OK, so this post is about two weeks late, but I was just reminded that I haven't updated my blog. On Super Bowl Sunday, I started the day by participating in my first ever triathlon - this was a "mini indoor" triathlon, so not quite the same deal as what most of us think of. Still, it was a great step towards completing an actual triathlon.
To start with, this triathlon is held in "waves" where you have a start time for swimming in groups of six, then you go to bikes while another group goes swimming, etc... So while lots of folks competed over the course of the day, you didn't have to worry about crowds or bumping into folks. I got there very early, because I figured it would be good to walk through the whole area, check out the transitions, etc... When I checked in, they gave me a bag of goodies, including a free tech T-shirt, free swim cap, and some day passes. Also included was the all important score card that you had to carry from event to event. The kind lady informed me that it was VERY important to keep that with me at all times. She then asked me to sign for a door prize, so I promptly set down the all important scorecard and forgot about it. Seriously.
So, oblivious to the oncoming panic, I walked around the center with my son, Jake, who wanted to watch me compete. The swimming pool and locker rooms are on the first floor, and a spectator's area is on the second floor, as is the aerobics room where they had the stationary bikes and treadmills. I killed a good 40 minutes and never thought to double check if I had the score card. I remembered the card while in the locker room, when I had about 5 minutes before the swim was to start. Arg!!! I raced out to try to find if I left it with my son and the bag of goodies. No such luck. I ran out to see if it was at the check in desk. Not there. And neither was the check in woman. Seriously worried, I ran up to the second floor where I found a volunteer, who asked "Are you Gavin?" YES! She had my scorecard. I sprinted back down to the pool with about 30 seconds to calm my pounding heart. Tri-Lesson #1 - Keep that darned score card.
So, at the pool, they had a bunch of volunteers who count your laps for you, and who keep track of the starting and ending times. I started off the swim just fine. After a lap, I realized Tri-Lesson #2 - Test your equipment pre-race. My old goggles got lost, so I borrowed a pair from the center. And they leaked. Not only that, but I decided to wear an old swim suit that had slicker material than my newer, better fitting ones. Some part of my mind said "slicker will be faster". That part of my mind didn't consider the possibility that with my sleeker frame, the old swim trunks just don't fit right. Instead, they acted like a parachute on a race car. I got so frustrated with them that halfway through the race I stopped to retie them very tight. That decision would come to haunt me. For the swim, each time you complete a lap, the volunteers shout out the amount of time left. You get points for completing 3/4 of a length, but I thought it was for completing 3/4 of a LAP. So when it got to 25 seconds left, I figured I couldn't do close to a full lap, and stopped. But I actually could have gotten in another length and some extra points. That's another lesson for next year.
OK, transitions. They announce the time to get moving, and since I finished early for the laps, I could start moving early. I got in the locker room to change out of the swim trunks and into biking shorts and T-shirt/shoes, etc... That's when I discovered that my hastily retied knot in the pool was a full on "can't get it loose" knot. BLEEP!! I wasted precious time trying to get the knot undone. Argh again! Because of the knot debacle, I started the biking 20 seconds behind the rest of the crowd. With the stationary bike, you can set whatever resistance level you want, and pedal as fast (or as slow) as you want. The machine just was tracking distance, so the higher resistance level made you travel farther given the same speed of pedaling.
My particular group had a wide variety of fitness levels, from a crazy-fit woman in her 30s, to a child about age 10 who was more or less going through the motions. I kept reminding myself to not push too hard, and to just ride my pace. I kept thinking that I'd hit my wall on the bike after all that swimming, but it didn't seem to happen. In fact, I decided to crank up the resistance a couple of times, and I seemed to handle that just fine as well.
I was really worried about transitioning from biking to running. In my training sessions leading up to this, I'd definitely noticed that my legs would get really rubbery after the biking when I started running. But when it was time to transition, I noticed the gal who was crazy-fit started doing all sorts of stretches. Being a quick learner, I decided to do everything she was doing.
That must have been the trick, because I didn't have any problems with rubbery legs. The run part went really well; much better than I had expected. The guy next to me didn't do so well. He seemed to be trying to push himself too fast on the run, and then he stumbled, over-corrected, fell on the treadmill and got shot back off it. He was OK, and says he only hurt his pride. He got back on and finished the race. That was an excellent reminder for me to not push myself "too hard", so I kept my pace at a manageable level the whole way throughout.
All in all, I was thrilled with how it went. I definitely learned some lessons for the next time. And I also learned that I definitely want there to be a next time. I'm hooked! This was also a great training event for folks at any fitness levels. Some of the guys before and after my group were in WAY better shape than I am, and there were also folks who were clearly in worse shape. I loved that one woman completed it with her 10 year old son. I didn't even know kids could sign up for it, and now my son wants to do it with me next year. Now THAT feels great!
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