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 Swim
Comments: Summary: I start right about in the middle, which was about right for me. There was some contact, but not as much as I expected. I paniced a little the first 200m or so, but got more comfortable near the end. Overall, not too good, but acceptable for my first OWS in a race format. Detail. FYI, swimming is my weakest leg. I really only learned how to swim in November when I joined a masters class. But I think I have come a long way. It was only about 5 weeks ago that I could swim over 200yds contiuous in the pool...and have since worked up to over 1000. But this was new territory for me. At the gun, I start swimming, but looking back, I know my form was horrible. I was turning over way too fast and not gliding at all. Part of it was the nerves, part of it was the large swells, and part of it was just not used to swimming with people around me. The first 2 minutes or so, I really had thoughs of "what the F... am I doing out here?...Do I really belong...Should I be doing bike/run duathalons instead?" So I make the turn at the first buoy...BAM...a big swell right in the face. Luckily we only had to swim outwards for about 75 yds before the next turn. But the way back wasn't much better. I can only breathe on my right, so that's where the swells were coming in from...I swallowed some salt water a few times. At this point, my nerves have settled down as the field spreads out, but my form is still bad. People start to pass me now, and I'm passing no one. I wasn't expecting to pass anyone, but getting passed at this point was a little discouraging as I thought all the faster swimmers would already be ahead. Coming down the final stretch, I notice some women passing me...women were supposed to start about 5 minutes after us, but who knows if it was really 2 minutes or 5 minutes. This doesn't really bother me, as I expected the faster women to blow by me anyway. But it's at this point where I can see the finish about 200m away that my form starts to improve. Gliding more, and more efficient. I was kind of wishing we could have swam about 500m more...NOT. A short jog up the beach, and the worst part of my fears is over. It was about 3 minutes slower than I hoped, but I think it was that way for everyone. What would you do differently?: More OWS. Granted, swimming has really only "clicked" for me about 5 weeks ago...so there's not much more I could have done...but this was the first time I swam in the surf/swells. All my other OWS have been in calm touristy areas with no waves.  Transition 1
Comments: Once I get into T1, I'm a lot more tired than I thought I would be. I think just battling the surf is what made it tiring. I take a moment to compose myself, rinse my feet off put on my socks, bike shoes, helmet, sunglasses and off I go. I double check my helmet strap is clipped just before I mount. What would you do differently?: Nothing really. I didn't forget anything, and was fairly efficient at what I did do.  Bike
Comments: Summary: My computer measured the bike course at 11.33 miles. So my pace was really 21.3 mph. I get going pretty good, and pass a bunch of people. I believe only 3 people passed me, and I must have passed about 35+. Detail: Once I get on, I pick up speed pretty quick. I start passing people, including a lot of those people that were on those fancy tri bikes I saw in transition. At this point I'm wondering if I'm going to hard...but hey...it's a sprint right??? A couple people do pass me, but they are all riding P3C type bikes with disc rear wheels. Whatever...you're supposed to pass me. I'm maintaining about 21 mph throughout at what I deem a 15 RPE on a scale of 20. The roads were fairly smooth, but there were a couple of rough patches that were not ideal for road bikes. I saw these when I drove in, so I made sure not to inflate my tires too high. Sure enough, I passed someone who flatted in that rough area. To my surprise, the bike course was only 11.33 miles. Had I known it would be that short, I would have hammered the last 2-3 miles. But maybe it was a good thing I didn't. I managed to stay aero the whole time except for the 90 degree turns and the U turn. My neck was a little sore, but I gave myself a break by looking down for a few seconds when I saw the road ahead was clear. What I did learn was that it's not about the bike or your wheelset. I mean, they look cool, but it's really the engine. I don't consider myself that strong a rider, so I was only expecting to pass people on road bikes, hybrids, or mtn bikes. But the fact that I passed so many people on tri bikes was quite uplifting. That doesn't change the fact that I want to get a tri bike next season though...LOL What would you do differently?: I know I could have gone harder...but I had no idea how much I needed to save for the run. Overall, I think it was a very acceptable pace. Transition 2
Comments: I jump off the bike and WHOA...JELL-O. I trot to my transition spot and rack my bike. At the same time, the bike next to me falls off the rack...but not because I touched it. I decide to re-rack it. I had to take about 20 seconds to catch my breath while I put on my shoes...and took a few extra sips of gatorade from my bike bottle. What would you do differently?: Again...I didn't forget anything. I could have gone about 15 seconds faster, but I did need to take a short breather.  Run
