Trying my Hand
It's been too long since I competed in a team sporting event. The practices over the last month or so have been made much less mentally painful when I can share them with others. Even though I was hoping for at least another month of tri specific training, there wasn't a whole lot I could've done about the race date. I'd be pushed out of the nest a bit prematurely but I was excited to see how I would compete.
In order to get to Anderson in time to get our gear checked in and to watch the Auburn game, we rolled out of town around 10:30. After getting our goody bags with number tattoos and various promo freebee's, we dropped off our bikes at the first of two transition areas. This race was a bit unconventional for having two transition locations but due to logistics, it couldn't be helped. That evening we checked in to our hotel. To classify it as a "budget" type of hotel would be a complement. The rooms smelled off, our door frame showed clear signs of a previous break-in, and perhaps worst of all, the overhead fan in the bathroom was broken. Sketchyness aside, I ended up sleeping pretty well that night.
The team and I invaded a nearby Applebee's to watch some Saturday night football and to top off all our glycogen stores before bed.
Something else that I found unconventional about this race was that I fell asleep pretty quickly and slept very soundly that Saturday night, getting way more sleep than is typical of pre-race nights. The morning sun came quickly up behind the thick clouds. A warm shower and a stop at Dunkin Donuts later (the pumpkin muffin was scrumptious), Drew, Elizabeth, Andrew, and I were on the shuttle en route to T1 to set up our essentials for the first transition. Unfortunately, it had taken a little longer to get over here than we thought and I ended up only have about 5 minutes to prepare my things around my bike and didn't even have a chance to top up my tires with air. Well, I guess that's how I'd have to learn.
Being as green as I was at tri's, I do not yet have a wetsuit nor could I find one to borrow. And considering how it cost $65 to rent one, I was one of the very few dopes our there that wore nothing but tri shorts at the start of the race. It was getting dangerously close to one of those dreams where I show up near or completely naked to an important event.
After the horn sounded and I plodded through some muddy sand into the lukewarm water, it took a 100m or so before I was able to settle in and find room to swim without running into other slow swimmers. Though I couldn't tell who was around me, I saw that I was at least matching my pace with the other collegiate males in the water with me that did have wet suits on. At least there was that.
Emerging from the water just shy of 29 minutes later, I immediately found myself disoriented and slightly dazed. Transitioning from half an hour of horizontal swimming to vertical running on an uneven lake shore felt like a massive head rush, like when you're sitting down for a while then you stand up too fast, only it was all over my body. One advantage I did have by not wearing a wet suit was that I didn't have to take it off. I was in and out of T1 faster than about everyone else around me, saving me about a minute on my total time. Since I didn't have time earlier to tape my energy gel to my bike frame, I just had it sitting in my helmet. As I started my flying mount, I had no where else to put it but in my mouth. I didn't have a chance to stuff it into my tri shorts until after my picture was taken around the first turn. I look forward to seeing that one.
Considering how anomalous a perfect race is, I tried not to let my little set backs bother me. The ride was underway and I was getting passed at pretty regular intervals. I noticed that my back tire was in fact under-inflated and there was a terrible sound coming from my front wheel that sounded like sand paper rubbing together. Between transporting my bike and putting the front wheel back on, the front brake calipers had shifted making one of them rub up against my wheel rim. No matter. Keep pushing.
The course turned out to be very winding and not all that flat. The wind didn't help but there's always wind. I did enjoy the new countryside around me, cows staring me down at every other turn. The miles rolled by quickly and soon I was riding back through the main part of town getting closer to the second transition. Interestingly, within 4 miles of T2 I started passing people again, the first time I had done so on the bike. Where these guys getting tired? Not pacing themselves properly? I would be most interested to see how these results would change if this race were twice its length.
Approaching the dismount line, I reached down and unvelcrowed my shoes and pulled my feet free, tearing through the next transition in less than a minute.
Finally, the 10k run, the one event wet suits or underinflated tires can do nothing to slow me down. Yeah, my legs were burning in a new way and this was another kind of pain that other races I've done haven't given me, but I was catching up. The other triathletes seemed to be just hanging on at this point. I was averaging about 6 min/mile, picking people off one after the other. My feet were blistering from the pace and lack of socks but I did my best to ignore it, just keep running, enjoy it.
The route was a little strange, taking us on a twisty out 'n back before returning us back to the start/finish. I managed to pass two more people in the final half mile before crossing that happy finish line. The physical pain was far overpowered by the massive dump of dopamine and endorphins I was getting a huge high on while walking around all the inflatables, grabbing food and recovery drinks as I went.
Aside from finishing my first tri, I was super excited on a huge 10k PR. Even after the two other events, I finished the run in 37:22, 2:38 faster than a 10k I ran on fresh legs last December.
