from dying of boredom on the treadmill, on those days when I need to squeeze a quick run in at the gym. I have yet to really try a "fast" 5K distance in training, so who knows what I could do if that were the only thing on the agenda for the day. I plan to find out soon when I focus more on running. OK, on to the race description. The triathlon I signed up for was, aptly named - "My First Triathlon". What a title, eh. It sure looks cute on the T-shirt too. Luckily there are no fuzzy bunnies or flowers on there. I arrived early so I could watch the previous days' race and get a feel for the course. The lake was beautiful, clear, and cold! Much colder than the ones around my house that I had practiced in. Not quite wetsuit temp, but cold enough to cause tingly extremities after doing a few 100s in there. I went in several times that day and stayed in around 10 minutes, to try and acclimate. Saturday's race went in 4 waves of 100 each. The first guy into the water started breaststroking like mad, taking an early lead. Then he proceeded to flip over and backstroke for the next half of the swim! I think he continued on like that for the whole race, alternating between breast and backstroke. Only a few people caught up to him too, this guy was an animal. His backstroke was easily faster than my freestyle. I think he ended up coming in third for the swim. I'm not sure how he did overall. Other than the front pack, the race was pure chaos. It looked like people were getting thrashed, beaten, and kicked everywhere. Based on this I decided that the next day I would start at the front of the first wave, just behind the first row of people into the water. I figured it was better to be up front with the good swimmers, who would know how to pass me properly. If they wanted to pass, let them work for it. Showing up early turned out to be a great idea. Not only did I get to watch the first days' races, I was able to do a couple of quick swims in the lake, drive up and down the bike and run courses, and generally get familiar with the whole deal. Sunday morning I rose at 6 AM, relieved that the dream about missing the race was just a dream. I was psyched and ready to go. The 50 cent hot shower in the state park was a welcome convenience, considering I slept on the ground in a tent. By 6:30 I was at the local cafe, getting coffee. 7 AM and I was at the race site, setting up my bike transition area, guzzling coffee and water, eating biscotti and trail mix. Spent the next two hours before the race stretching, drinking water, relaxing. Jumped in the lake around 10 minutes before race time and splashed around a little. The lake didn't seem as cold that morning. Maybe my two swims the previous day had worked. 5 minutes to go, and we all started to line up at the shoreline. There were only around 150 people for Sunday's race, so they were doing us all in one big wave. Excellent, I thought. Even better that I got my spot right up front. I positioned myself behind and in between two people in the first row, both of whom looked slightly younger than me. They looked confident, like swimmers. The air horn went off, and I sprinted in between them, dove in, and started stroking furiously. Turned slightly to the left, and slipped into a nice drafting position behind some dude wearing bike shorts. There I remained for a while, until his form deteriorated and he started doing a weird scissor/frog kick combination. At that point I looked up, and gave chase behind a woman wearing a purple wetsuit. Settled in behind her for a while, marveling at how much easier it seemed to swim when you were drafting someone. I had practiced this before, at the Y when there were 5 people in my lane. This lady was significantly faster than me, but the combination of draft and race adrenaline motivated me to stay right with her. I felt people tapping against my feet, probably doing the same thing, drafting off me. Or maybe they were trying to pass but couldn't find room. Heheh. Kick harder, make them go around. I continued the same pattern throughout the race, mostly drafting behind people, occasionally changing course when the person in front of me went off. I had no concept of how fast I was going or whether I was using good form. All I knew was that not many people were passing me or the rest of the pack, which I assumed was good. Then we rounded the final curve and people started trying to make breaks for the front. I tried a couple of times, but there were too many people swimming shoulder to shoulder and I figured it wasn't worth going wide around them. A couple of people slithered past like salmon in a fish ladder. As we neared the shore and hit 5 ft water, the dude in front of me dropped and started walk/running. Bad move. I swam faster and passed him. The bike transition was pretty uneventful. Since I have a hybrid bike with platform pedals, I simply slipped on my running shoes (Nike Scramble, baby! 30 bucks g), hopped on the bike, and was off. My Orca trisuit was definitely a good investment. It would have been even better if I had thought to buy a race belt. As it was, I was left with a stupid paper number, 4 safety pins, and a $140 trisuit. I decided it wasn't worth swimming with a paper thing hanging off me or risking damage to the suit, so I pinned the tag to my T-shirt and wore that on the bike and run. It would have been really nice to be more aerodynamic on the bike, but such is life. If that turns out to be my biggest mistake, I thought, then I'm lucky. Besides, the bike is the easiest part. And it was. The course was pleasant, scenic, somewhat hilly in a rolling sort of way. I actually would have preferred some nastier hills. I kept passing people on the hills and getting passed again on the flats. Overall I probably conserved more energy on the bike than I had to, but I was pretty happy with my average speed of 16.5 mph. That's about the only measurement I have at the moment since I forgot to use my watch to time the splits, and I am still waiting for the official results. After an invigorating bike ride, I cruise down the hill back to the transition zone, and that's when I start to realize that there is such a thing as too much hydration. 