Girls Tri Too -- Portage Lakes - TriathlonMini Sprint

The race director had us line up based on how fast we thought we could complete the swim course (i.e. 3-4 minutes, 4-5 minutes, etc.). I wasn't sure how fast I could go, so I lined up near the back. While waiting, I chatted with several of the other girls in line. Two of them had participated in triathlons before and gave us some pointers.

After what seemed like a very long time (but was probably only about 10 minutes in reality), it was finally my turn. When the starter guy gave the "go" signal, I charged across the timing mat, down the beach, and into the lake. I did a sort of belly flop to start swimming when the water was about knee depth. I was focused on catching up with the girls who had started ahead of me. Then I noticed the seaweed. Seaweed, seaweed everywhere! It caught on my arms and legs with each stroke. At first I was a little grossed out, but then I thought about how much more fun it would make my triathlon story to tell.

After a little bit, I looked up and saw my friend standing on the dock taking pictures. I noticed that she was taking a picture of the girl in front of me, thinking it was me. So I tried waving at her while still swimming, but it didn't get her attention. "Over here," I called out, and at that same moment the girl behind me accidentally grabbed my left ankle (she didn't see me while swimming). I heard her say, "I'm sorry," right as I was yelling to my friend. I hoped the other swimmer didn't think I was yelling at her! Those types of things are hard to avoid. Anyway, I kept swimming, but I tried to keep my kick to a minimum for the next few meters until the two of us could move farther apart, so that I wouldn't accidentally kick her in the face or something.

I noticed that I had the tendency to want to keep my head up while swimming, to watch where I was going. I tried to concentrate on keeping my face in the water and spotting every few strokes while breathing. In practice, I had worked on bilateral breathing every three strokes, and breathing to the left was a lot easier for me. But in the race, I found myself breathing to the right every two strokes. I'm not sure why this was more comfortable. Maybe it was because I could see the lifeguards on my right side, and that was reassuring.

Before too long, I noticed I was nearing the orange buoy that indicated that it was time to veer left and head for the shore. I rounded the bend and kept swimming. When I got to the next buoy, I noticed that the water was starting to get a little too shallow for me to continue swimming, so I stood up and started sloshing through the water toward the shore. At the same time, I pulled off my goggles and ear plugs.

To get to the transition area, we had to run barefoot through the sand, up a hill, across the gravel maintenance road that would be our run course, past the kids' play area, and through part of the parking lot. The race planners had thoughtfully cleared the acorns and rocks from the path we would run. They had also put out basins of water that we could step in while running to rinse the sand, mud, and grass off our feet.

Right after I rinsed off my feet, I caught up to a gal I had talked to before the race who had completed about 10 previous triathlons. She said, "See, you caught up to me already," and we traded encouraging words. Then I turned my focus to mentally reviewing what I needed to do to get ready for the bike portion. I ran across the timing mat and thought, "Wow, one event down already!"



Surprisingly, this turned out to be my best event in comparison to the rest of the field. I was pleased with my performance after having worried about the swim for so long.

Now that I have some confidence in being able to complete the swim portion of a triathlon, I will be able to better focus my training for the next time. I think I will focus on building up my endurance and improving my technique in the off season.

Once across the timing mat, I spotted my bike and jogged to it as fast as my bare feet would tolerate on the cold asphalt. I had borrowed a small, bright orange towel from my dad, and I put that over the seat of my bike to make it easy to spot.

When I got to the bike, I put my shirt and shorts on first. Then I made sure to put on my helmet and buckle the chin strap, so that I wouldn't be disqualified. As I was doing that, the girl I had talked to running up the hill ran past and said, "See, you're almost ready and I'm just now getting here!" I switched my hair scrunchies and pulled on my socks and running shoes.

Very carefully, I unracked my bike and managed NOT to knock the whole rack over. Then I started to jog with my bike to the transition exit. I couldn't believe that I was actually participating in my first triathlon (finally!), and that it was a third of the way over already (in terms of events). But I didn't have much time to reflect on that, because it was time to get on the bike and go!



Next time I will practice French braiding my hair well in advance, so that I can do it that way for the race (thus eliminating the need to mess with my hair at all).

I ran my bike across the timing mat and the mount line, then moved to the left a little to get on the bike. I didn't attempt to do anything fancy (since I hadn't practiced it), but I was pleased with how quickly I managed to get on my bike and head out onto the course. One of the volunteers gave me the heads up that there were cyclists coming by on their second lap, and to be careful when merging in with them.

Soon after getting up to speed on the bike, it was time to face the hill. I attacked it head on and even ended up passing a few people on the way up. Rounding the cul-de-sac was a test of my bike handling skills, but once I slowed down a little bit, it was fine. Then it was back down the hill and out onto the main part of the course.

