I bravely competed in my first tri this last weekend. It was a last-minute decision. I heard about this low-key, small, sprint tri through a friend and we thought we'd sign up for fun. I wanted to get my feet "wet" before my big X-Terra in two weeks.
100m Swim
10 mi Bike
3.2 mi Run
Temp: 89 and sunny :eek:
Competitors: 106 (54 male, 52 female)--not as as small as I thought
SWIM
At 4 PM we lined up at the beach. Competitors up front, fun-tri's to back. So I marched to the very back of the crowd. I was surprisingly calm, just there to have fun. The start was crazy. We all ran in and had to swim on top of eachother. It was a little frightening, but soon I got into my groove and made my own path through the crowd. The lake was really choppy. I think there were speed boats purposely trying to make things wavy. To my surprise and delight, I was in the top 30 or so to get out of the lake! :)
BIKE
The transition went well. I had brought an extra water bottle and used that to spray sand off my feet. I hopped on my bike, misclipped a few times but then got going. I felt great. My adrenaline was pumping. I looked at my computer and saw I was going 21 mph--woah! I eased it up a bit to force myself to warm up. After the first 1.5 miles, I eased back up to 20-21 and managed to stay in the drops. I passed cyclist after cyclist. About halfway in, I got a big number "one" sign from one of the volunteers--I was in first place for the women. I felt like Levi in the TT.
RUN
I was very jumpy when I got to the transition area. I never expected to be in first (I've never in my life been in that position). I stumbled and tripped trying to get my running shoes on. When I finally took off running, 2 women were cycling into the transition area--I knew I wouldn't hold my position for long. Sure enough, in the first mile I was passed by them. It was so hot, my legs burned, my heartrate was flying. But I pushed on, repeating my mantra "third place, third place, third place". At the 2 mile marker, I was passed by 6 more women! In about 2 minutes time! Did I mention I'm a slow runner? But I didn't give up. I gave it my all until I crossed the finish line. Managed to finish 12 overall, and first in my age group. By the way, I was passed by 11 women on the run and only 2 men! Why couldn't it have been the other way around?!?!?!
It was a blast. I think I could get into this tri thing . . . if XTerra doesn't kill me first.
