Monday, July 6, 2009

Finished my first tri

And I loved it!

Me thinks I will have to change my blog name...

How about...

Ramblings of a Swimming, Biking, and Running Addict,

or perhaps

Ramblings of a Triathlon Addict. :)

What a blast these events are!

Here is a quick summary of my day. I will have to post pictures later, I am at Starbucks and forgot my camera to upload the pictures.

Swim
I have only swam a handful of time this year (well OK maybe twice), with one of those swims being on Monday, so I was very nervous about the swim. Even though I have swam a lot in the past, I knew that it would be an interesting experience. I was also nervous about wearing my wetsuit, and oh did I mention that this was my very first open water swim, not to mention first time wearing a wetsuit?!! I figured there would be lifeguards if I got in trouble :) :)

Well anyway, the swim was fun, I just tried to stay steady. I usually breath bilaterally alternating sides, but I found it easier to breathe every stroke, since there were so many people around me. I kept calm, but this would not be good for someone who is claustrophobic.

Swim time: 17:40 (2.22 minutes/100m).

Very pleased with the swim. I know I can improve on this with some training and also not veering off course so much. I am a bit of a zig-zagger!

Transition to bike
I don't have my T1 time (I wish sports stat would provide this), but I can tell you it was a wee bit rough. I came running out of the water and I felt a bit like a lead balloon. I had trouble getting my suit off, I felt clumsy coming out of the water, like I might trip and fall. I then had to run with my cycling (tap) shoes until the bike mount point. I felt a little dizzy at first on the bike, and had trouble clipping in. I finally had clipped in and then there was a huge hill. I grannied down and pushed up the hill, but my heart was racing, and I decided to dismount. Not a great feeling, but it really felt like the right thing to do since I felt dizzy. I waited a few minutes, the dizziness passed and got back on the bike. I think it was just inexperience with the transition swim to bike - I must practice this in the future!

Bike time: 58:47 (21.9 kph).

I know this time can be improved. Just this past week I biked a BRICK time trial with the Nachos, and my 16.3K time was 34:01 (28.5 kph), and it was because of the dismount, but I still felt happy that I pushed through and this was about experience, not trying to kill myself, and just going through the motions was enough.

Transition to run
This transition was much smoother. I decided to keep my cycling shirt on, and was off without much fuss, although I forgot my handheld water, and Hubs caught up to me with a cold bottle of PowerAid. Thanks Hubs, you are a sweetie! Again the legs felt funny, but the BRICK workouts I have done (well one on Thursday) prepared me for this feeling. It was hot, but I just ran it, walking occasionally to take quick sips of water

Run time: 27:31 (5:30km/min)

I felt pleased with this time, since I felt like I was going much slower, I think alot of it is heavy legs after the swim/bike.

Overall time: 1hr 43 min 53 seconds. Not too shabby, and I guess I blew away my 2 hour time goal. Still I think I can improve, especially if you add up "race times' (86 minutes) to total time (100 minutes). Yep, almost 14 minutes, but I think some of that is running to the transition from beach, to bike mount, from bike dismount. Or of course I could just be a high maintenance girl, which is likely true too!

Thoughts for next time:
-less is more I will ditch the cycling top for a onesie tri suit under the wetsuit
-practice swim to bike transition
-practice swim in open water

Other than that, I loved it, and can't wait to do another. I think I will sign up for the Ironman 70.3. First I have to develop a training plan that will allow me to train for both this Ironman and St.George in October.

Anyway, thanks for all your well wishes. Some of you mentioned that you were hoping to try one to and I say go for it!! You can do one with not much training, just try one for fun and see how it goes and if you like it!!

I will try to catch up on your blogs before my 2hrs free at Starbucks expires (on holidays with no wifi!!)
Thanks for reading!

46 comments:

Mel-2nd Chances said...

Congrats, I'm so excited for you!! Well done on the swim, and what they've told us in the clinic is that it's 'normal' to get that dizzy, nauseous feeling going from horizontal during the swim to vertical on the bike. You did amazing!!!

Cal said...

A big monster congrats to you!! Looks like you know what you need to work on, but you did rock it! Keep it up, you did AWESOME!

Unknown said...

Great review. I will be doing my first Tri this Sunday and reading this helped calm me down a little more regarding the fear of the unknown.

Unknown said...

congrats! it is addicting, no?

RoadBunner said...

Congratulations!!! Another runner bites the dust to tris!! Just kidding :)

Laura said...

Congrats, I'm inspired!

Jo Lynn said...

Oh, you sound so happy! I'm happy for you. Yup, I'm gonna try one of these. I even have someone that's willing to swim in the open water with me. ;)

Carly said...

Congrats! I heard once you go tri you never go back to just running.

Melanie Tait said...

Wow that's all so fast! I can't believe it was your first! Well done.

Lily on the Road said...

Way.To.GO!!

You were awesome and SportsStats usually does have the T times posted, check it out it should be there. So glad you had a great time and yes, Mel is right, changing disciplines takes getting use to.

you need to practice transitions just like you practice running, biking and swimming...

