The swim-/bike-/run-down
Bumps, scrapes, and bruises of unknown origin: 2
Blisters of known origin: 2
Sore muscles: 640
Hours of sleep sacrificed: ~4
Distance swam: 750 m
Distance biked: 12 mi
Distance run: 3 mi
Triathlons completed: 1
For those of you following closely, today was the Santa Cruz Sprint Triathlon. 8am - whenever, it involved a swim (whose distance changed each time I checked), a 12 mile bike ride, and a 5k run. We woke up at quarter to 6, ate a quick breakfast, packed everything up and drove to Santa Cruz. The transition area (where bikes and gear are kept) was only open from 6:30 to 7:30, so we really needed to get there early. When we did get there, I immediately noticed that there were a LOT of people who looked like they do this for a living. Their areas were carefully orchestrated so as to ensure the fastest turnaround time, they were warming up and stretching. One guy was jumping rope, other people were using special stuff to keep their wetsuits from sticking. It was kind of intimidating.
I got in my wetsuit after leaning my monstrous bike up against the rack (seriously, since I have mountain tires on my bike, it wouldn't fit into the rack) I walked, barefoot, the 100 yards or so to the beach where people were gathering for the 7:45 am meeting. Some people were taking the opportunity to warm up ("warm" up) in the water, so I figured I should do the same. It surprisingly wasn't as cold as I had remembered it (about 55 degrees), so I figured I'd be fine. The meeting was standard stuff, rules, wave breakdown, stuff like that. I say "standard" in the "I imagine it to be so" sense. This is my first triathlon after all. Then the horn went off and into the frigid water I went.
The water was... cold. Not cold in the shocking sense. Cold in the bad sense. In the sense that your heart begins to race and your breaths come short and quick. Coupled with the adrenaline of the race starting and being SURROUNDED by nearly 100 other people, it made the swim VERY difficult. I couldn't get into a rhythm! I started out doing freestyle, but couldn't keep up with 3-stroke breaths. So I switched to breaststroke for a while, but that actually was REALLY tiring. I kept bumping into people, I was lagging behind, it was very frustrating. Luckily falling behind meant that there were fewer kicking feet to deal with, so I could focus on figuring out a stroke. I used everything in my arsenal, but it was still tough. But I made it out of the water, and out to the transition area.
I managed to strip off my wetsuit, sufficiently dry off, and get onto my bike in a fair time. I was worried that having worn my running shorts under my wetsuit would cause some chafing down the line, but they worked like a dream! The bike ride was easy, but it became PAINFULLY obvious early on that I was using the WRONG bike for the job. Or at least the wrong tires. I was getting passed up like I was standing still. But I persevered. Even when the women from the last wave began to pass me, I kept at it. The 13 year old passing me hurt a bit, but I pushed on! What sucked was the weather. I expected fog in the morning, as is typical of Santa Cruz summers, but I hoped that it would have cleared up before the bike leg. Instead, it remained overcast and even began misting at one point. I took my hand off the handlebars long enough to down a gel pack and when I went to put it back on, it was slick with water. Definitely not the easiest ride I've ever been on, but it wasn't that bad.
The transition to run was even easier. Ride back to the transition center, run your bike to the rack, make sure it doesn't fall over, and then run back out. After a quick water break, of course. Now running is where I knew I'd be strongest. Running is what I know. I may not be BUILT for running, but it's familiar, comfortable. I know how to keep a pace, and I can get there easily. I know how to push myself, how to ease off, and when I'm able to go all out. I can't do any of those things with biking or swimming (yet). Running I can do. I managed to PASS people, too! That felt good. It was an easy 3 miles, and I even managed a healthy sprint to the finish line. 1:35:00 (not exactly, but I didn't check out the seconds). Not bad for my first tri ever. I look forward to seeing how I do next year.
I know I kept telling myself that this was about me being able to do this. Me being able to finish a triathlon and nothing else.
Bullshit.
When you're out there, you notice the people passing you. You realize that you're not doing as well as you think you can. Obviously there are going to be some people who will just mop the floor with you. You accept that and move on. But when you're simply not performing as you'd hoped, you start to measure yourself against other people. I definitely did that today. I'm not ashamed or anything. Competition is good, it focuses you and pushes you to do better than you're doing. That's kind of what I was missing when I was training on my own. I pushed myself, to be sure. But after a certain point I was just working out to get it done. I never tried to do more.