500 yards into the run, and not only do I have a lovely cramp going from chest to abdomen, I have to **** like a racehorse. Apparently I drank too much water on the bike, when I really didn't need it. I was trying to follow the suggestion of 8 ounces to go with the gel I ate, but combined with the water I drank before the race, it was just way too much. I still managed to maintain a semi-normal running pace and pass a few people. Semi-normal for a slow training run, that is. Nothing like the steady build up that I had planned. At the turnaround point, I decided to hell with it and wasted 2 minutes for a bathroom break. Came out feeling much lighter, still cramped, but glad I had done it. Proceeded to run what I thought was a 8:30 to 8 minute pace for the rest of the run. Kicked it up to maybe 7:00 pace at the end. Not bad, but a far cry from the all-out finishing sprint I had planned. It just seemed kind of stupid to do that at the time, considering nobody from my age group was anywhere near me. I'm assuming at this point that that was probably a bad thing I forget what the clock said when I finished. Less than 1:30 I think, which was within my modest target zone. Hopefully they'll post the official results on the website soon, and I will follow up with the times. This particular event counts both transitions as part of the bike, so I won't have those. Should have remembered to tap the old chrono. Overall, it was a good race. I finished feeling strong, and didn't drown. Triathlons are so much fun, I am now thoroughly addicted. I can't wait to do another one. I'm not sure if I'll do another sprint this year, but next year I'm definitely doing the "My Next Triathlon", which is a follow-up to this one, followed by the Black Hills Triathlon next fall. That one is olympic distance. Hopefully by then I'll own a better bike and be somewhat competitive. In the meantime, I plan to enter every 5K I have time for, plus a couple of 10Ks before next fall. Hopefully some longer open water swims too, if I can find any. Thanks to everyone on the newsgroups for all their informative and inspirational posts, and for taking the time to read this. Wishing you good health and speed, Chris aka "Thrashing Slug" |
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Race report - first triathlon (long)
Sounds like a great deal of dedicated, careful preparation paid off in a fun
and satisfying race. Congratulations on a job well done! Susan "Chris Durkin" wrote in message om... Hey people, I've been lurking in these groups for a while now, and I've learned a lot from reading all of your posts. I don't usually have time to participate but I just completed my first triathlon so I figure it's time to give back to the community by entertaining you all with a race report. I'm sure it will be a lengthy post, so if you're anxious to get on with whatever the latest flamefest is, feel free to skip it. g First, a bit of background. Last October when I quit smoking for the nth and final time, I decided I needed to set a positive goal that would give me something to focus on and cement the transition from self-destructive to healthy lifestyle. Now, one might say that simply breathing clean air is in itself a worthy goal, but apparently the concept of that wasn't enough for my stupid mind. It needed to be expressed in a physical sense. So, I figured, I'm turning 30 next June. It's about time I stopped with the half-ass "smoking in moderation" crap. I will complete a triathlon before that year is up. And so it began. As it turned out, substituting an unhealthy addiction for a healthy one worked better than I had even imagined at the time. I highly recommend this to anyone struggling with something similar. The basic strategy was - do aerobic exercise at least 5x per week. Any time I felt the urge to smoke, do more aerobic exercise instead. This worked out great. The physical exertion was the perfect outlet to get rid of that twitchy, I-want-to-kill-something nic fit feeling. And the pain of being out of shape was a great reminder of how stupid I had been and how far I had left to go. Many was the time when I stopped in the middle of a run to puke, or by the side of the car before driving home after a hard swim. Great stuff, I tell you. A small disclaimer is probably in order at this point. I've never been overweight and have always been in fairly good shape, kept active with biking, tennis, etc. Never smoked more than a pack a day, and by the time I quit I was down to around 5 or 10. So my particular story shouldn't be taken out of context if you happen to be a 3 pack a day, 100 lbs overweight type of person. Choose the pace that fits your situation, don't kill yourself. But do suffer. Pain is the feeling of weakness leaving your body. OK, enough with the past. You folks probably don't care to hear about my struggle to change idiotic behaviour patterns anyway. Heheh. Actually I made all that up to excuse my slow times. Just kidding A word on my training regimen, or lack thereof. My plan was to focus initially on swimming, which I had