My first triathlon

I got to my parents house before lunch on Friday and had plans to pick up my packet and possibly rack my bike. They were calling for massive storms so I didn't really want to leave my bike in transition over night so I opted to do it in the morning. The water temp was 78 degrees and we walked down to the water to test it out as the storm moved in. I was a lot less nervous about the race after packet pickup.

I had trouble falling asleep, which is different for me because I usually sleep well, even before big races. In fact, I even got a pretty solid sleep the night before my marathon. I finally dozed off sometime after 11 and woke up around 1:30. The rest of the night I spent thinking too much about the swim portion of the race. There was no doubt in my mind that I could complete the swim but I was worried about swimming with my face in the water and my breathing. Stuff I shouldn't have been worried about.

We arrived at the race over an hour before the start. The international race was in progress. It was chilly (around 60) and very windy. I went into transition and set up my stuff. I brought a trash bag (since the grass was still wet) and set my towel, shorts, tank (with race number attached), and helmet on it. I put my Rx sunglasses in my upside-down helmet along with my gel and my Garmin. I also had two water bottles - one on my bike and one on the trash bag.

Eventually it was time for the pre-race meeting where they reviewed the course and showed us where we entered and exited transition for each leg of the race. We also got race chips and were told we could head to where the swim started. I wasn't sure what to do with my flip flops and everything else I had on at the start. I noticed everyone else was barefoot so I took my shoes, shorts, shirt, and jacket off and gave them to my mom. I started walking over to the start with the rest of the racers. I got about half way when I realized I was still wearing my glasses! I had to jog back over to where my family was but of course they weren't where I left them and I had to yell for Joey to come get them from me. I still made it over to the start with a few minutes to spare.

The Swim: 1/4 mile in 15:54 (aka slow) (rank 122)
This race started in two waves - men under 40 and everyone else. The men under 40 got a 2 minute head start and then we were off. I started sort of near the back but not at the way back. The water was very choppy from all the wind. I had my goggles on under my swim cap as per your advice but hardly anyone else did this. I also luckily never got kicked in the face or had anyone really swim over me. I started out doing freestyle but with my head out of the water. I noticed several people swimming without goggles and wished I had not worn any either. About a quarter of the way in, I put mine up on my forehead because they were getting on my nerves. I ended up swimming with my head up the entire way. It was far too choppy for me to feel comfortable side breathing. As it was, every now and then I'd get smacked in the face with a choppy wave and swallow some water. I swallowed a decent amount. The course was out to an orange balloon and then back to shore. It ended up feeling like a lot longer than it looked. I did breast stroke and side stroke for about 80 percent of the swim. People around me where doing whatever they could to get through the swim so I did the same. Doing freestyle, while faster, also wore me out quicker. My arms felt heavy. Probably due to my lack of swim training/practice.
The swim was a little scary because a few people were in distress and required lifeguard attention. It is a little unnerving to see people yelling for help. At one point, while I was doing a side stroke (which felt faster than breast at times due to the choppy water), one of the lifeguards in a kayak asked if I was ok. I thought it was funny because I gave her a thumbs up and smiled and I felt awesome... just couldn't move through the water any faster.

T1: 3:58
I ran (slowly) into T1 and found my bike. I put my glasses on, started to put my shoes on and remembered I wanted to pull my shorts on first. The lady next to me started talking to me and said the swim felt more like an ocean swim. We chatted a bit while I felt a little disoriented trying to get everything in order. She said it was probably not my fastest swim due to the choppy water and I told her it was my first tri so I was getting a PR no matter what. I got my shorts, shirt, socks, shoes, helmet, and garmin on (it even found signal super fast which never happens). I downed a gel and headed out. I know I could have done this quicker but I felt a little out of it after the swim so I was ok with this.


