Angel's Race - Sprint Tri at Tanglewood - 9/14/008

Well,

Finally did it, ran my first tri and actually completed it - although it was just a Sprint distance, and I finished 12th from last in overall men's and 13th out of 13 Master Clydesdales ... was 238 out of 247 overall men's ... there were a little over 500 total in the race with 47 being relay teams and the rest women ...

... But nevertheless, I at least was able to finish and that was my goal for my first event!

Here is a link to the overall men's results:

http://www.setupevents.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=event_results&id=1065"

I was 238th, Bib # 454 .... time was 1:42:05 ....

I did a little better on the swim than I expected ... at 7:19.  I was very conservative when I submitted my 100m swim time and I believe most others shaved off some time, as I passed about 4 or 5 others in just this 300m swim.  I felt a little bad about the way I passed some, but they would not wait at the wall after being tapped on their feet, so I had to basically "bully" my way past them down the middle of the lane.

Two people I tapped waited at the wall ... a few others did not and I passed by down the middle ... and one or two were just goofing off, standing or dog paddling or something ... and I actually had to stop because of the log jam raffic, so I stood up real quick then jumped, dove under the water, and swam underneath these people to pass them.... I probably swam too hard and held my breath too long to complete this ... because my last couple of laps my arms were really burning ...

Also ... I was not aware of this until the pre-race briefing ... but they leave the lane ropes up ... and at the end of each lap you had to duck under the ropes to get into the next lane ... so this slowed me up some, but more so it threw off my breathing and timing a little ....  I think without the ducking under ropes and the passing ... I could have finished the swim between 6:45 and 7:00 mintues... but I came in at 7:19 ...

... of course my Transitions were slow ... I knew they would be ... even though I had everything laid out and followed all the tips about having sunglasses in bike helmet, helmet sitting on handlebars, etc .... I was slow ... I don't use bike shoes yets ... and not very coordinated ... so I sat down to roll on my socks, put on shoes I use to bike in ... then left the area ...

The bike time was okay, 45:19 ... which was about 5 to 10 minutes faster than I thought it would be.... but I may have also used up too much leg on the bike because I completely fell apart on the run ...

Again my T2 time was way slow ... but I was sucking big wind by now and again I sat down to take off those shoes and socks, put on my running socks and running shoes ... then I fiddled around trying to find my gatorade ... it was in my gym bag .... but I forgot that it was still inside a plastic bag and that inside my gym bag .... I was cursing under my breath cause I couldn't find it .... and I knew I needed some electrolytes ....

... so anyhow ... I actually slowly jogged out the T2 area and to the run start ... but I knew I was in trouble ....

.... there was a water stop right at the start of the run, I grabbed a cup and sipped it but my legs were already cramping... and in spots that never cramped before in training ....

... the run started out flat and within 1/4 mile it became fairly steep downhill ... the shin area and tops of my feet were cramping ( ??? don't understand that ...) and the sides of my hips or glutes were tight .... not my thighs and calves like usual .... so anyhow ... I'm taking it real slow .. I probably could have walked faster than what I was running... but I had it in my mind to run or jog the entire course ... vs. run some / walk some ... even though that might yield a better time ... for my first tri ... I wanted to say I ran the whole time .... but alas .... that did not happen ...

... next the course took a left turn and it leveled off but then just before the 1 mile mark it went uphill slightly and I had to walk ....then steep uphill, then off to a dirt and gravel trail ... I never trained like this.... for gravel, mud spots .. hills .... everything I trained on was either treadmill or flat 1/4 miles tracks .... 

so ....I definitely know what I need to train for next time ... anyhow I half ran half walked this 1 mile dogleg or lollipop type of out and in ... on this dirt and gravel ...

... then you finish that and hit the road again for the last mile ... ran some at first then it hit a killer steep uphill ... walked the entire hill... then jogged a few hundred feet then cramped ... walked about 1/4 mile and then it flattend out .... course volunteers told me only a 1/2 mile to go ... so I tried as best I could to HTFU ... and picked back up into a slow run ... then when I saw the finish line about 200m out I kick it up into the best/fastest sprint I could muster for the energy and legs I haf left in me .... so at least I looked good for the cheering crowd at the finish line ... (but they have no idea how sorry I was doing a mile back ...hehehe ...)

... anyhow, I think my run time was 42:30 ... which in a way still kinda surprises me ... cause I was estimating I would run an average 15:00 or so for the run ... which would have been 45 minutes plus ... but 42:30 divided by 3 is 14:10 per mile ... which is actually  pretty good time for me ... but ... it was really a 3.2 mile couse which would put it just under 14 minutes ... which I can't believe ...

.... so maybe the time was about what I expected ... but the pain, cramping, and hills is NOT what I was expecting ... at all ....

So, anyhow .... I Tri'ed it and I completed it ... so maybe I can actually call myself a Triathlete now, WooHoo!!!

Thanks to everyone who helped me out, gave me adivce, encouragement, etc .... to everyone at Fleet Feet Sports of Winston Salem, NC for their help and advice, Kevin Gaines and the other trainers at the Kernersville YMCA, especially to my wonderful massage therapist Lois and her magical hands (which enabled me to train as hard as I did).

Thanks to Cody from TrySports and to everyone on this site who gave me advice and encourgement .... and lastly but not least ... to my children Chris and Heather who were my biggest fans and supporters today!

Now ... after pigging out and sleeping all day today .... time tomorrow to start getting ready for Take Flight coming up Oct 18th .....

See ya!