no experience at all in. Mix in some cycling (mostly commuting to work) and weight training, then phase in the running starting in January. This pretty much went according to plan, though I ended up doing most of my biking in the gym until May. (Pacific NW, rain, laziness...) My primary goal was to concentrate on becoming a good swimmer, so I wouldn't drown. Biking and running were things I'd done since I was a kid, at varying levels of commitment. My bike is a hybrid and I'm not a fast runner, but I could easily handle the distances that would be involved with the sprint tri I signed up for. Well, maybe not easily, but I could certainly finish it, even if at a patheticly slow pace. Or so I reasoned at the time. Those first months of swim training were a humbling experience. At first, I could barely do 50 yds, and would have to rest for a minute afterwards, gasping and dying. Seems like it took forever before I could do three lengths in a row. Other notable milestones were my first sub-minute 50, the first time I seriously tried breathing every three strokes (asphyxiation, pain), finally mastering breathing every 3 (freedom, balance, relaxation), first 1000, first 1500. I have to say that the Total Immersion book played a huge role in jump starting my technique to the point where I could swim without getting tired. Particularly where body position and balance are concerned, those drills are invaluable. I'm not sure what I look like when I swim, but I suspect it's some hybrid of the "TI" and "Larry" styles. 45 degree body rotation, long strokes, arched back, loper. I'm a 6 beat kicker though. No matter how far the swim. Although realistically it turns into sort of a 2 beat over long distances. (KICK kick kick KICK kick kick). Kicking for me is a natural, inseparable element of swimming. Even if I'm not using it for power, it's essential for balance. Plus it's nice to have in my arsenal when I feel like sprinting. My ankles are inflexible by nature, so I'm constantly stretching them to keep the kick propulsive. Going into the race, my 400 time in the pool was 8:39. Slow, but not too bad considering it was a really relaxed swim. I figured I could easily do at least 8:00, probably better, which was well within the "respectable" range for last years' race results. My favorite workout is something I call the "pyramid", which consists of 2 50s, 2 100s, 2 200s, 2 100s, 2 50s. On longer days, throw in 2 400s in the middle. Rest 10 breaths after a 50, 20 after a 100, 30 after a 200. Go faster on the "descending" slope of the pyramid. I did that one a lot leading up to the race. Interspersed with the occasional long swim - 1000 or 1500 yds. I also swam a couple hundred yards in lakes maybe four times, just to get a feel for the navigational and coldness aspects. In case you haven't noticed, when it comes to swimming I am obsessed. When I pass a body of water I have an overpowering urge to jump in. I don't feel right unless I swim 5x a week. I just raced yesterday, and all day at work I couldn't wait to swim again tonight As far as cycling goes, that's something I've always done and am fairly good at. My bike isn't very fast - it's a Trek 7500 hybrid upgraded with Continental tires. Great commuting machine, which is mainly what I use it for. An excellent workhorse to handle roads, trails, curbs, and rain. Not the best device for maintaining say, 20 mph over a 30 mile training ride. Not even within the realm of possibility. So I contented myself with riding 15 mph, climbing as many hills as I could find, and building up the engine, so to speak. Plenty of time in the future to buy some expensive lightweight race bike. Running is another area that demands some level of obsession, at least from a technique perspective. Given that it produces more injuries than any sport I know of, I figured I had better make sure I was doing it right before doing it very often. I have high arches and tend toward underpronation and an outward splay of the feet. Or at least, I used to. I've trained myself to the point where even when walking I now keep both feet lined up in a || pattern, almost unconsciously. I'm also a forefoot striker who enjoys running barefoot. On dirt, that is. Not sure I ever want to try that on pavement. As with cycling, I run with a fairly high cadence, and try to focus on increasing stride length while maintaining cadence when I want to speed up. All of this technique stuff has recently materialized to the point where I can run comfortably for 5 miles or so with no lapse in form. I still have a long way to go as far as speed. I think my fastest timed mile so far was 7 minutes, and typically I go around 8 to 8:30 when running outside. In other words, slow. Borderline jogger. When inside, I do intervals on the treadmill, using the "pyramid" method - 6 mph, 7 mph, 8 mph, 9 mph, 8 mph, etc. Rest periods in between are 5 mph. This seems to work pretty well at keeping me from dying of boredom on the treadmill, on those days when I need to squeeze a quick run in at the gym. I have yet to really try a "fast" 5K distance in training, so who knows what I could do if that were the only thing on the agenda for the day. I plan to find out soon when I focus more on running. OK, on to the race description. The triathlon I signed up for was, aptly named - "My First Triathlon". What a title, eh. It sure looks cute on the T-shirt too. Luckily there are no fuzzy bunnies or flowers on there. I arrived early so I could watch the previous days' race and get a feel for the course. The lake was beautiful, clear, and cold! Much colder than the ones around my house that I had practiced