Triathlon - The results are in...

Edit >> Added RACE REPORT
(http://www.bikeforums.net/showpost.php?p=9230695&postcount=23)
I'm a triathlete!
First tri ever, olympic distance with an extended bike: 1500m swim, 30 mi bike, 10k run
My goal was to finish. Second to that, I was hoping to place in the top half of my age group. Missed the mark on that second one, but am pretty pleased with the results, and had a great time!

I'm happy to have had a 17.7 avg on the bike. Being my second season even on a bike, I can say I've improved a lot over the last year.

Was pleased that the water wasn't too choppy, although a bit of a current worked against me for awhile. I'm a pretty slow swimmer to boot, but we had almost a quarter-mile run after we exited the water. I jog/walked it, as the world was spinning from the swim!

I think I was conserving a bit on the run, and could/should have pushed harder, but being a first race and all I didn't know what I had left in me :)

Clock Time 03:21:47
Overall Place 453 / 623
Gender Place 146 / 259
Division Place 26 / 38
Swim 00:36:18
Trans1 00:02:37
Bike 01:41:16
Trans2 00:02:16
Run 00:59:19
Swmrnk 479
Bkrnk 427
Mph 17.7
Rnrnk 466
Pace 00:09:34

haven't gotten any professional pics posted yet, but here are a few my friends snapped:
5:00 AM


transition area set up? seemed to work pretty good, although my transitions were a bit longer than I hoped/they felt. Time flies!


In from the swim!


Finishing the run- just steps from the finish line :)


day before the race.


HUGE HUGE thanks to all my supporters (both on & off BF!). I had a great experience with the LLS's Team & Training program, and highly recommend it. Its a lot of work, but immensely rewarding both personally, and to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. I've been involved with quite a few charity programs, and have been the most impressed at what they do and give back. :thumb:

absolutely awesome arti!!!!! congratulations!! :thumb:

Way to go!!!!

Nicely done. :beer:

Congrats, nice job. I've always wanted to try something like that but I'd prolly drown and I know I couldn't run 10k.

Great job! :thumb:

Impressed, and very happy for you! Great job!:)

Nice job Arti

thanks folks! I'm enjoying a nice coating of icy hot on the legs tonight. will be interested to see how they feel tomorrow! besides fluids, good food and rest- any secrets for a good recovery?

Great job on your 1st tri! I happened to be on my favorite bike route, going south on Glade Rd, when the lead cyclists went by headed north. Nice split on the bike -- there were a few hills there. Glad you had fun.

I also get dizzy from the swim. I've heard that earplugs will help, but haven't tried it.

Great job on your 1st tri! I happened to be on my favorite bike route, going south on Glade Rd, when the lead cyclists went by headed north. Nice split on the bike -- there were a few hills there. Glad you had fun.

I also get dizzy from the swim. I've heard that earplugs will help, but haven't tried it.Hm, never thought about ear plugs. Usually I'm training with a team, and need to hear directions but I suppose not during a race. My spectator friends said a few people fell over when they got out of the water. eek!

Glad you got to check out the action - the ride was a great route! challenging, but didn't make my legs fall off.

Congrats Great job!!

Terrific! When is your next race?

Terrific! When is your next race?
ha, that is a good question! am moving, but going to seek out a sprint once I get settled in... and am doing a half marathon this fall. :)

Cool! Keep us updated on your progress. You might also consider adding a race report about your experience. There are a lot of tri-forum "lurkers" who will be inspired by what you accomplished and maybe one or two of them will decide to enter that local sprint they've been thinking about. Plus, there are a few of us out here who just like to read race reports :)

Good job! Now, as someone else said, whens the next race?

recovery techniques?
Ice baths... a bit scary the first time, but it feels so good.

Congrats on the Olympic! That's my favorite distance- now write a report and go do another one!

Awesome!!!!! Congrats!!!!!

Oh, by the way, the best recovery technique I have found is to go eat a quart of your favorite flavor of ice cream. You've earned it

I did that same race, and while I was browsing this thread my girlfriend said that she saw you. You're famous! (or the purple tops were quite distinctive...)

Congratulations!

Way to go Arti!! You kicked butt!

Congrats, Arti! Hell of a first race!

At long last, the exciting report you've all been waiting for. I wrote this up for my blog/supporters, so some of it speaks to that situation- and explains things for my friends/family who don't know anything abot Tri's. but either way, here goes it!


Night Before
Headed to the pre-race meeting, where I was pleased to hear that due to cooler normal water temperatures for the time of year (61 degrees), the swim might be cut back 1-200 yards. SCORE! This gave me something hopeful for my night's sleep.

After the meeting, I headed to Bonefish Grill in Loveland with some of the team for some grub. They had the most amazing sounding specials, but too rich for the night before a race. Calamari, crab cakes, and fish tacos also tempted my palete. I opted for something more practical: grilled salmon with garlic mashed potatoes.

After dinner I headed to the hotel to re-inventory all my race supplies and laid out clothes, breakfast, etc. for the morning. I hadn't really been nervous about anything up until this point, but I suddenly felt I had a lot to remember. I ended up putting on my timing chip and sleeping with it on (goes around the ankle ona plastic band), I figured if everything else went wrong, at least I'd still have a race time.

Lights out was at 10:00 PM. I think I woke up every hour, almost on the hour- and checked the time. I had the craziest dreams too- one was that my timing chip fell off overnight, and I left it in the hotel room sheets. Another was that I kept entering and leaving the transition areas the wrong way.

