My first time is tomorrow! John Tanner sprint tri

After years of longing, and months of preparation, I am finally getting to do my first triathlon at the Tri the parks triathlon series Race #1 at John Tanner State Park in Carrolton, GA. http://www.tribluesky.com/I invited several friends, but none decided to race with me. I also invited lots of friends and family to watch, but couldn’t convince anyone to go. However, I am undaunted, and tomorrow morning at 4:30 AM I will roll out of the driveway alone towards my great adventure.

I am a former competitive swimmer (the pool kind). I have been running off and on for a few years, and started getting more serious in December. In February I decided to pursue a triathlon, and started logging to the BT sight. Since that time I have logged 40,000 yards swimming, 100 miles of running and 200 miles of Biking. (I know, I didn’t log enough bike miles).

I have several small goals that I think are worth recapping. I wanted to lose a little weight, mostly for my pants to fit better, which they do. I have lost almost 15 pounds in the last 4 months. I also wanted to increase my run endurance, which I have. I have run for an hour on several occasions. Unfortunately I am not very fast – not sure what I have to do to improve speed. Fartleks, I guess. Anyway there is more time for that later. Finally the big accomplishment on the bike is getting a bike up and running. It is hard to make yourself save up and accumulate stuff (shoes, shorts, helmet, etc…) when there are more pressing things to spend money on. I am now fully outfitted, though of course there are a thousand other fun things that I could buy…

This site has been a wonderful thing for me. I spent a lot of time in the forums reading and posting to all of you, and I appreciate the care you give each other and me in preparing for racing. This has really helped me in my preparation, and has kept me motivated through the process.

On the Triathlon I decided I wanted to run the entire race. No walking on the run. I also wanted to break 1hr 30min overall. I am running in the novice class and if I hadn’t laid off the training for the last few weeks, I could probably have done pretty well there – 1hr 15min might win it. As it is, I will be content with the goals listed above. This will be a benchmark race for me. I am hoping to do others later this year.

Weather wise it is 78 and raining now, and should be raining in the morning. I am choosing to see this as an advantage. I don’t let things like rain bother me, and I think that there will be many in the field who will be discouraged by it. In any case, we all have the same water to swim in and the same water to ride and run in, too!

The race is a 600m lake swim (triangle course), a 11 mile bike ride (loop) and a 3.1 mile run finishing on a dam by the lake. Apparently it isn’t particularly hilly, although I haven’t seen it myself, yet.

The biggest logistical problem I have is how to get good pictures of myself without anyone I know going to the race. Hmm… Wait and see how that turns out.

I have all of my gear packed (but not in the car, yet). I know more or less where I am going and know what time I need to leave to allow myself plenty of time before the start to look around. Generally I am calm and feel well prepared to meet my goals and to have a great time at the race tomorrow! Look for the full report as soon as I can get back on line after the race!