Good Job!! You'll be ready for the Half Iron in October, WOOO HOOOO!

anners said...

Wow! You did GREAT! Especially for a first tri!! Congratulations!

FLYERS26 said...

Great job!
I did a "DU" 2 yrs ago, run-bike-run, and the transition from run to bike,and back to run was really hard. It took me awhile after the bike, to get the legs back to running.

Congrats again!

FLYERS26 said...

Great job!
I did a "DU" 2 yrs ago, run-bike-run, and the transition from run to bike,and back to run was really hard. It took me awhile after the bike, to get the legs back to running.

Congrats again!

Lindsay said...

congrats! you definitely blew 2-hrs out of the water. your bike start sounds tough - i hate feeling dizzy/faint while trying to workout but glad you were able to push through it. sounds like you know what things you want to work on for next time, so go get 'em! :)

Relentless Forward Commotion said...

CONGRATS!!!! How fun, I can't wait to someday do a tri!!

joyRuN said...

Congratulations!!!!! You kicked serious butt on your first tri!

Anonymous said...

You did such a great, great, great job! You have gotten me so very excited about my first tri. I too really want to do a 70.3. I am thinking RI next year.

No Longer Using said...

congrats!!!!!!!!!!! so awesome for you. how do tri peeps usually record/keep their transition times???? that is def something the race should report!!

Felice Devine said...

So awesome! Congratulations, triathlon addict! :-)

Jess said...

Congrats! I'm glad you enjoyed the experience so much!

Marlene said...

Congratulations! So glad you had such a great first tri experience. You did really well and it's great that you're already planning the next one!

Laura said...

Congrats! You made it sound easy.

Heather said...

Congrats on the first tri! Sounds like you had a great time.

EndorphinBuzz said...

Congratulations and well done on your first tri. I enjoyed reading about the issues you dealt with and hope I can learn from them on my first tri in the fall :)

Denise said...

Congrats! Sounds like you did awesome!! I'm happy it was such a good experience for you.

RunningLaur said...

Congrats!!!

You make it sound so fun, I'd amost consider it :)
Can't wait to see pictures!

Runner Leana said...

Marci, yay!!! Nicely done! The dizziness after the swim is really calm. Just take some extra time in transition to let things come into focus. I had the same feeling on Sunday. It also helps to leave your bike in the easiest gear possible so you don't have to adjust as you come out of T1.

I'd recommend a tri top and tri shorts as opposed to a one piece tri suit. Having the one piece suit can be a real pain in the rear if you need to hit the bathrooms before or during the race. Especially for a longer race like a 70.3.

Congratulations and nicely done!!!

Ali said...

Congrats on your first tri! Those are great times.

You Rock!

TNTcoach Ken said...

Congrats and many more.

Chic Runner said...

WOW! Who knew you would love it! ha ha. I am deathly afraid but your love for it sounds sincere so perhaps I shall give swimming a tri. HAHAHA no pun intended, kind of. :) Congrats again on a great finish!

N.D. said...

congratulations! I want to do one !!

Katie said...

WELL DONE! Good work! Sounds like you had an awesome time!

Aron said...

yayyyy awesome girl!!!! no doubt there will be MANY more tris coming up :)

Unknown said...

You definitely need to change your blog name to Rambings of a Tri-Addict. Wow - I am amazed. That is incredible report. I am truly impressed. Wish I was there to see it all.

MCM Mama said...

Great job! You are amazing!

Anonymous said...

For not having swam much this year, that was great! And you had a good 5k after all that biking too. Congratulations Marci!
(Hubs)

Steve Stenzel said...

CONGRATS!!! Nice job!! You should be so proud of this!!

And yeah, getting in those open water training swims now-and-then will help a LOT!!

Nitmos said...

Congratulations! I want to do a tri but I haven't dipped my toe in those waters yet. Get it?

Unknown said...

Congrats, sounds like it went well all in all. I signed up for my first one so I'll definitely practice the transitions beforehand, thanks for the tip!

Anonymous said...

congrats!!!!! ia m so glad that you loved it :)

this post makes me feel a lot better since I just signe dup for my 1st sprint tria nd have no freaken clue what I am doing! haha was there a certain program you followed?

Christy said...

That's incredible! Good for you!

I am thinking of training for my first duathalon this October. I can't wait!

Marathon Maritza said...

Congrats Marci!!!! I am so not a swimmer or a biker, so I'm doubly impressed with your achievement...great job!!!!!

Vava said...

Awesome stuff! I can't believe that your third swim of the year was in a race - hard core! Congrats on a fantastic race experience.

Unknown said...

The distances for my tri were 500m, 13 miles, and a 5K. It was a short one. I think that is why it went by so fast.

Stuart said...

Great job, not that I know but transition practice makes all the difference so I am told!

Alisa said...

My first tri report comments sounded similar...I think I said "I loved it, loved it, loved it" or something!