My first tri - Green Lake Sprint RR
I posted a while back about my first triathlon coming up, so I thought I better post a race report for all the first timers out there!
I did the Green Lake Triathlon in Spicer, MN. I had my first baby in July of 08, so was out of commission for most of the 08 season. I turned 30 in August of 09, and figured that the tri would be a good way to set the tone for my next 30 years. I also used it as a goal to get back to being active. My younger brother did the event as well. I approached the event with what I felt were pretty realistic expectations. I don't have much free time to train, and I didn't want to stress over it - just wanted to give it a try (I've done a couple duathlons, that's it) and enjoy it. Here goes.
1/4 mi swim: It was a beautiful morning, nice calm water. My goal was to be at or under 10 minutes. Side-stroked (sorry, for those of you who don't like to see this) a large portion of the swim. I was WAY more tired than I anticipated getting. My pool swims had been very easy, relaxing, no biggie...but yeah, the OWS is a whole different deal! Time: 10:34. Amazingly just one second slower than my little bro. Neither of us are experienced competitive swimmers, so we were ok with this!
T1 - I was WIPED OUT. Tore my race number off my shirt by accident while pulling it on, so it cost me some time fixing that. T1 was considerably less trouble than I thought it would be. My brother and I racked up next to each other and each brought a bucket. He put a little water in mine - so we used his to sit on and mine to clean up our feet. Highly recommend the bucket idea! :)
Bike - 12 miles - I thought I would feel like the bike portion would be a rest - it's what I love most - but I was so gassed from the swimming that it took me a good 4 miles or so to feel functional again. I kept looking down at my computer those first couple miles and seeing 15 mph or less, and it didn't help me mentally. :) The route was a nice, rolling trip along the lake - finally started picking up speed about midway and made some progress passing people. Time: 41:30 (18.1 average). I didn't know how I would fare biking after running, so my goal was to average between 17 and 18 mph...which I achieved!
T2 - I felt pretty good. Took a quick swig of Gatorade and headed out.
5K run - The route wasn't settled on until 10 p.m. the night before the race, so I didn't have a chance to really check it out beforehand...which is probably good. The first half of the 5K was probably 80% uphill. Not steep, but enough to make the switch from bike to run even more challenging. I walked for about a minute in the first 1/2 mile, but then picked it up and felt really good. All I could see was a long stream of people along the side of a long hill! The run was an out and back, the people coming back down sure looked happy. Met my brother on the run and we gave each other a high five, which was a fun boost. Made the turn around and the second half of the run went much more quickly. I felt myself smiling as I rounded the corner for the last 1/4 mile...saw my DH and baby girl, and two high school classmates who showed up to surprise me and cheer me on. What great friends! Finished the run in 28:31 - my goal was to be under 30 minutes. Yay!
Total time: 1:25. I placed in the top half of the women, which made me happy. I was just 8 minutes behind my brother. :)
I was really surprised how hard the swim was, and how good I felt on the run. I'm thinking about picking a 10K for October and spending time doing some longer distance running now.
I do hope to do another tri someday, but as I'm not into stressing about it, I'd like to find another with a shorter-than-average swim. We had a great time and really loved the atmosphere!
Thanks to everyone here for their wisdom. Although I don't post a lot, I certainly have learned a lot from reading your stories, and I appreciate the positivity here so much.
Molly