The Bike: 8 miles in 38:29 (rank 150)
I headed out on the bike and the lady in transition told me the bike course had a lot of rolling hills but said it wasn't too bad. She was right. I spent a good bit of time slowly climbing the rolling hills. You guys who bike on real mountains/hills are very impressive. I passed a few people walking their bikes up one of the larger hills. I passed a few other people who were not walking but mostly I got passed. I was ok with that. There was a 38 yr old guy on a mountain bike ahead of me the entire 8 miles. I was just happy to be able to keep up with him. I kept him about 3-5 bike lengths ahead of me for most of the race but did speed past him on a few downhills. He would usually pull away from me on the uphills and then I'd catch him on the downhills when I'd get as low on my bike as I could to reduce some of the resistance. I didn't break the entire bike course (but also never got too fast or out of control). I drank from my water bottle a few times along the course. Dismount was no big deal for me and I headed into transition.

T2: 1:06
I ran my bike to the rack, remembered to take off my helmet, grabbed my water bottle and headed out on the run. (I was the only one I saw carrying my own water but I was glad I did. There was water around mile 1 and mile 2 though so I probably would have been ok.)

The Run: 5k in 26:57 (rank 98) (Me and another racer measured it at 2.8 miles)
The run course was very interesting. I thought it was going to be similar to all the other 5k races I've run at this park but I was way off. Instead of running out to the dam and back, we didn't make the turn to the dam and instead headed onto a trail. At first the trail was a bit rocky but manageable. Then it got a bit muddy and hilly and slippery. Then it got super narrow and since it was an out and back, made it a challenge to let the other runners by. There was one course official out on this trail and he was about halfway down the trail. He told us to go down to the gate and then turn back (there was nobody at the gate to verify people were getting there). While I was on my way back, he was walking towards the gate and from what I heard, some people turned back before heading down the hill to the gate. One guy after the race said he ran further than a lot of others who were turning well before the gate but that even after going all the way to the gate, he only measured the course at 2.8 miles. I told him I went to the gate and measured the same distance. I didn't really care though. It's not like it would have improved my place by much anyway.
My first mile was 9:03, then I hit the tough part of the trail and the 2nd mile was 11:09. The last 0.8 was back on the road and I clocked an 8:17 pace. I kind of wished the course was the full 5k or even longer since the run is my best leg of the race. All things considered, I was happy with my pace.

Finish: 1:26:22 for 125 place out of 180. 6 out of 10 in my age group (25-30)

Final thoughts:
I had a good time during this race. If I do another, I'd like to train harder for the swim and bike portions. The surprise trail was rough but I was thinking of doing some trail running for fun this summer. Just wished I had trained some on trails in advance.
I was ok with the logistics of how the race went but I read a decent number of tri blogs and have done a reverse order super sprint before where I learned a bit about transitions and bike mounting, etc. This race did not have a marked "mount" and "dismount" area for the bike. Volunteers were standing outside transition making sure racers were doing it correctly but the last tri I did had it marked on the ground with a line noting where to mount and dismount.
I did not know the age categories before the race. I assumed I was in the 30-34 age group but I ended up being in the 25-30. I'm glad I passed the 27 yr old during the run! I saw her and wasn't terribly concerned since I thought she wasn't in the AG but passed her anyway. I also passed a 23 yr old at the finish.
I was nervous I had forgotten something on our way to the race. The logistics of this race alone made me a bit nervous. When I go to a running race, I am usually wearing all my gear so I don't need to remember to bring stuff. With this race, I was wearing my swim suit but wasn't wearing any other race gear so I was nervous I would forget something as basic as my running shoes. I ended up remembering everything I planned though.

Tri Bullets

I have a few jumbled thoughts in my head and wanted to get them out.

