Today I swam 1,500 meters, rode 40 kilometers and ran 10K. This was my first Olympic distance triathlon. I finished it.
The Yankee gave an excellent list of post-race thoughts on her experience on Twitter …
Some race musings: wetsuits really DO give you and advantage, and are kind of awesome. #aquabike
— Lauren Smith (@LaurnSmith) April 27, 2014
So I thought I’d give it a try as well. Here they are for the site, with a bit more elaboration.
First of all, here’s the finish line. My beautiful wife took this picture just before I crossed it. You’ll notice the crowds have gone. You can imagine why.
In the lake thoughts: “Can’t breathe. Don’t drown. Why can’t I swim? Don’t drown.”
We rented wet suits. This race was still wetsuit legal because we have had exactly one week of spring and the water just hasn’t warmed up much yet. We’d intended to go to an open-water swim practice last week, but the morning that was held the weather was chilly to cold and getting in water didn’t seem all that appealing. Today, in her aquabike and my triathlon, we tried them out for the first time. She really liked hers. Mine, it turns out, tended to constrict my breathing. I’m not the best race swimmer in the world anyway and I’m almost always in a beautiful, clear-bottomed pool. Put that, brown lake water and a new breathing experience together … well, I wasn’t the last one out of the water. But it was close.
I had a nice chat with one of the lifeguards who was paddling along as I worked my way to the end of the swim, though.
Here’s the swim route. Nine buoys, 1,500 meters, a big loop:
On-the-bike thoughts: “I am the best bad rider out here!”
All the serious cyclists were far ahead. I swept up a lot of people who struggle in the cycling portion of the race. No one passed me, so I found myself making up some ground, in a virtual way. I always cheer on others I pass who are working hard. We all need it from time to time.
This route, which features about 1,000 feet of climbing, starts at the star at the bottom left of the map below, goes up and to the right near the airport and then sprints back down to the water. You come back up from that park and then turn right to head home. As I was heading toward that park The Yankee was coming to the turning point to head back to the start/finish. (She’s a much better race swimmer and had an early time trial start time.) We waved. I thought I might be able to catch her. Nope. She was moving.
Running thoughts: “I still have to run!? … Why did it take three miles for my calves to unclinch? … Those two ladies cheated!”
No one passed me except for the woman who admitted to taking a short cut and the other one who might have also shorted herself at the turnaround. She would have caught me anyway.
Look closely at the run route. We ran from Georgia into Alabama. And back:
Olympic tri finish line thoughts: “Go strong … Don’t look at the clock. Smile! Where is the water? Give me all of the water!”
Being happy at the finish is important. This was my first Olympic-distance triathlon and I’m not really in the shape I want to be in for them. My swim was bad, my bike was OK and my run left a good deal to be desired. The ride, which will always be my favorite part, was weird. I’d been telling myself for days that I wouldn’t save anything after the ride because the run was so flat. Who needs legs for that? And then my swim was so bad I spent the rest of the race wondering if I should conserve my legs for the run or just go. I never did resolve that issue, and I think it showed in both the bike and the run as far as energy levels and how my legs felt.
But! I was outside, doing something fun, enjoying a beautiful day and trying to be healthy. I don’t even feel miserable at the end. I feel surprisingly good, and that’s not just the endorphines talking.
I do not know what is happening.
We found a training routine last year that says on race day you get to bask in the achievement. We read “bask” to mean ice cream. And so it has been that we’ve probably had the worst food day of the year. But I found a website that told me how many calories I burned and, suddenly, that became the most official site on the Internet, because it says I burned a lot of calories.
Goals for the day: Don’t drown. Check. Don’t get swept up in the water (they have a time limit on the swim). Check. Don’t have any mechanical problems on the bike. Check. Finish. Check. Don’t be last. Check.
The Yankee, meanwhile, finished second in the women’s division of the aquabike – a swim/ride race of the same distances I did today. She finished third overall. Because she is awesome.
And now I’m an Olympic-distance triathlon survivor. Coming up next is a sprint triathlon, which is considerably shorter, but no less fun.
