finished a practice Tri! (saga)
Well there is so much to tell (although all of you have "been there done that")
but it is so exciting!
3 of us headed out to the river (prairie river - deep in spots, not terribly wide and they aren't releasing water from the dam so the current wasn't too bad.)
We set up our transition area up the bank from a little sandy area, donned our wetsuits (I borrowed a shorty waterski one from a friend as mine isn't in yet)
Water temp: 64 degrees
air temp: 75.
Once in the water it wasn't cold at all and actually felt refreshing. (I did gasp a few times upon getting in)
The lengths we laid out to do were about 400 yd swim, 6 mile bike and 2 mile run.
I wore my HR monitor so had a timer running. the 200 yds out only took 3 min but the 200 back against the current took 6 min. the only thing that really bothered me on the swim were the sleeves on the wetsuit. I am glad I ordered a sleeveless
I had trouble getting out of the wet suit because of A. Dizzyness and B. finding the velcro collar tab to release it so the zipper would come down.
The actual swim was much more uneventful than anticipated. I did the typical breathe too shallow and stroke too fast for the first minute - then my swim training kicked in (must remember to 4 count breathe right off to slow down and find a rhythm) THEN I slowed down, found a rhythm and went, I was able to swim straight w/ little spotting. (my swim partner had more trouble she kept drifting left)
coming back against the current was more difficult and I ended up breaststroking some of it just to get my breath back
Transition
Took waaaaay too long mainly because of dizziness and not getting the wetsuit unzipped.
I thought I would be cold and put a long sleeve top on - now I know there is no need.
quickly wiped the feet w/ a towel, donned bike stuff and was off. (4 min :eek: will practice shaving this time down
Bike ride was uneventful, it was out against a 13mph wind w/ 21 mph gusts and on the turn around although there was a tailwind there was now a hill to climb. (we did a loop)
My speed on the bike wasn't great but I'll live w/ it and was faster than i normally ride
Transition to the run I thought was fast! (I bought speed laces from TE :) I kept thinking I should have to do more.
The begining of the run wasn't too bad (I have been doing bricks) but the overall run itself was horrid. I have been doing hard workouts all week and went to a muscle pump class yesterday and my legs have been really sore all day. I thought the swim and bike would work it out but as soon as I started running my inner thighs, glutes and quads were incredibly sore. I ended up running and walking the 2 miles. I am ok w/ that because the whole goal of today was to practice the transitions and get a feel for it.
Doing this today took care of the fear of the unknown and the water was way warmer than I thought it would be. (I thought I would have to sit in a hot tub for an hour to warm my core back up - I actually took off my long sleeve shirt during the run)
The plan is to do another open water practice swim once I get my wetsuit - it has been shipped so should be here MONDAY ! ! ! !
