cycleprincess

Well, good news is I finished...which really was the goal. Although I was not the last one to cross the finish line, I did indeed have the slowest time. It's all good though. I came off the bike (which is my gig...I mean cycling is my thing!) and said out loud how much I freaking hated triathlons. I was a bit upset to say the least. I couldn't believe it took me almost an hour and a half to go 15 miles. Yes, 15 not 13.8 like they said!! Anyway. It has NEVER taken me that long. I usually average 13-15 mph depending on the course. Boy howdy this was a hilly course! I train for hills. I'm usually pretty good with hills, I've never had to walk a hill, and I was NOT going to walk this one, even though several people did. It sort of snuck up on ya and unless you could dump your gears quick you were stuck walking it. Anywhoo...so that really torked me off that it took me so long. I was at one point during the ride questioning my passion for cycling. Needless to say after I parked my bike back in T the last thing I wanted to do was run. But I did. Well, walked a good portion of it. 49 minutes...walked most of it actually. Toward the end I would walk to a cone then run to a cone so on and so forth. SO...bottom line is I finished, and I'm happy about that. It just really surprised me that I was so pokey on the bike. And what I found very interesting is that the entire time I was on the bike I was anerobic. I wore my HRM and I never dropped below 150. Hung out at 170 most of the time, and I peaked at 195 which honestly scared me a little, on that last hill "nice hill" I thought my lunges were going to explode! I came back from the run feeling great though. Full of energy...I totally could have jumped back on my bike and knocked out another 30 miles. I am ALL slow twitch. I'm just starting to feel good and it's over! Felt really good about my swim though. I did the swim in 6:25 and had to pass a few people which was frustrating. I tried to change my swim time two weeks before the race from 7:30 to 6:30 but the coordinator of the race said it was too late. So that's why I had to pass. I guess next time I'll know to put 6:30. Anywhoo...overall I feel really good about the experience and I am definately going to do another tri. Don't know when...but I have my eye on a women's only try in June. So we'll see.

Oooo...gotta work on the T times too...nearly 5 minutes each time. (Total time 2:32)

YAY ME!!

james_holden

nice job!! especially since you were pushing it on the bike leg...if i go above 150 on the bike you might as well just get ready to scrape me off the asphalt...

H2OChick

Nice job cycleprincess! That's terrific. I love reading about people's race experiences.

hoodlum

Rock On! Glad you had a good race. You're right about praticing the "T"'s. It is a lot easier to get faster there than swimming, biking, or running. Great Job.

cjbruin

Way to go. You are now officially a triathlete!!!

Pick your next one now and go for a new PR

ZackJones

You go girl! You have the right attitude, you finished and now you're looking for the next one to do. Transitions can make a difference. Set up a transition area at home and practice them. Good luck in June!

MHR

Thank you for the race report - A rough day out there is better than any day sitting on a sofa.
It's important to know that you worked hard, did your best and pushed the limits of your ability on race day. A great man (commander John Collins founder of Ironman Hawaii) once said - "You can quit and they (others) don't care, but you will know it for a lifetime". At the end of the day, being honest with yourself (as you have) is all that really matters. Yes - you finished and you didn't quit - congrats for that accomplishment and welcome to the family.

cycleprincess

THANKS!! I'm totally hooked. I basically got into this thing because my girlfriend talked me into it. I'm mostly a cyclist like I said, but after the triathlon...man it kicked my butt, and I loved it. The challenge, the adrenaline and the applause when I finished. Dude...I felt like a rock star!! It was awesome. One question...would you suggest a trisuit? Do they really dry faster then regular cycling shorts over a swim suit?

RoadToad

Way to go! I wimped out of this race because I felt I needed more training... Now I wish I had done it. Great job finishing...most normal people (i.e. couch potatoes...) would have quit!

RT

MHR

I say no but it really depends for several reasons - mostly personal choice
1. It depends on the Tri distance (I typically do 1/2 IM's and IM's and a few Olympic distance)
In the old days I did the entire race in a speedo and most did in the 1980's.
2. Tri suits are ment to be used for the entire event - no changes in T1 or T2 just the shoes and attach of the number for the most part. But IMHO I am faster in Swim specific, Bike specific and Run specific attire.
- I will swim in a wet suit, or a speedo fastskin knee skin if the water temp is too warm for a wetsuit. Wetsuits are just the fastest for the swim. Next to the wetsuit is the swim specific "speedo fastskin" which has set world records in the swim. They are just so much faster over any trisuit out there. It saves me more time in the swim then I would ever gain in T1 over a Trisuit, but then again it depends on your swimming ability.
Also, as a marathon runner I hate running in anything akin to padding on my rear...some don't mind but I can't stand it. I also hate being wet on the bike, and a tri suit would be wet for a good part of the bike. For me the added comfort of sport specific attire allows me to just focus on my race and not how I feel about being wet, chafing, or general comfort level, etc...
Let me just say even if someone gave me one I would never use it - I guess I'm just "old school".

cycleprincess

Thanks for the advise. I've looked at them and they seem like a good idea, but I can't justify spending upwards of $100 for something I really don't need. Strange sounding coming from the Queen of "buy whatever I want whether I need it or not"! The padding doesn't bother me when I run...or rather walk/jog...gotta work on that, but it might in the future especially if my run times improve. For now I'll just throw on my cycle shorts and jersey over my wet swim suit. Mostly the cold more then anything bothers me, but that'll change when the air warms up more toward the middle of summer. I guess most of your swims are open water because you use the wetsuit? I didn't see any at the pool swim, of course I don't imagine many IM's are pool swims anyway!

Gonzo Bob

I wear a one piece tri-suit. Over the 20 years I've been in triathlon, I've raced in a wide variety of attire. Swim brief, tri-brief (padded swim brief), tri-brief and tri-man-bra :-), tri-shorts, tri-shorts and tri-tank. Finally last year I broke down and bought a tri-suit. I really like it. I wear it for all race distances and for duathlons, too.