Things I learnt from my first sprint triathlon - very long!

[lph]

For the past few days I've been searching the net for those last-minute brilliant tips and tricks to help my first triathlon. Finally I get to write my own - all of the things I learnt, from my first triathlon.

You never get to train as much as you'd planned. If you did, you wouldn't have a life.

You always have time to train too much too late, by socking out two hard work-outs in the week before the event. Not a smart idea. There's not much point in being in top shape 3 days after the event is over.

It's perfectly normal to have to enlist the help of total strangers to get dressed. If only they could help you undress too.

I thought I already did heavy-maintenance activities. But nothing creates more messy, muddy, wet gear to transport, sort, wash, hang up and dry than triathlon.

Triathlon is an obsessive's dream sport. There are checklists! Fussy little details! You can spend time finetuning how fast you change your clothes!

Swimming in a marshy forest lake is spooky. The water is black, there are strange stringy green things down there and for all I know the Kraken lives there.

No matter how spooky, once the lake fills up with 200 people desperately sloshing away I couldn't care less.

When they say "don't try anything new on race day" they really mean it. Even the most banal little details, like using two swim caps to keep your goggles from falling off instead of one, may sound look a good idea, but end up giving you a headache.

200 people in matching baby-blue swim caps look pretty funny.

Having a body that reacts badly to stress, hyperventilating and a skyrocketing pulse is not a great asset in competitive swimming. Even though it may look "ladylike" doing the breaststroke with your head above water, it's not the fastest way to get through the water.

A wetsuit may not be great for the breaststroke, but it's fantastic for assuring you you're not going to drown.

For someone happy to spend time, thought and money buying expensive special gear to make sure her feet and body are as dry as possible when biking under all weather conditions, there's something a little insane about running out of a lake and jumping onto a bike for a ride.

A short wet tri top is warmer than a long wet tri top.

I loooove biking. I also looooove passing people

Sports gels are just as disgusting as last time I tried them.

People with expensive tri bikes and plate wheels don't necessarily bike faster. It's always worth it to try and pass them.

What works during training doesn't necessarily work in a race. The watery blackcurrant juice I can ski for hours on feels like eating syrup in a 90 minute race. Plain water next time.

I can easily run right off the bike, but I can't run fast. But I can't run fast anyway. Running is boring, so anything that keeps my mind off what I'm doing works, like just following someone. Thank you to the lovely lady with the light feet that I followed today.

Race officials that cheer are the best, especially the ones that sound like they really mean it.

Friends that cheer are terrific, especially if they're positioned not in the middle of the bad hills where I feel awful, but at the top where I'm picking up momentum and feeling strong again. Friends with a good camera are invaluable.

You can be a terrible swimmer and still place well. I was among the last to leave the water, but ended up 21st of about 150 women.

It really is important to eat something after a race, even though nothing is appealing, if you don't want to almost pass out in the store two hours later.

You may feel like a hot shot triathlete, but when you're standing in the grocery store with fuzzy messy hair, dizzy with hunger and cross-eyed with lack of salt, buying chips and chocolate milk, the cashier girl can not see any difference between you and the merry junkies sitting outside.

[roo4]

Post of the week! All true.

[Veronica]

Very funny! Congrats on your race.

Veronica

[colby]

All true, all excellent. Congrats!

[indysteel]

Awesome post, lph (even to someone like me who's never done a tri). Good job on your 21st place finish. I hope you had fun!

[Crankin]

Nice work, lph.
Black murky water? Oy, just swimming is bad enough!

[Blueberry]

You may feel like a hot shot triathlete, but when you're standing in the grocery store with fuzzy messy hair, dizzy with hunger and cross-eyed with lack of salt, buying chips and chocolate milk, the cashier girl can not see any difference between you and the merry junkies sitting outside.

Hilarious! Thanks for the great write up

[salsabike]

lph, I love every word. And congratulations!

[Catrin]

Congratulations LPH, and glad you didn't find the Kraken! Great finish, and thanks for letting us know how things went!

[lph]

Thanks for the nice words The results are out now, and I can see what I already knew - I'm about a zillion times better at biking and the logistics in transition than at the rest. Being a mother helps with that second bit.

Only 117 women actually started. I had 16 spots to myself in the transition area I placed:

80th in the swim - I find it hard to comprehend that anyone could actually swim slower than me, but here you have it.
13th in T1
5th! in the bike, and 3rd in my age group!
17th in T2
23rd in the run

All over 21st, 8th in my age group. Turns out the lovely lady with the light feet was a wellknown earlier elite skier, which gave finishing right behind her a little pizzazz.

I can obviously do a lot better on the swim, but I'm not sure how to get control over my breathing. I think maybe hearing everybody else panting made it harder for me to slow down and take deep breaths. But handling stress is something I struggle with otherwise too, I very easily lose sleep and appetite if something is coming up.

[Tri Girl]

That was fantastic! Funny and so true!
Congrats on your first (of many?) tri!!!

[OakLeaf]

Haha! Nice job and terrific writeup.

As these gals asked me after my first one .... did you have fun???!

[Dogmama]

Fantastic! Thanks for the write up & congratulations!

[lph]

Yes - I did have fun

I liked the relaxed, supportive atmosphere, there are so many people going around looking like "GAh! What am I doing here anyway!"

[lph]

And I'll add one more thought, since I'm still on the rush:

I can't stop smiling when I think of the pair of race officials at the bottom of a hill, near a tight corner. Most of my group had passed and they looked pretty bored. But they were from a local cycling club, and I'm pretty sure they recognized a fellow cyclist desperately doing her best - I came tearing round the corner hunkered down in aero position and picking off people as fast as I possibly could - and they turned around and really CHEERED for me