Yesterday’s Recap Part 1 left off with me standing at the starting line in my purple swim cap ready to begin my first real triathlon. And that’s where I pick up the story today.
Here’s how the race went down.
The Swim:
Myself and the other purple capped folks lined up on the beach a few minutes before 8AM and were corralled into the water for the start of our wave. The water temperature, just like the air, had to have been in the high 80s. This race had an in-water start so I tread water in the lake waiting for the official countdown to my start. 1 minute to go. 30 seconds. 5, 4, 3, 2, 1…
…and we were off.
A lot of people seem to dread the swim leg of triathlons…I guess because there is a bit of true danger to swimming in open water in a crowd of people, some of whom will without a doubt kick you and try to swim over you. But despite a few kicks to the face while I swam, I felt relatively calm. The only real difficulty was knowing where I was going.
The course was a simple large V shape – from beach to buoy to another beach – but with the water so cloudy and so many people splashing on all sides it was hard to know if I was swimming straight. I eventually found a rhythm of swimming about 6 strokes of front crawl and then 1 of breast stroke to check that I was still heading in the right direction.
As I made it to shore at the end of the swim I felt pretty damn good — not exhausted, not flustered, and I didn’t have a belly full of water — all good things. But annoyingly I had no idea how long I’d been swimming. So I made the decision to put the time out of my mind and leave the swim behind as I set off jogging to the transition area.
Transition 1:
As I made my way into the transition area I stripped off my goggles and swim cap. Luckily, it was relatively easy to find my spot since I was near the end of a rack. I dried off my feet and legs, and put on shorts, socks and my sneakers. I strapped on my Garmin, snapped my bike helmet on and jogged with my bike out of transition to the mount point.
The Bike:
I felt wonderful as I hopped on my bike after transition and got onto the road. I knew the bike would be my most enjoyable, if not my most successful leg of the race. For some reason heat never seems to get to me when I’m riding. Even though it had to have been about 90 degrees during that leg of the race I just cruised along enjoying the beautiful scenery in and around the park.
I planned on having a lara bar strapped to my water bottle to fuel me while I rode but I was worried that it might melt in the heat. So I made a last minute decision to opt for some Clif Bloks instead. I’d never tried Bloks until that moment mid-race…but I was pleasantly surprised. They were damn tasty! I ate about 1/2 the pack of Bloks at mile 2 and the other half at mile 9. I also chugged from my water bottle full of 1/2 Vitamin Water and 1/2 H20.
Thanks to my trusty Garmin I knew that throughout the ride I was surpassing my goal time for the bike leg of the race! And while plenty of riders on fancy shmancy bikes passed me as I rode, I also did my fair share of passing. So I was all smiles when I rode by my dad near the end of the bike course.
Before I knew it 11.5 miles had come to an end and I was at the transition again.
Transition 2:
I did a half walk/half jog shuffle with my bike back to the transition area after I finished the ride.
All I had to do at T-2 was ditch my bike and helmet, put my hair up, put on my race belt, and switch my Garmin from “Bike” to “Run”. After a final slug from my water bottle I was off on the run path.
The Run:
It was well over 90 degrees by the time I set foot onto the (mostly bright and sunny) 5k course, and it was the first time that day that the heat really got to me.
I’d promised a bunch of friends/loved ones that I wouldn’t try to do anything crazy on the run…aka I would take it easy. And that I did.
I kept myself at an easy pace, took water at every water stop and even walked a few times when the heat felt especially oppressive. I felt comforted by the fact that I was not alone — many other competitors were walking as well.
Once I made it to the 1/2 way point of the run I was handed and ice cold towel and I started my trek back down the path. A glance at my Garmin told me that magically, despite my walking breaks, I was still on pace to meet my running goal.
I had mentally thrown my goal time out the window when I realized what a serious factor the heat would be. But my inspiration was renewed during the second half of the run and with the comfort of the ice cold cloth draped around my neck I made it my goal to finish strong…and smiling.
And that I did.
The results:
If you read my taper week post…you’ll know that I did have some time goals going into my triathlon. However, with the record breaking heat I decided to make surviving and finishing the race my top priorities.
Even so, I am THRILLED to report that I beat all of my time goals!!
Check it out:
- Swim (500 meters): Goal = 15 minutes, Official time = 13:07
- Transition 1: Goal = 10 minutes, Official time = 4:07
- Bike (11.5 miles): Goal = 55 minutes, Official time = 45:28
- Transition 2: Goal = 5 minutes, Official time = 2:04
- Run (5k): Goal = 35 minutes, Official time = 34:51
- Overall Triathlon Goal = 2 hours, Official time = 1:39:37
So it’s pretty safe to say that I KILLED my overall goal time. And I’m really pleased that I shaved a whole 10 minutes off my bike time! But what I really cannot believe is that I actually did the 5k in under 35 minutes! With all of the walking breaks I took it seems impossible! But I guess when I was actually running, I was running pretty quickly. 
Did I earn this medal? Yes. Yes I did.
Oh and just because I have the info I may as well share that my overall rank was 1011 of 1362 finishers, and I was 82nd of 103 in my age/gender division. Soooo I was in the bottom third of finishers. But that don’t bother me none…because I am a triathlete and I rocked out with my bad self! Booyah!
And in case you’re wondering? I had an awesome time and there will definitely be more triathlons in my future.
Thanks so much to all of you who offered me words of encouragement and support during my journey to this point. It’s been years in the making. I am a lucky, grateful, gal. Extra super huge thanks to my dad for waking up uber early to come out and cheer me on and take such great pictures. Love ya, Dad!
