OctoberBlue
07-01-04, 10:35 AM
Finally! After a year of considering and wondering, I registered for my first biathlon… and completed it. I’m very pleased that everything went well. First of all, the weather was perfect that morning, in the 60’s and sunny.
Since this was my first multi-sport race, I wasn’t keen on the idea of doing the run portion in padded bike shorts, so I wore unpadded spandex for the duration of the race. The bike portion was only 13 miles – no big deal. I finished the 5k run (a road course) in about 27 min., then the transition was about 1:30, according to my boyfriend’s stopwatch. It was nice that he was keeping tabs on the splits for me. Anyway, the bike route was primarily flat, with a couple of slightly rolling sections. It followed a section of main road (right lane marked for the race), residential streets and a bike path alongside another road. The 2-lap loop course was well marked and had folks stationed at intersections where we were supposed to turn.
My total time for the race was 1:16:20 – not bad for my first biathlon ever. I was happy to learn that I placed 3rd in the women’s division and first in my age group for it (ok, so I was the only one in my age group, but I’ll take the medal anyway). :-) Gotta love small races! (There were maybe a total of 100 in the race, including the duathletes and those only there for the 5k run.)
Questions regarding transitions:
What’s a typical transition time goal? I had only practiced my transition twice that week (due to time constraints and trying to get over a cold). At home, my ‘time’ for that was around 50 sec. to change into bike shoes, put on helmet, glasses & gloves. Of course, getting to your actual bike at the transition spot takes a bit of time.
When they say that the transition area is a ‘walk zone’, does that mean that you must *walk* to your stuff as well as *walk* your bike out? Can you run to your stuff? By the time I got there, there weren’t a lot of bikes left. I was just walking fast at that point, trying to get my heart rate down slightly before getting into bike mode.
This race was a total blast, and I’m sure I’d do even better next time. I’m eyeing one at the end of August, though weather will surely be sauna-like then. Hehe. There aren’t many biathlons around here – definitely more duathlons (may attempt someday) and triathlons. (I’m not much of a swimmer.)
Since this was my first multi-sport race, I wasn’t keen on the idea of doing the run portion in padded bike shorts, so I wore unpadded spandex for the duration of the race. The bike portion was only 13 miles – no big deal. I finished the 5k run (a road course) in about 27 min., then the transition was about 1:30, according to my boyfriend’s stopwatch. It was nice that he was keeping tabs on the splits for me. Anyway, the bike route was primarily flat, with a couple of slightly rolling sections. It followed a section of main road (right lane marked for the race), residential streets and a bike path alongside another road. The 2-lap loop course was well marked and had folks stationed at intersections where we were supposed to turn.
My total time for the race was 1:16:20 – not bad for my first biathlon ever. I was happy to learn that I placed 3rd in the women’s division and first in my age group for it (ok, so I was the only one in my age group, but I’ll take the medal anyway). :-) Gotta love small races! (There were maybe a total of 100 in the race, including the duathletes and those only there for the 5k run.)
Questions regarding transitions:
What’s a typical transition time goal? I had only practiced my transition twice that week (due to time constraints and trying to get over a cold). At home, my ‘time’ for that was around 50 sec. to change into bike shoes, put on helmet, glasses & gloves. Of course, getting to your actual bike at the transition spot takes a bit of time.
When they say that the transition area is a ‘walk zone’, does that mean that you must *walk* to your stuff as well as *walk* your bike out? Can you run to your stuff? By the time I got there, there weren’t a lot of bikes left. I was just walking fast at that point, trying to get my heart rate down slightly before getting into bike mode.
This race was a total blast, and I’m sure I’d do even better next time. I’m eyeing one at the end of August, though weather will surely be sauna-like then. Hehe. There aren’t many biathlons around here – definitely more duathlons (may attempt someday) and triathlons. (I’m not much of a swimmer.)