in. Not quite wetsuit temp, but cold enough to cause tingly extremities after doing a few 100s in there. I went in several times that day and stayed in around 10 minutes, to try and acclimate. Saturday's race went in 4 waves of 100 each. The first guy into the water started breaststroking like mad, taking an early lead. Then he proceeded to flip over and backstroke for the next half of the swim! I think he continued on like that for the whole race, alternating between breast and backstroke. Only a few people caught up to him too, this guy was an animal. His backstroke was easily faster than my freestyle. I think he ended up coming in third for the swim. I'm not sure how he did overall. Other than the front pack, the race was pure chaos. It looked like people were getting thrashed, beaten, and kicked everywhere. Based on this I decided that the next day I would start at the front of the first wave, just behind the first row of people into the water. I figured it was better to be up front with the good swimmers, who would know how to pass me properly. If they wanted to pass, let them work for it. Showing up early turned out to be a great idea. Not only did I get to watch the first days' races, I was able to do a couple of quick swims in the lake, drive up and down the bike and run courses, and generally get familiar with the whole deal. Sunday morning I rose at 6 AM, relieved that the dream about missing the race was just a dream. I was psyched and ready to go. The 50 cent hot shower in the state park was a welcome convenience, considering I slept on the ground in a tent. By 6:30 I was at the local cafe, getting coffee. 7 AM and I was at the race site, setting up my bike transition area, guzzling coffee and water, eating biscotti and trail mix. Spent the next two hours before the race stretching, drinking water, relaxing. Jumped in the lake around 10 minutes before race time and splashed around a little. The lake didn't seem as cold that morning. Maybe my two swims the previous day had worked. 5 minutes to go, and we all started to line up at the shoreline. There were only around 150 people for Sunday's race, so they were doing us all in one big wave. Excellent, I thought. Even better that I got my spot right up front. I positioned myself behind and in between two people in the first row, both of whom looked slightly younger than me. They looked confident, like swimmers. The air horn went off, and I sprinted in between them, dove in, and started stroking furiously. Turned slightly to the left, and slipped into a nice drafting position behind some dude wearing bike shorts. There I remained for a while, until his form deteriorated and he started doing a weird scissor/frog kick combination. At that point I looked up, and gave chase behind a woman wearing a purple wetsuit. Settled in behind her for a while, marveling at how much easier it seemed to swim when you were drafting someone. I had practiced this before, at the Y when there were 5 people in my lane. This lady was significantly faster than me, but the combination of draft and race adrenaline motivated me to stay right with her. I felt people tapping against my feet, probably doing the same thing, drafting off me. Or maybe they were trying to pass but couldn't find room. Heheh. Kick harder, make them go around. I continued the same pattern throughout the race, mostly drafting behind people, occasionally changing course when the person in front of me went off. I had no concept of how fast I was going or whether I was using good form. All I knew was that not many people were passing me or the rest of the pack, which I assumed was good. Then we rounded the final curve and people started trying to make breaks for the front. I tried a couple of times, but there were too many people swimming shoulder to shoulder and I figured it wasn't worth going wide around them. A couple of people slithered past like salmon in a fish ladder. As we neared the shore and hit 5 ft water, the dude in front of me dropped and started walk/running. Bad move. I swam faster and passed him. The bike transition was pretty uneventful. Since I have a hybrid bike with platform pedals, I simply slipped on my running shoes (Nike Scramble, baby! 30 bucks g), hopped on the bike, and was off. My Orca trisuit was definitely a good investment. It would have been even better if I had thought to buy a race belt. As it was, I was left with a stupid paper number, 4 safety pins, and a $140 trisuit. I decided it wasn't worth swimming with a paper thing hanging off me or risking damage to the suit, so I pinned the tag to my T-shirt and wore that on the bike and run. It would have been really nice to be more aerodynamic on the bike, but such is life. If that turns out to be my biggest mistake, I thought, then I'm lucky. Besides, the bike is the easiest part. And it was. The course was pleasant, scenic, somewhat hilly in a rolling sort of way. I actually would have preferred some nastier hills. I kept passing people on the hills and getting passed again on the flats. Overall I probably conserved more energy on the bike than I had to, but I was pretty happy with my average speed of 16.5 mph. That's about the only measurement I have at the moment since I forgot to use my watch to time the splits, and I am still waiting for the official results. After an invigorating bike ride, I cruise down the hill back to the transition zone, and that's when I start to realize that there is such a thing as too much hydration. 