Dinner that night back in Auburn at the New Tokyo buffet with Robert, Andrew, Drew, and Elizabeth was the most satisfying meal I'd had in a while. I can only imagine what that seafood dinner in Key West will be like come this January after 200 miles of Ragnar relaying.
Results
In order to get to Anderson in time to get our gear checked in and to watch the Auburn game, we rolled out of town around 10:30. After getting our goody bags with number tattoos and various promo freebee's, we dropped off our bikes at the first of two transition areas. This race was a bit unconventional for having two transition locations but due to logistics, it couldn't be helped. That evening we checked in to our hotel. To classify it as a "budget" type of hotel would be a complement. The rooms smelled off, our door frame showed clear signs of a previous break-in, and perhaps worst of all, the overhead fan in the bathroom was broken. Sketchyness aside, I ended up sleeping pretty well that night.
The team and I invaded a nearby Applebee's to watch some Saturday night football and to top off all our glycogen stores before bed.
Something else that I found unconventional about this race was that I fell asleep pretty quickly and slept very soundly that Saturday night, getting way more sleep than is typical of pre-race nights. The morning sun came quickly up behind the thick clouds. A warm shower and a stop at Dunkin Donuts later (the pumpkin muffin was scrumptious), Drew, Elizabeth, Andrew, and I were on the shuttle en route to T1 to set up our essentials for the first transition. Unfortunately, it had taken a little longer to get over here than we thought and I ended up only have about 5 minutes to prepare my things around my bike and didn't even have a chance to top up my tires with air. Well, I guess that's how I'd have to learn.
Being as green as I was at tri's, I do not yet have a wetsuit nor could I find one to borrow. And considering how it cost $65 to rent one, I was one of the very few dopes our there that wore nothing but tri shorts at the start of the race. It was getting dangerously close to one of those dreams where I show up near or completely naked to an important event.
After the horn sounded and I plodded through some muddy sand into the lukewarm water, it took a 100m or so before I was able to settle in and find room to swim without running into other slow swimmers. Though I couldn't tell who was around me, I saw that I was at least matching my pace with the other collegiate males in the water with me that did have wet suits on. At least there was that.
Emerging from the water just shy of 29 minutes later, I immediately found myself disoriented and slightly dazed. Transitioning from half an hour of horizontal swimming to vertical running on an uneven lake shore felt like a massive head rush, like when you're sitting down for a while then you stand up too fast, only it was all over my body. One advantage I did have by not wearing a wet suit was that I didn't have to take it off. I was in and out of T1 faster than about everyone else around me, saving me about a minute on my total time. Since I didn't have time earlier to tape my energy gel to my bike frame, I just had it sitting in my helmet. As I started my flying mount, I had no where else to put it but in my mouth. I didn't have a chance to stuff it into my tri shorts until after my picture was taken around the first turn. I look forward to seeing that one.
Considering how anomalous a perfect race is, I tried not to let my little set backs bother me. The ride was underway and I was getting passed at pretty regular intervals. I noticed that my back tire was in fact under-inflated and there was a terrible sound coming from my front wheel that sounded like sand paper rubbing together. Between transporting my bike and putting the front wheel back on, the front brake calipers had shifted making one of them rub up against my wheel rim. No matter. Keep pushing.
The course turned out to be very winding and not all that flat. The wind didn't help but there's always wind. I did enjoy the new countryside around me, cows staring me down at every other turn. The miles rolled by quickly and soon I was riding back through the main part of town getting closer to the second transition. Interestingly, within 4 miles of T2 I started passing people again, the first time I had done so on the bike. Where these guys getting tired? Not pacing themselves properly? I would be most interested to see how these results would change if this race were twice its length.
Approaching the dismount line, I reached down and unvelcrowed my shoes and pulled my feet free, tearing through the next transition in less than a minute.
Finally, the 10k run, the one event wet suits or underinflated tires can do nothing to slow me down. Yeah, my legs were burning in a new way and this was another kind of pain that other races I've done haven't given me, but I was catching up. The other triathletes seemed to be just hanging on at this point. I was averaging about 6 min/mile, picking people off one after the other. My feet were blistering from the pace and lack of socks but I did my best to ignore it, just keep running, enjoy it.
The route was a little strange, taking us on a twisty out 'n back before returning us back to the start/finish. I managed to pass two more people in the final half mile before crossing that happy finish line. The physical pain was far overpowered by the massive dump of dopamine and endorphins I was getting a huge high on while walking around all the inflatables, grabbing food and recovery drinks as I went.
Aside from finishing my first tri, I was super excited on a huge 10k PR. Even after the two other events, I finished the run in 37:22, 2:38 faster than a 10k I ran on fresh legs last December.
Dinner that night back in Auburn at the New Tokyo buffet with Robert, Andrew, Drew, and Elizabeth was the most satisfying meal I'd had in a while. I can only imagine what that seafood dinner in Key West will be like come this January after 200 miles of Ragnar relaying.
Results
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