• I just realized that during my swim I will be 'swimming blind'. I wear glasses regularly and plan to wear my Rx sunglasses during the bike and run legs of the tri but I can't do that in the swim. I haven't worn contacts in years and don't they usually get sucked out of my eyes by swim goggles anyway so lets just hope that I can find my bike in transition! My vision isn't horrible and is usually better when I'm outside in the sunlight so I think I'll be alright... but something to think about.
• I remembered while out on my bike yesterday that I have ridden my bike for speed before.. I just didn't care how fast I was going. When I was in high school and would ride to hang out with my friends everyday, I would speed home to meet my curfew. Tomorrow I plan to pretend that my mom needs me home for dinner while I'm on the bike. 
• One goal I have for this race is to remember to take my helmet off before I begin the run. Yesterday I did an easy brick workout and took a good four steps with my helmet on before I realized my mistake.
• I am planning to wear the bottoms of a sporty swim suit and a sports bra for the swim and pull on my spandex run shorts and a tank (with my number already attached) for the bike and run. I have a one piece suit but it doesn't fit properly so I am going to brave the bare stomach instead. 
• I don't have a race belt, thus the idea to already have my race bib pinned to my shirt. Otherwise I would consider going shirtless... but I'm not sure how comfortable I'd be and then there would be pictures...
• I also don't own bike shorts or tri shorts. I considered getting some but for an 8 mile bike leg I think I'll be fine in my run shorts. If I decide to do more triathlons I'll look into getting more appropriate gear.
• I'm planning to have a bottle of water on the bike but seriously doubt I'll find much time to drink it. I will take in some water and a gel before I get on the bike and then likely do the rest of my drinking on the run. I will probably carry a bottle with me.
• After my workout yesterday, I tried to put my bike into my car. It didn't exactly work so I decided to wait until Joey came home so he could help. With the back seats folded down we were able to put the bike in through the back seat and into the trunk that way. It fit! 
• I have been packing since yesterday and still feel like I'm going to forget something. Items that still need to be packed include: body glide, my garmin, gel... probably something I'm missing.
• Confession: I don't own a swim cap (or if I do, I have NO IDEA where it would be). I'm fairly certain they'll hand them out at packet pick up but if not, I guess I'll be going out somewhere to get one tonight.
• I know I'll have fun at this tri and I'm actually looking forward to it. I just hope I can figure it out as to not be in people's way or accidentally do something illegal like draft in the bike leg. I know some racers can't stand newbies who have no clue in a race and I really don't want to be that person. Hopefully I'll be more enlightened since I read a lot of tri blogs.
• I'll be staying at my parents tonight through tomorrow evening. This means I may not be able to give a timely update (I don't get media signal on my cell phone up there and they don't have wireless internet). Don't take radio silence to mean something bad happened at the race. 
• I've got this! Thanks for all your support leading up to this tri. I've appreciated all the advice and answers to my questions.

Eeek

You guys... my tri is this Saturday! Are you kidding?
I'm a bit nervous but also excited. My training has been a bit sub-par but I am confident I can get through it with a smile on my face.
My goals for the race are to have fun, finish, and not come in last.
Any last minute advice for a tri-newbie?

There are also other exciting things happening in my life right now but I'll get to that eventually. Just trust me that it will be crazy and fun and worth the wait and my vagueness.

5 miler race report

A few years ago, I found out that my town hosted a 5 mile race. The first year I knew about it, I saw they had a two mile fun run and dogs and strollers were encouraged. I managed to convince my best friend to run it*, even though she wasn't much of a runner. She trained for it though and we took Delilah and completed the two miles. Delilah was a year old and was strong for the full two miles. I was unable to run this race in other years but ran the two mile race again two years ago with a friend and her dog. Delilah went all out for the first mile but isn't good at pacing and was worn out during the second. They don't always have the 2 mile fun run but I was always persuaded to participate in that over the 5 miler because it was fun to run with Lilah and friends.
This year, was one of those years without the 2 mile race so I went ahead and signed up for the 5 miler on my own. At the last minute, the girl I'm helping train for a half marathon decided to run it as part of her 12 mile long run. It was nice to have a friend there.

I arrived at the start about 35 minutes early to get my packet and chip. I did a slow warm-up job to and from my car and it felt awful (which is why I don't like to do warmup runs). The weather was creeping toward 60 but there was a bit of a breeze and it felt good. I knew it would warm up as we were running but I was staying positive that it wouldn't be too bad. My goals for this race were to run faster than I've run the other 5 mile/8k races I've run in the past and try to run faster than 8:20 pace (what I ran in my 10k a few weeks ago). The greater than 8:20 pace would more than give me a PR since the other 5 mile/8k races I've run were very difficult trail/cross-country-style races. The 5 mile was the one I fell and sprained my finger during last year with a time of 47:xx. I've also done a tough cross country 8k race twice and it was rough both years (but I love it and hope to do it again this year). So, 8:20 or better pace was my A goal and faster than 47 minutes was my B goal.
When the gun went off, I tried to not go out too fast. I've learned over the years that this method does not work for me and always try to reign myself in during the first mile. I fell into a nice stride and eventually decided to check my watch to see what pace I was heading toward. When I saw a 7:39 projected mile time, I decided to tone it back a bit. I finished the first mile in 8:03.
The second mile I tried to hang on and settle into a nice pace - 8:16. The third mile I hit an 8:26 and started to panic. The fourth mile felt hot and long and it was an 8:31.

