Redlands Sprint Triathlon - check. I did it!!! I completed my first triathlon. Granted, it was a mini-tri but I'm excited nonetheless. Who knew I had it me?

We arrived at the starting line at around 6:45 (by we, I mean me, my husband and his best friend). They were pumped, but for some reason, I was still sleepy and maybe just a little apprehensive. It was raining and drizzling on the way over, which added some additional anxiety. Am I going to have to run in the rain? Will I wipe out if I break too hard and the road is slippery? Will I get ELECTROCUTED if I'm in the pool and there's a lightening storm? I tend to have funny thoughts. Anyhoo, we wheeled our bikes and bags over to transition area and found a nice spot to claim. I didn't even know how to rack my bike so my husband had to show me. Next we went inside to check in and got our t-shirts, bibs and tag for the race. I was a little bummed that they didn't mark our legs or arms with our race number at this one. That would have made me feel cool. Again, I tend to have funny thoughts. Still drizzling outside but not really raining. Since it's cold, we decide to head back to the car and hang out there until the race starts at 8:00. My husband and his buddy are super excited - they're cracking me up with their silly singing, corny jokes and general ludicracy. Fun. We head back out at around 10 til 8 and see a guy whose blog we've been reading - TriathlonNut. He did this same event for his first tri last year and we've been following his progression. So we go over and say hello. He's really nice but definitely faster and more skilled than I'll probably ever be. Go TriathleteNut-what an inspiration!

We head over to the starting line and by now, the sun was out a little - blue sky with still a lot of clouds but nice. The race started about 15 minutes late and everyone was really ready to start. I was supposed to start slow and build speed...I'm not really a runner. I'm more of a jogger. So I head out and there's a slight incline in mile one...not too bad but noticable. We jog around the corner and it flattens out a little but then I see another slight incline. All in all, a mediocre course but not bad. I ran near a dad and his two girls, probably around 8-12 years old. Nice family. I hope to involve my kids in events like these some day. Please keep in mind that I haven't jogged more than a couple miles in several weeks. I've really slacked on the training. It took me a little over a mile to start feeling warmed up and eased into running. I kept having to remind myself that running is the hardest thing for me. Little did I know how untrue that thought would be! Stopped to grab some water at the halfway point and chugged along back to the start. Here are my splits:

Mile 1: 11:06 (130 calories)
Mile 2: 10:40 (108 calories)
Mile 3: 10:58 (124 calories)
Total 5k time: 33:25

So now T1. There weren't a whole lot of bikes left in the area but that's ok. My husband's and our friend's bikes were long gone. He had prepared me to expect to be last in my age category. The others transitioning seemed be in the same boat as me - not necessarily going as fast as possible but not trying to waste any time either. Since i don't use riding shoes, it was pretty easy. Basically just had to take off my visor and throw on my helmet, put on my gloves and take a couple gulps of water. Ya...forgot to drink water like a dummy and I was really kicking myself for it within a few minutes. I walked my bike out of the transition area and jumped on.