Race Morning
4:00 am... was the time my alarm was scheduled to go of. I actually got up at 3:50 AM, because I was awake. I went through my instant oatmeal and water routine, skipped the banana- got dressed, and headed out the door.

5:00 am... arrived at transition, and assembled my bike. I had both wheels and the seat off so it would fit in my hatchback and not be visible in my car overnight. At this point, I realized assembling everything right before the race was a stupid idea- not much time to fix anything that went wrong. Fortunately, all went well- I affixed my race numbers to my helmet, bike, race jersey... and was off.

5:30 am... Transition area opened, and I picked out a sweet spot right by the bike starting line. A few of my TNT teammates managed to get a spot nearby, also.

6:10 am... got a warm-up jog and some stretching in, stuffed myself into my wet suit, and am down by the water doing a few warm-up laps. Water felt pretty good- not as cold as they said friday night, so unfortunately I was in for the full 1500m swim. :(

Swim! (1500 m, or .9 miles)
6:35 am I was in the second wave swimming my little arms off (waves are predetermined groups for the starting line, usually a few different age groups matched up for equal-sized starts. They were a few minutes apart, and there were several waves behind me. Each wave is given a different color swim cap so you know approximately who you are racing against). Despite my apprehensions about the swim, it wasn't so bad! I wasn't swimming fast by any means, but when I'd turn my head to breathe I could see others around me with white swim caps- so I knew I wasn't the slowest! I did see swimmers from two different waves behind me pass me, and it was a bit of a rush when the wave behind would come flying past.

I SHOULD have looked closer at the course for the swim because I thought I had one more turn to go, when in fact I was almost to the finish line, and probably would have pushed a bit harder to the finish. Lesson learned!
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Transition 1: Swim to Bike
Coming out of the water I could see my cheerleading squad on shore (thanks, friends!!) which was a huge motivation. I took off running (we had a .25 mile jog back to transition) when the world started spinning, and I had to walk it. Unfortunately this little jog/walk adventure was tacked onto my swim time.

Transition went fairly smooth, I had no problem getting out of the wet suit- but I did have a problem getting my race singlet on. Based on the recommendation of other racers, I opted not to wear it in for the swim(they were supposedly not true race singlets and didn't dry very well)- Plus, I didn't have a race belt (to hold my race number for the run) so I tacked the number to my jersey, and was afraid it would tear if wet. I had a problem getting it on over my WET self. Another lesson learned!

Bike (30 mi)
This was the moment I'd been waiting for! I had ridden the race route the week before, and not only is it incredibly scenic, but just hilly enough to be FUN. I had already decided no matter ** choppy the water was, or how badly my swim went, I was so excited to get to the bike ride nothing would stop me.

About a mile in when I got my pace going, I slowed for half a powerbar. As I was gulping that down, one of the race photographers on the course snaped a shot. Crap!

Nothing too eventful to report from the bike ride. Some really impressive riders out there- and many people on Mountain Bikes probably doing their first triathlon. I did pass several riders in my age group, and got into a bit of a heat with a girl in my age group the last few miles. I tried not to get too competitive as I didn't want to burn my legs out for the run- but I did come in ahead of her :)

Transition 2: Bike to Run
This transition was easy... xcept for some reason it wasn't too fast. I think it took me longer to get my socks on than I anicipated, but I wasn't going to buy sockles shoes for my first race. Oh well.

(http://i293.photobucket.com/albums/mm51/artifice4/cid_521.jpg)

Run - 10k (6.2 mi)
As I started on the rn (.5 miles in?) there was a park restroom- and I elected to spend the 1 minute to run in and out than risk having to go on the race course. Plus, that minute wasn't going to cost me a win, anyway.

The run was an out and back , ut about a half mile longer on the "back" part. There were aidstations (water and gatorade) just about every mile. I skipped the first one, because I had a pretty good groove going. Tried to get a little water down at all of them. About a quarter-mile after the turn-around, I started having to take little powerwalk brakes, as my legs were starting to lock up. I started counting strides, and every 50 strides I'd walk 5. Mostly I was using this system to make myself keep running, but also get a bit of a break in. At what I thought was the second to last aid station, I decided to grab a gatorade intead of water - bad idea - - this was THE strongest gatorade I have tasted in my entire life. It must hve been 2x the recommended potency,and nearly made me gag. Too late, I'd already run past that station- and unfortunately it was the last (not second to last). I had to finish the race with that horrible flavor in my mouth. UGH!

Either way, I finished with a smile on my face, and feeling pretty good!


Reflection
Training for this event, I was looking forward to finishing the race, and fulfilling the promise I made to those who pledged support for me. There were a few moments during the race (especially the swim) where my motivation to push a little harder and go a little faster came from the patients themselves- people I don't even know. They go through so much pain and suffering- just to live, a few months of training and a few hours racing is absolutely nothing compared to that. I have made not only met a personal goal by becoming a triathlete this summer, but been a part of an important mission: to eradicate blood cancer. With your help, over $100,000.00 was raised just in the Rocky Mountain Chapter.


Results
Clock Time 03:21:47
Overall Place 453 / 623
Gender Place 146 / 259
Division Place 26 / 38
Swim 00:36:18
Trans1 00:02:37
Bike 01:41:16
Trans2 00:02:16
Run 00:59:19
Swmrnk 479
Bkrnk 427
Mph 17.7
Rnrnk 466
Pace 00:09:34

[URL="http://i293.photobucket.com/albums/mm51/artifice4/racepics.jpg"]

way to go!