500 yards into the run, and not only do I have a lovely cramp going from chest to abdomen, I have to **** like a racehorse. Apparently I drank too much water on the bike, when I really didn't need it. I was trying to follow the suggestion of 8 ounces to go with the gel I ate, but combined with the water I drank before the race, it was just way too much. I still managed to maintain a semi-normal running pace and pass a few people. Semi-normal for a slow training run, that is. Nothing like the steady build up that I had planned. At the turnaround point, I decided to hell with it and wasted 2 minutes for a bathroom break. Came out feeling much lighter, still cramped, but glad I had done it. Proceeded to run what I thought was a 8:30 to 8 minute pace for the rest of the run. Kicked it up to maybe 7:00 pace at the end. Not bad, but a far cry from the all-out finishing sprint I had planned. It just seemed kind of stupid to do that at the time, considering nobody from my age group was anywhere near me. I'm assuming at this point that that was probably a bad thing I forget what the clock said when I finished. Less than 1:30 I think, which was within my modest target zone. Hopefully they'll post the official results on the website soon, and I will follow up with the times. This particular event counts both transitions as part of the bike, so I won't have those. Should have remembered to tap the old chrono. Overall, it was a good race. I finished feeling strong, and didn't drown. Triathlons are so much fun, I am now thoroughly addicted. I can't wait to do another one. I'm not sure if I'll do another sprint this year, but next year I'm definitely doing the "My Next Triathlon", which is a follow-up to this one, followed by the Black Hills Triathlon next fall. That one is olympic distance. Hopefully by then I'll own a better bike and be somewhat competitive. In the meantime, I plan to enter every 5K I have time for, plus a couple of 10Ks before next fall. Hopefully some longer open water swims too, if I can find any. Thanks to everyone on the newsgroups for all their informative and inspirational posts, and for taking the time to read this. Wishing you good health and speed, Chris aka "Thrashing Slug" |
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Race report - first triathlon (long)
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Race report - first triathlon (long)
Well done Chris, your gradual approach is smart. As for the hybrid bike -
its refreshing to see someone willing to wait until upgrading to a sleeker machine. I see so many people around here who get a little into biking and suddenly buy a trek 5500 or a top-of-the-line time trial machine when they're out of shape and 15 pounds (or much more) overweight. The money is wasted on them IMO. I've never done a tri, but I've done biathlons, and you can get pretty far with a mid-range racing bike with aero bars... - Tony Chris Durkin wrote in message ... Hey people, I've been lurking in these groups for a while now, and I've learned a lot from reading all of your posts. I don't usually have time to participate but I just completed my first triathlon so I figure it's time to give back to the community by entertaining you all with a race report. I'm sure it will be a lengthy post, so if you're anxious to get on with whatever the latest flamefest is, feel free to skip it. g First, a bit of background. Last October when I quit smoking for the nth and final time, I decided I needed to set a positive goal that would give me something to focus on and cement the transition from self-destructive to healthy lifestyle. Now, one might say that simply breathing clean air is in itself a worthy goal, but apparently the concept of that wasn't enough for my stupid mind. It needed to be expressed in a physical sense. So, I figured, I'm turning 30 next June. It's about time I stopped with the half-ass "smoking in moderation" crap. I will complete a triathlon before that year is up. And so it began. As it turned out, substituting an unhealthy addiction for a healthy one worked better than I had even imagined at the time. I highly recommend this to anyone struggling with something similar. The basic strategy was - do aerobic exercise at least 5x per week. Any time I felt the urge to smoke, do more aerobic exercise instead. This worked out great. The physical exertion was the perfect outlet to get rid of that twitchy, I-want-to-kill-something nic fit feeling. And the pain of being out of shape was a great reminder of how stupid I had been and how far I had left to go. Many was the time when I stopped in the middle of a run to puke, or by the side of the car before driving home after a hard swim. Great stuff, I tell you. A small disclaimer is probably in order at this point. I've never been overweight and have always been in fairly good shape, kept active with biking, tennis, etc. Never smoked more than a pack a day, and by the time I quit I was down to around 5 or 10. So my particular story shouldn't be taken out of context if you happen to be a 3 pack a day, 100 lbs overweight type of person. Choose the pace that fits your situation, don't kill yourself. But do suffer. Pain is the feeling of weakness leaving your body. OK, enough with the past. You folks probably don't care to hear about my struggle to change idiotic behaviour patterns anyway. Heheh. Actually I made all that up to excuse my slow times. Just kidding A word on my training regimen, or lack thereof. My plan was to focus initially on swimming, which I had no experience at all in. Mix in some cycling (mostly commuting to work) and weight training, then phase in the running starting in January. This pretty much went according to plan, though I ended up doing most of my biking in the gym until