my first tri this morning

[Brina]

Yes, i have done it and survived. I feel exhausted and exilerated at the same time. I slept poorly last night then had to get up at 4am for the drive to WI for the race. I had a bunch of girlfriends doing the race with me, but none in my wave. We hung out on the beach before they started their swim and met up again at the end of the race. A good time appears to have been had by all.

The Swim was a half mile, straight across the lake. The mass start was annoying but I soon came up with a pretty good strategy. I swam breaststroke whenever I was in clear water and used freestyle to power past any clumps of swimmers. My time was 15:40 and I ranked 835 out of 3620.

I was a bit slow through the first transition. I had to pin my number to the front of my tri top in addition to putting on socks, shoes, helmet, gloves and sun glasses. I stashed some sport beans in my shirt pocket. I love my Look pedals for riding, but the huge cleats really make running through the transition area hellacious. During the bike I passed some people and got passed by others. My average speed in rolling hills with heavy winds was 16.1 mph and I completed the bike in 46:07, ranked 1500 out of 3620. I really need to work on hills - but we just don't have any around here. Oh, and I almost wiped out getting off my bike before entering T2. I had my right foot unclipped and had swung it over my bike to the left side and my cleat slipped on the pavement. I just barely got my left foot unclipped and managed to stay on my feet. A spectator complimented me on the good save.

T2 was quicker than T1 by about half. I really just had to swap helmet for hat, change shoes (gotta love speed laces) and grab my ipod.

The first mile of the run was awful. i felt like I was shuffling along even as I was trying to lengthen my stride. About the beginning of the second mile my legs loosened up and I felt much better. Two friends passed me and I saw a third as I was running on the return. I was determined not to allow her to pass me, and I did manage to stay ahead - she finished a few minutes behind me - of course she started about 20 minutes behind me. My final run time was actually right on par with the two 5Ks that I ran in May - I guess I must be getting faster if I can do that after a swim and a bike. It was 36:00 and I ranked 2218 out of 3620.

So, swimming is still my strongest leg, even with almost no training. Cycling I am in the upper half and really need to work on hills. While I am improving at running, I am still damn slow.

Let the training for Accenture begin. Well, maybe in a couple of days.

[Nanci]

Hey Brina, congratulations!!! You are so lucky swimming is your best thing, without even trying!

You should get one of those number belts- they save so much time and you don't have to worry about wrecking your nice tops. You can find them for free at a lot of bigger races, and they don't cost much, otherwise.

Do you have bridge overpasses or anything you can use as substitute hills? Or any hills you can drive to? That ride I did July !st with the hellacious hills is a place triathletes drive to from all over the state to train.

I've been listening to a podcast (Zen and the Art of Triathlon) and the guy is talking about training as a triathlete, not a runner or swimmer or cyclist. So he's running after _every_ ride, and biking to where he swims, stuff like that. I guess after a while of doing bricks, it feels natural to run off the bike on tired legs

[Lise]

Brina! You did it! WAHOO! I am so happy for you. Sounds like you had a really good race. I firmly believe that it takes a couple of times through T1 and T2 to figure out your strategy. That's part of what I love about tris.

You're doing Accenture? They have the BEST expo. Maybe we could even meet up and go down together. I'm not doing the race, but if I have time, I love to go to the expo and soak up the energy. I'm thinking I may do the race next year, just to add it to my collection .

Give yourself a couple of days to revel in the joy of finishing your first tri. We're all looking forward to pictures! Sleep well tonight. Lise

[Brandy]

Congratulations Brina!!

[DirtDiva]

Yay! You did it! Well done.

[Tri Girl]

Congrats Brina!!! Thanks for the great race report! It's so much fun to hear about other's races. Sounds like you did an absolutely fantastic job at your very first tri (and you are a natural swimmer, no?). Wow- fantastic job!!!!!

[Brina]

Nanci and TriGirl - I was a swimmer in high school and part of college. I also grew up on a small island and worked as a lifeguard in both a pool and on the ocean for years. My big problem with swimming in the tris is that I was a short to middle distance swimmer - 50, 100 and 200 yards. I swam the 500 once in my high school career. For this tri I was able to wing it, but for Accenture, which is an olympic distance, I will really need to put in some time in the pool and the lake.

Lise, I would love to meet up for the Accenture tri, and hopefull before for a ride. I know that 2 friends are doing accenture this year - they do a couple of races every year - so the more the merrier for checking out the expo.

[DrBee]

Congrats Brina on your first Tri! Sounds like you had fun! I'm still training for my first tri (maybe in September). Good luck on the next one!

[KSH]

Congrats on your first triathlon!

It looks like you did a really nice job of it! Be very proud!

Good luck on the next one!