As I made the trek out to the second turnaround, I noticed that I was moving really slowly and breathing hard. I wondered what was going on, but I figured I was just tired from the swim. The other girls around me seemed to be in the same situation. I reached the second turnaround and started back. All of a sudden, biking seemed a whole lot easier. I pedaled as fast as I could and built up speed to the point where my pedals were no longer "catching," so then I just coasted for a bit. Things were starting to make a little more sense . . . we had been going uphill for the "out" part of the course, and now we were going downhill coming back. This part was super fun for me. I wanted to yell, "WOOOO HOOOO!" or something, but I thought people might think I was crazy, so I just said it to myself quietly.

As I rounded the corner to start my second lap, I spotted my good friend waiting to cheer me on. I gave her a grin and a wave, then headed around the curve and back up that big hill. Again I was able to pass people on the uphill. I don't know why it was easier on the steeper hill, but it was. I made a point of saying something encouraging to each athlete I saw, and many of them encouraged me back.

One more time up that long grade, and I would be on the home stretch for the bike. I passed a girl at the side of the road whose chain had come off. She managed to get it fixed, only for it to come off again (at which point she had the bike repair guy help). I think she still ended up finishing ahead of me!

Happily, I headed around the last cul-de-sac and back down that long grade toward the transition area. It occured to me that I still had to run after this, and I wondered how that would go. I decided not to think about it.

Soon one of the volunteers told me to keep right to finish my second lap, and I rounded the bend to head toward the dismount line. I noticed my friends standing to the right and gave them a thumbs up. Then I hopped off my bike and headed back into the transition area.


This was my least strong event of the three. Since I don't own a bike at the moment, most of my training was done either when I could borrow one or on a stationary bike at the gym at work. Now that I know that I enjoy participating in triathlons, I will purchase a bike and a trainer so that I can get in lots more practice. The bike I borrowed was a hybrid bike, so using a purely road bike might have helped improve my time as well.

The transition from bike to run went pretty much as expected for me. Since I had worn my running shoes while riding the bike, there wasn't much preparation needed to get myself ready to run. I jogged with my bike to my transition spot and managed to put it on the rack without knocking anything over (though it did wobble a little bit). Removing my helmet went quickly (I was worried that I would forget that part). I grabbed my stopwatch from the handlebars of my bike and put it on my wrist as I jogged on my wobbly legs to the transition exit.

The only thing I can think of that would have saved a little time would have been to somehow put my stopwatch on while I was on the bike (if I could manage it). Other than that, I was pleased with the way my T2 went. The transition area was pretty long, so most of the 1:16 was spent jogging from one end of it to the other.

After I made it across the timing mat out of T2, my ponytail felt loose, so I took it down and put my hair up in a bun while running. This turned out to be quite a feat, considering that at that moment I wasn't sure if my legs would be able to continue holding me upright!

The running portion of the race was fun because I got to see so many of the other triathletes as we passed each other. There were a lot of encouraging words and high fives traded among us. We all knew that soon we would be finished and able to rest!

By the time I had made it down the hill to the turnaround point (which was about .6 miles into it), my legs felt less jello-like. I tried to lengthen my stride a bit and pick up my pace. My goal was to try to run at a 12-minute mile pace if I could (my stand-alone 5K pace is around 11:20 usually, but I knew I would be too tired to maintain that).

The half mile uphill wasn't as bad as I expected it to be at that point in the race. Before I knew it, I reached the end of the first lap, and a volunteer drew a green mark on my arm to indicate that I was on my second lap. I headed back down the hill and was glad that I only had a mile more to go.

As I was heading down the hill, I spotted a girl I remembered from the bike course coming the other direction. She and I had passed each other back and forth a bunch of times while biking. She recognized me too, and we gave each other a high five.

Finally I made it to the turnaround in the woods at the bottom of the hill. Now I was headed into the home stretch! I passed one of the girls I had chatted with while waiting in line to start the swim. I cheered her on, and she told me, "Just a little bit farther, and you'll be a triathlete!" That thought made me smile and pick up the pace a bit.

Soon I made it to the top of the hill and headed to the finish chute. I felt my face break out into a huge grin as I sprinted across the timing mat. I had done it; I was officially a triathlete!

More bike-run brick workouts and better overall running fitness will be of benefit in the future. I didn't quite make the 12-minute mile pace I was aiming for (though I do know that my second mile was faster than my first). I was pleased that I was able to run the whole way, even through the fatigue (that had been a goal of mine).

After I crossed the finish line, someone handed me a bottle of water, and a volunteer helped me remove the timing chip from my left ankle. After that, things are kind of a blur. I think I paced around a little and tried to catch my breath. Before long, my friends found me and showered me with hugs and congratulations.


Since this was my first race, there is a lot of room for improvement in all areas (training, transition techniques, etc.). I was pleased with my overall performance, though.


I had a blast! The HFP Racing staff really put on a good race. It seemed like they had thought of every little detail. My first triathlon was a great experience, and I look forward to the next one!