May. (Pacific NW, rain, laziness...) My primary goal was to concentrate on becoming a good swimmer, so I wouldn't drown. Biking and running were things I'd done since I was a kid, at varying levels of commitment. My bike is a hybrid and I'm not a fast runner, but I could easily handle the distances that would be involved with the sprint tri I signed up for. Well, maybe not easily, but I could certainly finish it, even if at a patheticly slow pace. Or so I reasoned at the time. Those first months of swim training were a humbling experience. At first, I could barely do 50 yds, and would have to rest for a minute afterwards, gasping and dying. Seems like it took forever before I could do three lengths in a row. Other notable milestones were my first sub-minute 50, the first time I seriously tried breathing every three strokes (asphyxiation, pain), finally mastering breathing every 3 (freedom, balance, relaxation), first 1000, first 1500. I have to say that the Total Immersion book played a huge role in jump starting my technique to the point where I could swim without getting tired. Particularly where body position and balance are concerned, those drills are invaluable. I'm not sure what I look like when I swim, but I suspect it's some hybrid of the "TI" and "Larry" styles. 45 degree body rotation, long strokes, arched back, loper. I'm a 6 beat kicker though. No matter how far the swim. Although realistically it turns into sort of a 2 beat over long distances. (KICK kick kick KICK kick kick). Kicking for me is a natural, inseparable element of swimming. Even if I'm not using it for power, it's essential for balance. Plus it's nice to have in my arsenal when I feel like sprinting. My ankles are inflexible by nature, so I'm constantly stretching them to keep the kick propulsive. Going into the race, my 400 time in the pool was 8:39. Slow, but not too bad considering it was a really relaxed swim. I figured I could easily do at least 8:00, probably better, which was well within the "respectable" range for last years' race results. My favorite workout is something I call the "pyramid", which consists of 2 50s, 2 100s, 2 200s, 2 100s, 2 50s. On longer days, throw in 2 400s in the middle. Rest 10 breaths after a 50, 20 after a 100, 30 after a 200. Go faster on the "descending" slope of the pyramid. I did that one a lot leading up to the race. Interspersed with the occasional long swim - 1000 or 1500 yds. I also swam a couple hundred yards in lakes maybe four times, just to get a feel for the navigational and coldness aspects. In case you haven't noticed, when it comes to swimming I am obsessed. When I pass a body of water I have an overpowering urge to jump in. I don't feel right unless I swim 5x a week. I just raced yesterday, and all day at work I couldn't wait to swim again tonight As far as cycling goes, that's something I've always done and am fairly good at. My bike isn't very fast - it's a Trek 7500 hybrid upgraded with Continental tires. Great commuting machine, which is mainly what I use it for. An excellent workhorse to handle roads, trails, curbs, and rain. Not the best device for maintaining say, 20 mph over a 30 mile training ride. Not even within the realm of possibility. So I contented myself with riding 15 mph, climbing as many hills as I could find, and building up the engine, so to speak. Plenty of time in the future to buy some expensive lightweight race bike. Running is another area that demands some level of obsession, at least from a technique perspective. Given that it produces more injuries than any sport I know of, I figured I had better make sure I was doing it right before doing it very often. I have high arches and tend toward underpronation and an outward splay of the feet. Or at least, I used to. I've trained myself to the point where even when walking I now keep both feet lined up in a || pattern, almost unconsciously. I'm also a forefoot striker who enjoys running barefoot. On dirt, that is. Not sure I ever want to try that on pavement. As with cycling, I run with a fairly high cadence, and try to focus on increasing stride length while maintaining cadence when I want to speed up. All of this technique stuff has recently materialized to the point where I can run comfortably for 5 miles or so with no lapse in form. I still have a long way to go as far as speed. I think my fastest timed mile so far was 7 minutes, and typically I go around 8 to 8:30 when running outside. In other words, slow. Borderline jogger. When inside, I do intervals on the treadmill, using the "pyramid" method - 6 mph, 7 mph, 8 mph, 9 mph, 8 mph, etc. Rest periods in between are 5 mph. This seems to work pretty well at keeping me from dying of boredom on the treadmill, on those days when I need to squeeze a quick run in at the gym. I have yet to really try a "fast" 5K distance in training, so who knows what I could do if that were the only thing on the agenda for the day. I plan to find out soon when I focus more on running. OK, on to the race description. The triathlon I signed up for was, aptly named - "My First Triathlon". What a title, eh. It sure looks cute on the T-shirt too. Luckily there are no fuzzy bunnies or flowers on there. I arrived early so I could watch the previous days' race and get a feel for the course. The lake was beautiful, clear, and cold! Much colder than the ones around my house that I had practiced in. Not quite wetsuit temp, but cold enough to cause tingly extremities after doing a few 100s in there. I went in several times that day and stayed in around 10 minutes, to try and acclimate. Saturday's race went in 4 waves of 100 each. The