I knew I needed to step it up a notch if I wanted to meet my goal and I had been playing leap-frog with two other women close to my age. I took water at the 4 mile marker and felt re-energergized.

I passed both of the women at about 4.4 (according to my watch) and pushed to try to get a mile under 8 minutes. I succeeded with a 7:59! But, there were so many turns, curves, and out and backs in this race that I must have sucked at running tangents. When my watch read 5 miles, I still had nearly a quarter mile to go! I pushed on the last 0.22 at a 7:17 pace. I finished in 42:51 (an 8:34 pace for 5 miles but 8:13 pace for 5.22 miles).

I was VERY pleased with my pace regardless of my ability to run tangents. This race was much tougher than the 10k a few weeks back. It has a lot of long gradual uphill portions and it was much warmer out for this race. I felt strong during much of the race and was glad I was able to overtake the other women I had been running with. I talked to them at the finish and thanked them for pushing me.
I would definitely do this race again. It was small, well organized, and close to home.

Oh, and I cut my hair earlier this week and had to wear pigtails since my hair is too short for one ponytail!

*also happens to be my very first post on this blog.
**All but last photo were taken by the race photographer and placed online for free.

My history with the swim

When I was about 4/5, my parents enrolled my brother and I in swim lessons. I was mostly scared to put my face in the water and was terrified of jumping into the pool. Otherwise, I was ok with the water. I think by the end of our lessons, the only thing I had learned was to put my face in the water and jump in.
As far as I remember, we never took swim lessons again. We did however spend a lot of time up at a lake where my family owns property. I used to float around in the water there with rafts and arm floaties. Eventually I learned how to doggie paddle and mastered that stroke.
When I was in 2nd grade, I went to sleep away camp. The first day, the parents hung around a bit  with the kids to get them settled in. One of the things we did that day was take a swim test to see what color swim cap each kid earned (to let the lifeguard know their swim level). I was nervous about this because they wanted the kids to free-style back and forth the width of the pool. Not a big deal, but I'd never actually done free-style before. The girl I was going to camp with told me she knew how to swim so that put on extra pressure! My mom encouraged me to just do my best and in I jumped. I stuck my face in the water and did a free-style stroke based on what I had seen the other kids doing. Amazingly, I made it two widths of the pool and earned the highest color swim cap. My mom was so surprised that I was able to do that just by watching the other kids.
By this point, I was a decent swimmer but I still didn't really know what I was doing. I was never on a swim team and I had never had formal lessons outside of when I was 5. I kept swimming at the lake all the time and could swim across the cove and back without any problems. I mostly did free-style with my head above the water (I lacked the ability to time my breathing and I liked having constant access to oxygen) and breast stroke.
When I was in college, I decided I wanted to become a lifeguard. I had friends who did it and it seemed like a fun and easy job. I took the lifeguard course and was a bit surprised when I realized I had to swim 500 meters to pass the exam. I had never swam laps in a pool in my life but I did it! I surely wasn't the strongest swimmer there but I managed to get through the laps without incident. We had 3 or 4 all day classes and each time we'd have to swim 500 meters. I always completed them. I passed the test and became a lifeguard.
Despite being a lifeguard, I still didn't really swim laps. Maybe a few times before my shift started, but mostly I stayed out of the pool unless I needed to cool off.
The semester after my first summer of lifeguarding, a few friends of mine registered for beginning swimming. I liiked taking fun classes for easy credits throughout school since my semesters were usually full of tough math and econ classes (plus working a ton of hours at my part-time jobs). I registered for the class too so I could finally learn the correct way to swim! I was also hoping to learn how to breathe during free-style swimming. Much of the class came easy to me but I definitely learned a lot about improving my strokes. Turned out I had been doing most of the strokes incorrectly since I'd only learned them by watching other people. I went on to take intermediate swimming the semester after. (The swim instructor did pull me aside one day when I was in beginning swimming and asked me why I was taking the class when he knew (somehow?) that I was a lifeguard. I told him I'd never been properly taught how to swim).
I'm still not the best swimmer and I still struggle with the breathing aspect a bit. I like having constant access to air, which is why I love running. Despite not having a lot of lap swimming experience, I do feel comfortable in the water since I grew up going to the lake nearly every weekend in the summers.
I'm interested to see how different it is going to be swimming with a bunch of other people in the tri. I'm a little nervous but still pretty confident I'll survive the swim.

