Presque Isle Triathlon 2012
Date: 08/25/2012
Distance: Sprint
Swim: 0.35 mi
Bike: 13 mi
Run: 3.5 mi
Goal: Finish, standing up and with out having to stop or walk
Stretch goal: finish in 1hr 30min or less.
Swim: 17:10.20
T1: 03:38.55
Bike: 38:35.20
T2: 00:48.60
Run: 31:11.45
Total Time: 01:31:24
I was Very anxious to get started. I wouldn't say nervous so much just anxious. I could feel the adrenalin pumping through my veins. We showed up on time, got checked in, inked up and chipped. We were ready to go. I knew 11 other people at the race so it was pretty exciting to have everyone around.
The water looked pretty choppy that morning. The evening before, we came out to the lake to take a swim and check things out. The water was smooth as glass. Not the next morning. Once we stepped out of the hotel I was a little worried of what it was going to be like at the lake. The wind had picked up over night and was blowing pretty good in the morning. Of course being a novice racer I was too ignorant of open water swimming to really be afraid.
One last minute change by the organizers and we were ready to go. On race day, they announced a change to the starting format from age group waves to a time trial start. I had never heard of a time trial start. Apparently, it's when everyone gets into a single file line and starts the race one at a time.
Time to Race!!
Swim
Water temperature was comfortable, in the mid 70s. I was able to run a good 20 meters or so before swimming was the faster way to go. ...Wow! I was not prepared for the chop. I had done all my swim training in a pool. I guess there is a good reason that everyone is always saying to practice open water swimming.
The swim course was set up as a triangle. The back leg was by far the hardest for me. We were swimming parallel to the shore and across the chop. At one point, I took three consecutive breaths where a wave crashed directly into my face. That was it; I had to stop and regroup. I knew I could swim the distance but I had to get my breath back first. Luckily, I was near one of the lifeguards in a kayak. A 30 second break holding into the end and I was good to continue. Finally got out of the water and in just over 17 minutes. That was a lot longer than I had anticipated and a lot longer than I trained for.
Transition 1
A quick jog up the beach to T1 to get my bike. All my pre-race research said "set up your transition area so you are good to go when you get there". So I had my transition area laid out ahead of time and I was glad I did. It definitely made the transition go smoothly. The only struggle was the shirt (I was wet OK..) I had the race bib pre-pinned to the shirt and that got a little caught up when pulling on my shit. Shoes on - helmet on - heart rate monitor on - a quick power gel and I was good to go.. I grabbed my bike and started jogging out of the transition area.
Bike
No pedal clips or toe straps on Big Red. Just jump on the bike and go. "Make sure you are out of the transition area and your helmet is strapped on before you get on the bike" is all I kept hearing in my head as I got ready to go. I think they said that 10 times in the pre-race meeting.
I am happiest with my performance on the bike. Considering that I was riding a mountain bike, I think that a pace of 2:58/mile is pretty decent. My average pace in training was only 3.28min/mile. That's about 20MPH. Of course, it helps that the course was very flat and the wind wasn't much of a factor on the road. One quick loop around the park and that was it. It was fun and reassuring to catch up to and pass some people who had clearly passed me in the swim. At the same time it was humbling to be passed by someone nearly twice my age who started minutes behind me. Over all it think it was a good ride.
Transition 2
T2 was a pretty quick turn. No shoes to change. No cloths to change. Just jump off the bike run into T2 and rack it, take a quick drink and head out of T2 to the run.
Run
I was actually feeling pretty good at the beginning start of the run. My adrenaline was pretty high and I was happy after what felt like a good ride. I settled into a nice steady pace and just ran it out. It was awesome to hear people cheering each other on as the runners on the return leg were passing those of us going out. What a great bunch of folks. The end of the run course lead through a small wooded area that opened up for the last 50 meters or so to a crowd of people cheering every finisher on. What a relief I could see the end! Awesome! I did it! Triathlon Complete, check that one of the bucket list.
Lessons learned
1. Practice open water swims
- Everyone said I should do it and I didn't. ...I really should have. Swimming in the open water with waves and currents is a completely different beast than lane swimming in the pool. If you have never done it, make sure you practice it a few times before you race.
2. Learn to recognize wave direction and turn my head the other way when breathing
- This sounds easy enough, but it took me a while to figure out. I really wanted to breath on my right side and every time I did there was a wave there to hit me in the face. Once I calmed down and figured this out, things got a lot easier.
3. Transition zone setup is good
- I am glad I took this advice. I had my transition area laid out before the race. I think the biggest benefit was T1 where I needed to get all my gear ready to go. I had my shoes, shirt, helmet and fuel all laid out ready to go when I got in from the swim.
4. Get a race bib belt
- This would have been very helpful, especially in T1. I had a minor wardrobe malfunction because I had pre-attached my bib number to my shirt. When putting my shirt on I was worried about ripping the bib. With a belt, I could have just snapped it on and been done.
5. I need a road bike
- Big Red did good for me and I am happy with my performance. But she is just not built for the road. I was consistently being passed by people just cruising along at a moderate cadence, while I was pedaling as fast as I could in top gear the whole time.
Wrap Up
All-in-all the race went well for me. I am happy with my accomplishments. I did what I set out to do, I completed a triathlon! - How could I not be happy? During my training, it came apparent to me that I would probably make it through the race, so I set a stretch goal of 1hr 30min completion time. I just missed that mark by 1min 24sec. I'm very OK with that. I learned some valuable lessons during this race and I plan on applying them to my training, and future races. Now that it is all over, I can say that I want to do it again. I lost a lot of weight this past year, and got into the best shape I have been in a long time. Perhaps longer distance races are in my future.... we'll see where that goes.
