Triathlon - Another First Triathlon Story

So I did my first triathlon this morning. It was the Tritonman in Sand Diego, sprint distance. Here's how everything went down:

1. The swim was weird. It was my first time swimming in open water, so I was a little nervous. It was also my first time swimming in a wetsuit. I felt like I was working way harder than when I was training in the pool, but seemed like I was going way slower. Anyways, I had to switch to back stroke a couple times for about 30 seconds to catch my breath. I was expecting to have an awful time, but I ended up with about a 10:30, which is only a little slower than I was hoping for. I had a hard time keeping track of where I was going, plus my goggles fogged up so I had to lift them off to see where I was going every once in a while.

2. Transition 1 was awful. I wore nothing under my wetsuit, and it took me forever to get my suit off and put on my bike shorts since I was a little wet still. I was also a little dizzy which made putting on socks and shoes a little more challenging. I ended up taking about 4 minutes.

3. Onto the bike. I knew this would be my best leg, so I was stoked to get on the bike. I only got passed by 2 guys,m both of which weren't in my division, and I passed a lot of people. I did it on a fixed gear with aero bars, and I had the gearing perfect. The loop was almost completely flat, which was nice. I finished the 12 mile ride in just under 34 minutes,an average just over 21 mph.

4. Transition 2 went much better. It only about a minute to change into my running shoes, then I was off.

5. I hate running. For this reason, I didn't train nearly enough for it. My ankles started cramping up about 1/2 mile in, and stayed that way for the rest of the race. I go into a nice pace with an older lady at about 8 minutes/mile, which I was happy with. She dropped me with about 1 mile to go, but I caught her in the last 300 yds. or so. When i came around the bend and saw the finish, I just started sprinting. I wanted it to be over so bad. When I got to finish I was hurting, but super stoked.

All in all it was a lot of fun. Definitely learned a few things for the next one I do. Here are my approximate times, I'll post up the official results when the come in.

500 yd. Swim: 10:30
T1: 4:00
12 mi. Ride: 34:00
T2: 1:00
5k Run: 27:00
Total: 1:16:00

Awesome. YOU ARE A TRIATHLETE!!! Way to go. I had a few chuckles about your swim and T1 but all-in-all, it sounds like you had a great event. When is your next one?

Ya overall I was happy with how it went. I think I'm doing the one that Cal Poly SLO (where I go) is hosting in early April.

http://i114.photobucket.com/albums/n267/MotoPhotoGuy/Bicycles/Tritonman/DSCF0001.jpg

http://i114.photobucket.com/albums/n267/MotoPhotoGuy/Bicycles/Tritonman/DSCF0006.jpg

http://i114.photobucket.com/albums/n267/MotoPhotoGuy/Bicycles/Tritonman/DSCF0009.jpg

http://i114.photobucket.com/albums/n267/MotoPhotoGuy/Bicycles/Tritonman/DSCF0013.jpg

http://i114.photobucket.com/albums/n267/MotoPhotoGuy/Bicycles/Tritonman/DSCF0014.jpg

http://i114.photobucket.com/albums/n267/MotoPhotoGuy/Bicycles/Tritonman/DSCF0016.jpg

http://i114.photobucket.com/albums/n267/MotoPhotoGuy/Bicycles/Tritonman/DSCF0017.jpg

I ran the last 200-300 yards about as hard as I could and, as you can tell, I was hurting.
http://i114.photobucket.com/albums/n267/MotoPhotoGuy/Bicycles/Tritonman/DSCF0018.jpg

Good job! I do have to mention, though, that your entire story is a testament to how much practicing before hand would have helped, especially with the wetsuit and with the open water swim, and T1 as well.

None-the-less, great job, and you'll be glad you caught the bug

Good job! I do have to mention, though, that your entire story is a testament to how much practicing before hand would have helped, especially with the wetsuit and with the open water swim, and T1 as well.

None-the-less, great job, and you'll be glad you caught the bug

Ya for sure. I knew that not wearing my bike shorts under my wetsuit would be slower, but I wasn't sure how riding in wet bike short would've been, so I just played it safe. Next time I'm just wearing my bike shorts under my wetsuit, which should shave a lot of time from T1.

Way to go....thanks for posting! It's always good to share your "goods" and "bads".....it helps us newbies! :) Congrats!