first guy into the water started breaststroking like mad, taking an early lead. Then he proceeded to flip over and backstroke for the next half of the swim! I think he continued on like that for the whole race, alternating between breast and backstroke. Only a few people caught up to him too, this guy was an animal. His backstroke was easily faster than my freestyle. I think he ended up coming in third for the swim. I'm not sure how he did overall. Other than the front pack, the race was pure chaos. It looked like people were getting thrashed, beaten, and kicked everywhere. Based on this I decided that the next day I would start at the front of the first wave, just behind the first row of people into the water. I figured it was better to be up front with the good swimmers, who would know how to pass me properly. If they wanted to pass, let them work for it. Showing up early turned out to be a great idea. Not only did I get to watch the first days' races, I was able to do a couple of quick swims in the lake, drive up and down the bike and run courses, and generally get familiar with the whole deal. Sunday morning I rose at 6 AM, relieved that the dream about missing the race was just a dream. I was psyched and ready to go. The 50 cent hot shower in the state park was a welcome convenience, considering I slept on the ground in a tent. By 6:30 I was at the local cafe, getting coffee. 7 AM and I was at the race site, setting up my bike transition area, guzzling coffee and water, eating biscotti and trail mix. Spent the next two hours before the race stretching, drinking water, relaxing. Jumped in the lake around 10 minutes before race time and splashed around a little. The lake didn't seem as cold that morning. Maybe my two swims the previous day had worked. 5 minutes to go, and we all started to line up at the shoreline. There were only around 150 people for Sunday's race, so they were doing us all in one big wave. Excellent, I thought. Even better that I got my spot right up front. I positioned myself behind and in between two people in the first row, both of whom looked slightly younger than me. They looked confident, like swimmers. The air horn went off, and I sprinted in between them, dove in, and started stroking furiously. Turned slightly to the left, and slipped into a nice drafting position behind some dude wearing bike shorts. There I remained for a while, until his form deteriorated and he started doing a weird scissor/frog kick combination. At that point I looked up, and gave chase behind a woman wearing a purple wetsuit. Settled in behind her for a while, marveling at how much easier it seemed to swim when you were drafting someone. I had practiced this before, at the Y when there were 5 people in my lane. This lady was significantly faster than me, but the combination of draft and race adrenaline motivated me to stay right with her. I felt people tapping against my feet, probably doing the same thing, drafting off me. Or maybe they were trying to pass but couldn't find room. Heheh. Kick harder, make them go around. I continued the same pattern throughout the race, mostly drafting behind people, occasionally changing course when the person in front of me went off. I had no concept of how fast I was going or whether I was using good form. All I knew was that not many people were passing me or the rest of the pack, which I assumed was good. Then we rounded the final curve and people started trying to make breaks for the front. I tried a couple of times, but there were too many people swimming shoulder to shoulder and I figured it wasn't worth going wide around them. A couple of people slithered past like salmon in a fish ladder. As we neared the shore and hit 5 ft water, the dude in front of me dropped and started walk/running. Bad move. I swam faster and passed him. The bike transition was pretty uneventful. Since I have a hybrid bike with platform pedals, I simply slipped on my running shoes (Nike Scramble, baby! 30 bucks g), hopped on the bike, and was off. My Orca trisuit was definitely a good investment. It would have been even better if I had thought to buy a race belt. As it was, I was left with a stupid paper number, 4 safety pins, and a $140 trisuit. I decided it wasn't worth swimming with a paper thing hanging off me or risking damage to the suit, so I pinned the tag to my T-shirt and wore that on the bike and run. It would have been really nice to be more aerodynamic on the bike, but such is life. If that turns out to be my biggest mistake, I thought, then I'm lucky. Besides, the bike is the easiest part. And it was. The course was pleasant, scenic, somewhat hilly in a rolling sort of way. I actually would have preferred some nastier hills. I kept passing people on the hills and getting passed again on the flats. Overall I probably conserved more energy on the bike than I had to, but I was pretty happy with my average speed of 16.5 mph. That's about the only measurement I have at the moment since I forgot to use my watch to time the splits, and I am still waiting for the official results. After an invigorating bike ride, I cruise down the hill back to the transition zone, and that's when I start to realize that there is such a thing as too much hydration. 