Triathlon #2 – The Sprint

Close upon the heels of my first triathlon on October 30th, I completed my second triathlon this past Saturday with the San Diego Tri Club. My first race was a mini sprint (250m swim, 5 mile bike, and 2 mile run) and this past weekend’s race was a regular sprint (800m swim, 12 ½ mile bike, and 4 mile run).

 

The Tri Club holds about 20 races each year which are free to its members, and the last race of the season was this past weekend. I wasn’t quite ready to increase my open water swim distance from 250m to 800m, but I figured what the heck, might as well do the race since its my last chance to complete a triathlon before the season picks up again in the spring.

 

Preparing for the Race

I felt like I barely made it through the 250m swim in my first race, so I had decided that I’d do one longer swim workout during the week to improve my swimming confidence. Well, I didn’t get up quite early enough any morning last week to accommodate the drive time to/from the gym to swim, and ended up just running a few times before work. Oh well.

  

Race Morning

This race was going to be held in the same location as last week’s race (Fiesta Island) and would follow the exact same course but instead of two bike loops there would be five, and instead of one running loop there would be two. Sounded easy enough!

 

I arrived at Fiesta Island around 6:30, unloaded my car, and headed over to the transition area to meet my friend Robin who would also be racing. It was a little harder than last week to get the bike out (without the help of David) but I managed. I didn’t have much time to set-up my transition area and put on my wetsuit before it was time to get into the water. I went in for a few strokes out and back to get wet and acquaint myself with the yuck of the water. The sun was starting to come up and there was a nice frothy brown foam coming in with the water and onto the beach. GROSS.

 
 

The Swim

Prior to starting the race one of Robin’s experienced tri friends joked that the swim was so short that it wasn’t even worth getting wet, and it just meant we’d be cold and wet during the bike and run. So short? The buoys looked like they were miles away to me! Last week’s course was a rectangle with the short leg out, the long leg across, and a short leg back to shore. This course was the long leg of a rectangle out, the short across, and the long leg back.

 

 

There were about 60 of us racing and we all started at the same time and charged into the water. My “charging” was a bit more apprehensive of course, but I tried to start in the middle of the pack so I wouldn’t feel too left behind during the swim.

 

 

There were many things that crossed my mind during the swim, and I’d categorize my emotions as fear, terror, helplessness, and despair.

  

Some things that crossed my mind during the swim:

 

• Wow that first buoy looks far away!
• Okay, just keep swimming and before you know it you’ll be at the first buoy.
•  Wait, are you kidding me? Its still so far away!
•  I wonder if I should backstroke for a bit?
•  Okay, I feel like an idiot backstroking, I’ll go back to freestyle.
•  I can’t believe I’m only half-way to the first buoy! I’m not going to make it!
•  Where are the lifeguards? Should I flag one over? How embarrassing would it be?
•  If I flagged a lifeguard over on a paddleboard, how would we get back? Would I sit like Pocahantas while he rowed?
•  Okay, keep swimming. You can do this!
•  Yay! The first buoy! Crap .. I’m not even halfway done.
•  Okay, second buoy! Hurrah! I did it!
•  Wait … why does the shore look so far away?? ARGH!
•  Keep swimming. Calm down. The shore will get closer.
•  Am I the slowest one here? Oh good, there are people behind me.
•  Shoot, two people just passed me.
•  I know, I will just count each stroke until I get to the shore. I bet I can get there before 100.
•  1 … 2 … 3 …
•  65! I did it! LAND! Get me out of this nasty water!

 

I was SO happy to be out of the water and was soon unzipping my wetsuit and running up to the transition area. I was happy to see that I wasn’t the last one out of the water. Whew!

 

 

The Bike 

I ran over to the transition area and rinsed off my feet with my water bottle before putting my socks on. Again, I put wet and still moderately muddy feet into my socks before slipping on my shoes. I put Yankz laces on my shoes a few weeks ago and I have to say – I love them! Slip-on running shoes? Genius!

 

 

 

I started out on the bike at the same effort that I had biked the previous weekend in my first race. I felt like I was pushing myself enough, but not enough to make my legs burn. I wasn’t surprised as a few people passed me … until I began to notice that everyone was passing me and I was passing no one. The bike leg of the race consisted of five loops and the trend of being passed and never passing continued. I started to worry that anyone who I might have beat out of the swim was now beating me on the bike.

 

 

Oh no! Could I possibly end up coming in last in the race? How embarrassing! As I finished up the last portion of the bike and came into the transition area to go run, I noticed a large gathering of people already enjoying the post-race breakfast buffet. Boo. :o(

 

The Run

I was a bit discouraged when I started out on the run. I know that I’m not a star triathlete or anything (yet! Haha jk) and I’m a weak swimmer and biker, but my win the prior weekend had boosted my confidence a little in my ‘natural’ athletic ability. I went into this race thinking I’d do okay! After thinking that I had come in last on the bike, I was really worried that I’d come in last in the race overall.

 

 

 

I know that I’m an above average runner and hoped that I could gain some time in the run. I started out on the first of two running loops by myself, and after a few minutes I finally saw someone in front of me. I slowly closed the gap and then passed them. Yeah! Okay, so at least one person would finish after me. Is that a bad thing to be happy about? :o( Over the next few miles I slowly passed a handful of others, and even passed two people in the last quarter mile of the run. That really felt good!

 

 

I was watching my pace during the run and was happy to see that I was sticking to a steady 8:00 pace over the four-mile course. I had the same strange sensation as before after doing a bike/run “brick” workout. I’m not sure about the nickname of the bike/run combo though. My legs didn’t feel like bricks, they felt more like rubber and they didn’t feel as tired when I pushed harder. Maybe I should bike before all of my runs!

 

 

The Finish

Oh the joy of rounding the last corner of a racecourse and seeing the finish line! I was so relieved to be finishing the race and was happy to know that I wasn’t going to be coming in dead last. Since most people were already done racing, there were plenty of people to cheer me on as I crossed the finish line.

 

 

After finishing, I went over to my friend Robin who was hanging out by the post-race breakfast spread which consisted of hot breakfast items like eggs, hash browns, veggie sausage, and bacon, along with yogurt, berries, granola, and muffins. Yummy!

 

 

The Results 

Everyone in the race was wearing a timing chip to give accurate split times. The timing chip costs $30 and can be used at all of the FREE Tri Club races. What a great deal! It makes me never want to pay for a running race again! They were tracking the results throughout the race and announced the top three winners in the female and male categories. My friend Robin came in third! What a stud!! The top three male and female winners were also going to get medals which the tri club would mail out later. Guess what the first place winners got? A turkey! It was really funny to see them take an awards picture holding up frozen turkeys.

 

 

A few days after the race the official results were finally posted and I could see how well (or should I say not well) I placed compared to the rest of the group.

 

 

 

• Swim 800m: 17:58 (10th of 15 women)
• T1: 2:01
• Bike 12.5 miles: 48:46 (14th of 15 women)
• T2: 1:17
• Run 4 miles: 30:16 (4th of 15 women) YEAH
• Overall time 1:40:18 (11th of 15 women)

  

I finished as the 11th of 15 women and … 45th of 52 overall! Wow, not so great. Its okay though, this was only my second triathlon and my first time doing this distance. I’m glad that I just got through the race!

 

 

The triathlon season is over for now and won’t start back up until March of next year. That gives me the next several months to focus on my running. My upcoming events are:

 

 

• Nitro Turkey Trot – November 25th
• Gladiator Rock n Run - December 4th
• Carlsbad Half Marathon – January 23rd

  

Its time to get running again!