Comments: Summary: I start out a little slow because my legs are heavy. People are passing me left and right, but I know that my run is not my strength. I manage to pick up the pace a little after about 1.5 miles and finish strong passing a few people that passed me earlier. Detail: I start running, and my legs weigh a ton. I only did one bike/run brick, and it didn't feel this bad. I would compare it to mile 17 of my first marathon back in December. People are passing me in bunches...but I expected this by looking at last years results and the paces people ran (mostly in the 7:00 to 7:45 per mile range). I was hoping for a 8 minute pace, but I realize that's out the window as my first mile is 9 minutes. After about 1.5 miles, I start to loosen up "a little" and slowly pick up the pace. I'm still getting passed, but not as often now. At mile 2, I tell myself that it's only about 13 or so more minutes of this, so HTFU. I pass a couple people, and finish pretty strong. I think my last 2 miles were well under a 8 minute pace...so I'm quite pleased. I cross the finish with a big smile. It's not really a moment of pure joy...but I know this is just the beginning of what looks like a very fun triathlon career. What would you do differently?: More endurance runs. I did a lot of tempo runs in the 5 mile range, but I realized I need to also mix in more 7-10 mile runs if I want to go hard on the bike and hard on the run. Post race
Warm down: Drank some water/gatorade and had some orange slices and a banana. Stuck around the finish for a little while, but decided to head back home as I still have a softball game this afternoon. As I walked back to T1/T2 (the finish is about .4 miles away, I see some people just starting their run. At the time I didn't realize it, and felt bad for not giving them some words of encouragement. But overall, the tri community is great. Everyone was supporting each other and the volunteers did a great job. As I packed up, I noticed the girl next to me went down on the bike. She had some wounds on her shoulder, but she said she managed to get back on and finsh. She was worried more about her carbon bike...LOL. Props to her for finishing though. What limited your ability to perform faster: Nothing...first race, and crushed my goal of 1:30. Granted the bike was shorter than expected, but the swim was also much harder than expected as well. Event comments: It was a well run race. For $55 (early entry), I'm not going to complain. The T-shirt was a cotton white with a nice blue design that I would have no problem wearing. The roads were a bit rough at times on the bike, but can't do much about that. I applaud the race directors and lifeguards for making changes to the swim course. It would have been brutal if we had to swim through the surf. Last updated: 2010-01-27 12:00 AM
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United States
BOCA Hawaii
70F / 21C
Sunny
Overall Rank = 111/245
Age Group = M25-29
Age Group Rank = 22/38
Summary: My very first Triathlon!!! Woke up, ate a P&B sandwich, packed up and got to the race site a little over an hour before the race. Set up transition, body marked, and stretched out a bit.
Detail:
I went to Kona with some coworkers the day before the race just to play a round of golf. We had some inter-island free flight vouchers, and needed to use them...so we decided to just plan a day trip in and out to play some golf. We had to drive through Queen Kamehameha Hwy (where the Ironman bike route goes) and saw a bunch of people out riding in the morning. It was quite exciting for me...my coworkers barely noticed. The flight is only 35 minutes, and golf isn't that exhausting, but I admit it's not the ideal thing to be doing the day before a race. But I had fun.
Got up around 3:45. I set my alarm for 4 am (went to sleep at around 10pm. I got pretty good sleep considering how excited I was. The night before my first marathon, I woke up every hour...but I slept pretty much 4 hours straight, then got up a few times after that. Made myself a P&B sandwich, took a shower, then just relaxed a little watching TV waiting for #2 to call. I went through my checklist about 4 times, then finally used the restroom and made the 25 minute drive to the race site.
Getting to the race site was interesting. It's in a gated community, but google maps shows a route that goes right to the transition area...but it doesn't tell you that there is a locked gate there that wasn't open at the time. This is actually near the bike finish, and I knew we would have to go through it...but then I realized that maybe we were supposed to enter through where the bike starts. Sure enough, that was the case. For a minute I had a panic attack that the race was somehow cancelled...like one of those triathlon dreams you get once in a while...LOL.
I get to the parking lot and transition area...oh man...talk about being intimidated. I was drooling over everyone's bikes and their race wheelsets. I have a specialized allez elite with clip on aero bars, so it's no slouch...but damn, everywhere I look...P3C with 808's, Felt B2 with disc covers, etc, etc. Of course there were some with hybrids, mountain bikes, and roadies, but by far there were more tri bikes...and really NICE ONES.
So I pick a transition spot right next to the swim exit, which is also the run exit. The transition area is really small, so there really is no advantage in picking a spot. I figured the area closest to the swim exit would be an area I couln't miss.
I take a look at the water, and there is some pretty big waves. So much so that they had to alter the swim course. Everyone is a bit worried as there are 3-5 foot wave faces coming in. The race director anounces the changes that instead of a triangle swim, it would be a rectangle that keeps us closer to shore, and most of the swim will not be into or with the waves.
As the race is about to start, I jump in the water and just swim for about 30 seconds. The water is cool, but not cold.