First tri of the year

**Bron** · 07-21-2008, 04:33 AM

Yay, I finished!
Yay, I didn't come last!

I did this tri last year and blew up really badly (water too cold, air too hot, cramped and had to walk the run), so my aim was to keep going steadily, increasing the effort through the tri and maybe arrive at the finishing line feeling as though I could have gone a little faster, rather than having to crawl the last few metres. Training has been ok, but not particularly intensive and I've not got quite as much cycling in as I would have liked.

The start gun was fired by Faris al Sultan. This was where he did his first triathlon which is pretty cool.

The swim wasn't too bad but somehow I can't get the idea into my head that the swim is part of the race, and not just the annoying thing that has to be done before the fun bit starts. Not fast, but not stupidly slow either.

Cycle ride - they had completely closed the road for us which was nice. Couldn't get the speed up, I think this is the lack of speed training on the bike - wasn't puffing and panting, my legs just wouldn't go any faster (any tips, anyone?). I got passed by quite a few people.

The run was good. I had plenty of energy and didn't get the "jelly-legs" feeling (so maybe I could have pushed the bike harder). I just happily jogged along for the first 5k and then started to speed up a bit and pass people - what a nice feeling. A nice sprint into the finish picked me up one more place and the realisation that I really should have been able to run faster for the whole thing.

Being a German triathlon, there was beer (alcohol-free) at the finish

.

Time 3:15 for 1500m swim, 48km cycle and 10km run. I'd like to get under 3 hours at the Oly I'm doing next week.

**HillSlugger** · 07-21-2008, 07:56 AM

Great race for your first of the season. Congrats!

**alpinerabbit** · 07-21-2008, 08:03 AM

Hey there, I'd take that any day. Can't help on the bike issue.

I like Faris. Not that he's overly cute...

**Tri Girl** · 07-21-2008, 09:04 AM

Wonderful job!!!

Congrats on your first race of the season. Sounds like it's off to a great start...

**roadie gal** · 07-21-2008, 10:56 AM

That's a great time. I think you could probably hit that 3 hr mark for an oly.

**spindizzy** · 07-21-2008, 01:54 PM

Congratulations on your first tri!

I have found that it takes time and lots of riding and perserverence to get speed up consistently on bike. I do duathlons. My coach insists that I stay on the small ring the whole time I ride during a race. One time, I didn't listen to him and paid the price of totally dead legs....my 2nd run was brutal, awful, dismal. My "following directions" skill has improved tremedously.....

**colby** · 07-21-2008, 06:15 PM

Congrats, Bron! Awesome job, and an improvement over last year always feels great.

**rocknrollgirl** · 07-22-2008, 03:48 AM

Hey, great job, congrats on your first race of the year and awesome job!!!!!

**Bron** · 07-22-2008, 05:58 AM

Thanks everyone!

Originally Posted by alpinerabbit

I like Faris. Not that he's overly cute...

True, but he comes across as being a decent bloke. He was quite happy to tell everyone about just how slow he was in his first triathlon and he stood in with the rest of the crowd to watch the swim starts - no v.i.p behaviour.

Originally Posted by spindizzy

Congratulations on your first tri!

I have found that it takes time and lots of riding and perserverence to get speed up consistently on bike. I do duathlons. My coach insists that I stay on the small ring the whole time I ride during a race. One time, I didn't listen to him and paid the price of totally dead legs....my 2nd run was brutal, awful, dismal. My "following directions" skill has improved tremedously.....

I think this might be what I need to do - the limitation was the lack of strength in my legs.

There's a photo from the start of the bike leg here:
http://picasaweb.google.de/Galerietr...76885394029410

**Bron** · 07-29-2008, 01:27 AM

Bother, didn't get under three hours on Sunday

Anyway, it was a nice event - organised by the police, so although the roads weren't closed the traffic was all very well controlled to give us a good cycle leg!

I woke up with the beginnings of a UTI, not ideal, but there wasn't much point in staying home and feeling sorry for myself.

Swim - they started the people with the slowest project swim times first, so there was lots of hanging back and "after you" going on at the start line! I thought I swam well but it seemed long - it appears I'm not the only one who thought that this was a bit more than 1500m.

Bike - quite a hilly course, I never got into a decent rhythm here. One thing I noticed was that people were coming past me on the flat more than up hill. It was a nice course though apart from one cobbled section. Policemen at every junction to secure the course and cheer us on.

Run - got a stitch

. My legs felt fine (clearly I didn't cycle hard enough) and I was ready to kick butt. The run was off-road through the woods and across some fields with some hilly bits built in (and a flight of stairs to start with) and would have been so nice if the muscle below my rib cage had cooperated. I just had to jog along which was so frustrating.

Times were swim 36:26, T1+bike+T2 1:29:09, run 59:47; total 3:05:22

Must train my cycling more....

**Skeezix** · 07-29-2008, 05:14 AM

Bron, it still sounds like you did a good job, you were wickedly close to the 3hr mark. Congrats!

Last year I did a tri and totally felt their bike course was off, according to the meter on my bike it was a good 3/4 mile longer than they said so it might have been longer than 1500m. Oof.

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