Yay for another fixed gear triathlete! :D I love getting all sorts of crazy looks from people when they see you only have one gear (they think you're even crazier if they're bike savvy and realize it's a fixed gear). ;)

Yay for another fixed gear triathlete! :D I love getting all sorts of crazy looks from people when they see you only have one gear (they think you're even crazier if they're bike savvy and realize it's a fixed gear). ;)

haha most definitely. I got approached about 5 times before the race by guys asking about it. One guy said something about it on the course as I was passing him haha. I just heard, "[mumbling] singlespeed." Probably something derogatory. The course was as flat as a pancake and my gearing was just spot on at 48-17. Couldn't have been any happier with it. :thumb:

I live in San Diego so I bet I run into you. I am still trianing for my first one. Congrats on completing your first race.

Rick

Congrats on your first tri! They are addictive!

In the last pic, are you passing her, or is she passing you?

I am never good at the last 1/4 mile sprint. Usually finish at my normal pace, unless I see an age grouper I think I can pick off.

Congrats on your first tri! They are addictive!

In the last pic, are you passing her, or is she passing you?

I am never good at the last 1/4 mile sprint. Usually finish at my normal pace, unless I see an age grouper I think I can pick off.

haha I'm passing her. Her wave started 8 minutes ahead of mine so I was catching and passing people a lot of people in different divisions (including girls).

48x17 worked well? I just finished a similar length tri with a 48x16 and plan on using something like 48x14 for my next (flat races). I also got a few comments while on the fixed bike. My cut-off dickies and vans slip-ons really made it a hot look but I was keeping up with the roadies.

Thats crazy a fixed gear bike, I am just starting out and did my first sprint in Oct of 08 and couldn't imagine riding a fixed gear. Nice time, that was the time I finished with aswell

Way to go! I did the Sacto Int'l Tri last May on a fixed gear. Totally flat course. My gearing was slightly higher (43x14 = 80.7 g.i.) and I might even go a tad higher (52x16 = 85) this year.

@ jellis: Ya I was spinning at like 80-90 rpm for 90% of the race. I averaged just over 21 mph, which I was happy with.

I'm kind of bummed now because I only pushed at like 75% for the ride, thinking that I didn't want to kill my legs for the run. But on the run, the only thing that hurt were my ankles (they cramp up pretty bad). I feel like I could've pushed at about 90% on the ride and still been fine for the run. I probably would've averaged just over 22 mph at that effort level, which would've been sweet.

Yeah, I've done two tri's now. The first one was a similar story to yours, 75% on the bike to save my legs, and still had more than enough in the tank for the run.

My second (last weekend) was a reverse tri (run, bike, swim) so I was able to go 100% on the run since I wasn't worried about the bike, and 100% on the bike since the swim was short and upper body.

I just picked up my first road bike last night which I'm going to use in my next tri in two weeks. We'll see if it helps.

Update: I just got my results in and I got 5th out of 12. Definitely better than what I was expecting, so I'm pretty stoked. The splits aren't posted yet, but my overall time was 1:17:45. I'll post again when I get the splits.

2. Transition 1 was awful. I wore nothing under my wetsuit, and it took me forever to get my suit off and put on my bike shorts since I was a little wet still. I was also a little dizzy which made putting on socks and shoes a little more challenging. I ended up taking about 4 minutes.


So did you do a "deck change" with a towel wrapped around you or did you just let it all hang out? I think most races have a no-nudity rule nowadays.

Seriously, though, congrats on your first race!

So did you do a "deck change" with a towel wrapped around you or did you just let it all hang out? I think most races have a no-nudity rule nowadays.

Seriously, though, congrats on your first race!

Ya I had to do a deck change. I wore my jammers under my wetsuit so I wouldn't have to worry about showing anything while I was taking off the wetsuit, just the jammers. It was still pretty hard taking off the jammers and putting on the bike shorts when cus I was still a little wet plus I felt pretty dizzy from the swim. I had a hard time keeping my balance, which further complicated things. Definitely learned my lesson there.

Great job!
Was that advertised as a 1/2 mile swim or as a 500 yard swim?
The water looked cold...

It was a 500 yd swim. The water didn't actually feel too bad. It was about 55, but the air temp was around 50, so the water felt nice. Wish I wouldn't have worn that stupid wetsuit.