But next year...
Blisters of known origin: 2
Sore muscles: 640
Hours of sleep sacrificed: ~4
Distance swam: 750 m
Distance biked: 12 mi
Distance run: 3 mi
Triathlons completed: 1
For those of you following closely, today was the Santa Cruz Sprint Triathlon. 8am - whenever, it involved a swim (whose distance changed each time I checked), a 12 mile bike ride, and a 5k run. We woke up at quarter to 6, ate a quick breakfast, packed everything up and drove to Santa Cruz. The transition area (where bikes and gear are kept) was only open from 6:30 to 7:30, so we really needed to get there early. When we did get there, I immediately noticed that there were a LOT of people who looked like they do this for a living. Their areas were carefully orchestrated so as to ensure the fastest turnaround time, they were warming up and stretching. One guy was jumping rope, other people were using special stuff to keep their wetsuits from sticking. It was kind of intimidating.
I got in my wetsuit after leaning my monstrous bike up against the rack (seriously, since I have mountain tires on my bike, it wouldn't fit into the rack) I walked, barefoot, the 100 yards or so to the beach where people were gathering for the 7:45 am meeting. Some people were taking the opportunity to warm up ("warm" up) in the water, so I figured I should do the same. It surprisingly wasn't as cold as I had remembered it (about 55 degrees), so I figured I'd be fine. The meeting was standard stuff, rules, wave breakdown, stuff like that. I say "standard" in the "I imagine it to be so" sense. This is my first triathlon after all. Then the horn went off and into the frigid water I went.
The water was... cold. Not cold in the shocking sense. Cold in the bad sense. In the sense that your heart begins to race and your breaths come short and quick. Coupled with the adrenaline of the race starting and being SURROUNDED by nearly 100 other people, it made the swim VERY difficult. I couldn't get into a rhythm! I started out doing freestyle, but couldn't keep up with 3-stroke breaths. So I switched to breaststroke for a while, but that actually was REALLY tiring. I kept bumping into people, I was lagging behind, it was very frustrating. Luckily falling behind meant that there were fewer kicking feet to deal with, so I could focus on figuring out a stroke. I used everything in my arsenal, but it was still tough. But I made it out of the water, and out to the transition area.
I managed to strip off my wetsuit, sufficiently dry off, and get onto my bike in a fair time. I was worried that having worn my running shorts under my wetsuit would cause some chafing down the line, but they worked like a dream! The bike ride was easy, but it became PAINFULLY obvious early on that I was using the WRONG bike for the job. Or at least the wrong tires. I was getting passed up like I was standing still. But I persevered. Even when the women from the last wave began to pass me, I kept at it. The 13 year old passing me hurt a bit, but I pushed on! What sucked was the weather. I expected fog in the morning, as is typical of Santa Cruz summers, but I hoped that it would have cleared up before the bike leg. Instead, it remained overcast and even began misting at one point. I took my hand off the handlebars long enough to down a gel pack and when I went to put it back on, it was slick with water. Definitely not the easiest ride I've ever been on, but it wasn't that bad.
The transition to run was even easier. Ride back to the transition center, run your bike to the rack, make sure it doesn't fall over, and then run back out. After a quick water break, of course. Now running is where I knew I'd be strongest. Running is what I know. I may not be BUILT for running, but it's familiar, comfortable. I know how to keep a pace, and I can get there easily. I know how to push myself, how to ease off, and when I'm able to go all out. I can't do any of those things with biking or swimming (yet). Running I can do. I managed to PASS people, too! That felt good. It was an easy 3 miles, and I even managed a healthy sprint to the finish line. 1:35:00 (not exactly, but I didn't check out the seconds). Not bad for my first tri ever. I look forward to seeing how I do next year.
I know I kept telling myself that this was about me being able to do this. Me being able to finish a triathlon and nothing else.
Bullshit.
When you're out there, you notice the people passing you. You realize that you're not doing as well as you think you can. Obviously there are going to be some people who will just mop the floor with you. You accept that and move on. But when you're simply not performing as you'd hoped, you start to measure yourself against other people. I definitely did that today. I'm not ashamed or anything. Competition is good, it focuses you and pushes you to do better than you're doing. That's kind of what I was missing when I was training on my own. I pushed myself, to be sure. But after a certain point I was just working out to get it done. I never tried to do more.
But next year...