500 yards into the run, and not only do I have a lovely cramp going from chest to abdomen, I have to **** like a racehorse. Apparently I drank too much water on the bike, when I really didn't need it. I was trying to follow the suggestion of 8 ounces to go with the gel I ate, but combined with the water I drank before the race, it was just way too much. I still managed to maintain a semi-normal running pace and pass a few people. Semi-normal for a slow training run, that is. Nothing like the steady build up that I had planned. At the turnaround point, I decided to hell with it and wasted 2 minutes for a bathroom break. Came out feeling much lighter, still cramped, but glad I had done it. Proceeded to run what I thought was a 8:30 to 8 minute pace for the rest of the run. Kicked it up to maybe 7:00 pace at the end. Not bad, but a far cry from the all-out finishing sprint I had planned. It just seemed kind of stupid to do that at the time, considering nobody from my age group was anywhere near me. I'm assuming at this point that that was probably a bad thing I forget what the clock said when I finished. Less than 1:30 I think, which was within my modest target zone. Hopefully they'll post the official results on the website soon, and I will follow up with the times. This particular event counts both transitions as part of the bike, so I won't have those. Should have remembered to tap the old chrono. Overall, it was a good race. I finished feeling strong, and didn't drown. Triathlons are so much fun, I am now thoroughly addicted. I can't wait to do another one. I'm not sure if I'll do another sprint this year, but next year I'm definitely doing the "My Next Triathlon", which is a follow-up to this one, followed by the Black Hills Triathlon next fall. That one is olympic distance. Hopefully by then I'll own a better bike and be somewhat competitive. In the meantime, I plan to enter every 5K I have time for, plus a couple of 10Ks before next fall. Hopefully some longer open water swims too, if I can find any. Thanks to everyone on the newsgroups for all their informative and inspirational posts, and for taking the time to read this. Wishing you good health and speed, Chris aka "Thrashing Slug" |
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Race report - first triathlon (long) OT: biathlon
Tony wrote:
Well done Chris, your gradual approach is smart. As for the hybrid bike - its refreshing to see someone willing to wait until upgrading to a sleeker machine. I see so many people around here who get a little into biking and suddenly buy a trek 5500 or a top-of-the-line time trial machine when they're out of shape and 15 pounds (or much more) overweight. The money is wasted on them IMO. I've never done a tri, but I've done biathlons, and you can get pretty far with a mid-range racing bike with aero bars... - Tony Tony, What is a "biathlon" in this context? Is it bike + swim or is it bike + run? I thought a biathlon was cross country skiing + marksmanship. I'm curious because I can't run but can bike and am looking for something to shoot for. Madelaine P.S. the obvious obsence definitions have occured to me, so don't bother. |
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Race report - first triathlon (long) OT: biathlon
In article ,
Madelaine wrote: What is a "biathlon" in this context? Is it bike + swim or is it bike + run? I thought a biathlon was cross country skiing + marksmanship. I'm curious because I can't run but can bike and am looking for something to shoot for. Where do you keep your rifle when you bike? Or do you have a pistol? I'm sure there are many things you can shoot for, but most will land you in jail. The term "duathlon" is usually used for run-bike-run events. "Biathlon" is trademarked or something for XC-ski and shooting (or XC running and shooting) events, but people still use it for run-bike and run-swim-run events. I've seen "aquathlon" for run-swim-run events. But the bottom line is that the terms aren't completely standardized, and "biathlon" might mean snowshoeing and harpooning. Read the description before signing up! --Harold Buck "I used to rock and roll all night, and party every day. Then it was every other day. . . ." -Homer J. Simpson |
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Race report - first triathlon (long)
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Race report - first triathlon (long)
So, the official results are up on the website. I forgot to mention in
my original post what the distances were. 1/4 mile swim, 12 mile bike, 3 mile run. My overall time was 1:22:17, which put me in 23rd place out of 109. 5 of 8 in my age group. Swim split was 9:28, 11th overall, 3rd in age group. Bike time is kind of confusing but I think it was 44:51, 18th overall, 4th in age group. Run time was 28:00, 49th overall, 6th in age group. I was kind of surprised by the swim time, since it felt like I was swimming much faster than I had in training. I would have estimated at least 7:00 per 400 yard pace. Most likely the pack I was swimming with went off course and we ended up doing more than 440 yards. Either that or the cold water made it seem like I was exerting myself more. My run time was also much worse than I had estimated. Even allowing 2 minutes for the "rest stop", that still averages to almost 9 minute mile pace, which is pretty bad. Cramp or no cramp, I never would have allowed myself to run that slow if I knew what pace I was going. I definitely need to remember to use the timer on my watch next time! It's cool though, this taught me a couple of valuable lessons that I can put to good use. I need to focus more on maintaining my target pace, and pay less attention to the people around me. On the bike I had no problem doing that, since I had the speedometer. The swim and run are a bit trickier. Thanks to everyone who posted with suggestions. Chris (Chris Durkin) wrote in message . com... Hey people, race description snipped |
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