T1 time: 2:28:53

Ok...quads a little tight but I should be ok So I start peddaling. The first 2 miles or so are a slight incline. Not steep, but the gradual incline lasted for a while. Again, haven't really trained or pushed myself on a bike for quite some time. So the quads start burning and I feel like I've slowed to a snail's pace. There were plenty of people passing me. Oh well. My husband taught me that we're in it to complete, not necessarily to compete. I actually stopped, hopped off my bike and stretched my quads because I didn't want to cramp up. Even though it slowed me down, I'm really glad I did. I felt a lot better. So I continue to climb. It's drizzling now. I see my husband followed by his friend as they’re on their way down the path and I’m on the way up. We holler out to one another and seeing my husband gives me a second wind! Push, bunny, push! A few minutes later and I'm turning the corner - woohoo! It's flattening out! I pick up some speed and hit another corner - darn! more uphill. Argh. Push through it and turn again. Bike through a neighborhood and then the path leads me back downhill, which provided an opportunity to make up some time. Oh wait, did I mention it was pouring by now? Ya...I feel my shirt soaking through to my bathing suit below and my butt is getting wetter and wetter as the water soaks through my biking shorts into my bathing suit. Damn, I wish I had drank some water! Water is squishing out of my socks! My bike is spitting water back at me and every time I put my head down, water pours from my helmet. Because I'm not the most experienced rider, I couldn't fully take advantage of the speed - I was squeezing the brakes every so often to slow down. I really didn't want to wipe out - the roads were bumpy and there was a lot of water. So on my way back to the starting point, I see my husband heading back out...wait - what's going on???? He tells me we have to do the loop twice to make the 10 miles. Argh. Not looking forward to the uphill battle again. But that's ok. I'm drenched, my fingers are freezing, the wind is blowing and I'm so exhilarated. I pass the starting point, but no one tells me that I need to do the loop twice, which makes me wonder if there were people who didn't know and only did the loop once...I use a Garmin 305 Forerunner and now I'm worrying that all the rain is going to mess it up. I decide not to worry about it and push on. The incline the second time around seemed easier, maybe because my cycling muscles were warmed up. Did I mention it was still raining? Back around the neighborhood and head down. I get to a T and am not sure whether I turned left or right last time. Right was towards the starting line so I started heading out that way but the street didn't look familiar. There was a guy directing traffic for the race in the other direction that I had passed earlier so I figured I'd turn around, waste a few minutes, and ask him. So I did. He told me where to go and I continued, turned another corner and gained more speed. As I chugged through another intersection, I see a lady half inside the car because, well, it's raining. But she doesn't communicate to me until I'm most of the way through the intersection that I need to turn, so I try to slow down and my wheel slips! I keep trying to turn and it slips again but I caught it. Phew! Wiping out would NOT be good. I continue along the course, head back into the transition area and there's a great volunteer at the end that was so encouraging and enthusiastic – it made me laugh and made me feel good.

Here are the splits:
Mile 1: 7:32
Mile 2: 6:41
Mile 3: 4:30
Mile 4: 3:21
Mile 5: 6:15
Mile 6: 6:41
Mile 7: 6:55 (got a little lost)
Mile 8: 4:23
Mile 9: 3:21
Mile 10: 2:45

So now it's time for T2. I also see my husband, who's done with the swim already. He's smiling and tells me I did a good job. I'm lucky enough to have a pit crew. He helps with my slippers as I pull off my shoes, socks, shirt. My hands are too cold to undo my helmet so he helps me with it and I yank off my gloves. I decide to swim with my bike shorts. I don't care. I know I'm almost done

T2 time: 4:01 (including walk time to the pool)

I walk quickly towards the pool and get more shouts of encouragement (so nice) and get to the pool. The guy tells me to drop in feet first. I take a breath and slip in. It's so very warm and feels good. I stop for a second and get ready to swim. I push off the wall and go. It's not too bad. I get to the end and the sweet volunteer yells words of encouragement and tells me to go under the lane separator and go back the other way. I see another guy in my lane and try to be aware of him and his speed. He seems to be struggling. After reaching the end, I ask if it's ok if I pass - he says sure. I keep going and catch another guy!!!! I swim to the end and use the steps to get out of the pool. I forgot where I pinned my timing tag and have to look for it. I hand it to the guy and that's it. I finished my first triathlon. Who knew I could do it? I was on a high for a good amount of time after that. It was so nice. I wanna do it again.

I’m not sure if I turned timed the swim right or not – according to the Garmin, it took 5:56. I think I may have forgotten to turn it off right when I got out of the pool. I was kind of on a high. ? Total Race Time: 1:39:44


Edited by RabidRabbit 2007-02-16 11:15 AM

Great race report!!! I'm glad you were there and that you came up to me before the race. It was really nice meeting you and your husband and friend!!!

Good luck in the Pasadena Tri. I decided to skip that and redo the UCLA Triathlon that Sunday!

Here's my race report if you're interested: http://www.beginnertriathlete.com/discussion/forums/thread-view.asp...

Glenn

Awesome race report! Congratulations- You are now an accomplished TRIATHLETE!