My first tri, a hardening experience

I wanted to wait until this morning to post this.  If I had done it yesterday, I would have described my first tri (400yds/8mi/1.8mi) as a bad experience.  When my first post-race activity is shaving the hair on my legs so I can put bandages over the bleeding parts (“Daddy, your knee looks like a pizza,” said my three-year old daughter), things have obviously gone awry.  But after a little time to think about it, I have learned the true meaning of HTFU.  It wasn't a bad experience; it was a hardening experience.

The swim didn't go well.  I didn't factor in the lane changes.  It's a lot harder than it looks.  If you are doing laps in your community pool, you catch your breath when you lane touch and head back.  Going under the dividers is the exact opposite.  About five laps in, I got stuck between guys overtaking me and a guy dog paddling.  Between the lane dividers and the traffic jam, my form was completely gone.  I ended up doing a couple of backstroke legs because I was gasping.  Went into the water shooting for eight minutes, came out of the water at ten minutes.  Very disappointing.  But it didn't take long to add injury to insult.

The bike portion was a two-lap circuit.  It started with a quick loop out of the parking lot then a turn on to the main loop.  I followed folks about 20 yards or so ahead of me into the turn.  Just as I started my turn there was a biker on top of me.  Apparently it was a very fast biker starting her second lap.  I maneuvered and braked hard, but ended up on the ground.  

A couple of race marshals helped me up.  The bike seemed OK, and I was bleeding but not broken, so I forged on.  I biked 7.5 miles with my handlebars askew, front brake caliper rubbing, and my rear derailleur hung up so I was limited to a choice of L2 or H2.  I didn’t try to hop off and do any maintenance because of the probability I might not get back on.

At T2, I wiped my knees with my towel. Blood everywhere.  But I forged ahead.  About 50 yards into the run, my calves tried to cramp.  I slowed up but kept moving   My calves warmed back up, and I settled into a pace. If there's a silver lining it is that no one passed me on the run, and I did break an hour (by about 15 seconds). 

Harden the f#%k up.  That's really what I learned yesterday.  If your swim collapses, do whatever it takes to get done.  HTFU.  Get through T1 and make it up on the bike.  Fall off the bike and make an unscheduled trip to the ground.  HTFU.  Get back on the bike and finish.  Your legs want to quit instead of run.  HTFU. Put one foot in front of the other and keep going.  This is not a sport for pansies or sissies.  You're going to have opportunities when your body wants to put up the stop sign.  You can quit or HTFU and push through the stop sign. 

I want a do-over.  I want to prove I can do better.  But I don’t have to prove to myself that I can HTFU and push through.  At least I can say that about my first tri.