My history with the bike

With my first real triathlon coming up in just a few weeks (June 2nd), I thought I'd do a quick series to explain my history with the three sports.
I learned to ride a 2-wheel bike when I was about 5 years old. I took to it quickly and rode often with my brother and my parents. When I was in middle and high school, I used my bike as my main mode of transportation (up until I bought a car when I was 16). I would pal around the neighborhood with my friends on my bike everyday. In high school, my best friends all lived in a neighborhood about 2 miles from my house so I would ride there everyday. We did some rather long rides sometimes to check out different towns. We were very adventurous and I loved riding everywhere on my bike. A handful of times, my parents and I would ride on the canal and get in up to 24 miles at one time.
I also had a paper route throughout most of high school and into college. I rode my bike every morning on my route.
One thing I didn't do was ride for speed. This is a foreign concept to me. I also have only ever owned mountain bikes. They were perfect for the random off-road biking we would do while I was growing up. When I decided I needed a new bike a few years ago, I asked for an inexpensive mountain bike. I wasn't really thinking about triathlon at the time. I had my sights on one in particular but could never convince myself to register - until this year.
Anyway, I have had a lot of experience riding a bike, just not quickly. I'm not terribly concerned about this leg of the race since I am comfortable on the bike. We'll see how it goes on race day.

Acting like a teenager

When I was in high school and college, my favorite band was Eve 6. They weren't a super well known band but they had a few radio hits. I loved, loved, loved them and saw them in concert whenever I got the chance. As far as I was able to calculate, I had seen them 7 times between 1999 and 2004.
Soon after the last time I had seen them, the band split up. Recently, the band got back together and just released a new album. I downloaded their new album and had no idea they were touring right now. I guess I 'liked' them on FB because I checked it on Thursday evening and saw that they were having a show pretty close to me on Saturday night. On top of that, they were having a contest to win free tickets if you shared their concert banner and got 5 friends to comment on it. It took me a surprisingly long time to get 5 comments but I made it happen.
My first friend to comment (the maid of honor in my wedding) told me she'd go with me if I won the free tickets (but otherwise didn't want to pay to go to the show). I checked my email and FB on Friday morning/afternoon waiting to hear back about whether or not I'd won! I did! I was so excited! I felt like I was back in college and so excited to see my old favorite band in action again.... and I emailed my bff but she said she couldn't make it after all. :( So I texted another friend who also loved the band back in the day. She sounded hopeful at first but then decided she couldn't go either. Luckily I had one more friend in waiting. She wasn't the biggest fan of the band but had the night off so she agreed to go with me. I think she was glad she went.
We arrived just before the first band went on stage (though honestly I wouldn't have cared if we had missed their set). The second band was alright and we had a good time listening to them and people watching. A lot of interesting stories from our people-watching. We got hit on a lot and had a lot of drunk obnoxious guys talk to us, among other things.
When Eve 6 came on, they played a nice mix of new and old music. They played several of my favorites and a couple of the new tracks that I really like (though I haven't listened to the new cd much yet). There were a few that I am not too into yet but that could change after I've listened to the cd enough.
When they played their 'last' song (the open road song - one of my absolute favorites), I was very pleased with the show and had jumped around a lot (my legs were a bit sore from my 10 mile run earlier in the day but no matter...). When they walked off stage, everyone chanted for an encore and I knew they'd come back out. I've seen them 7 other times and other than festivals, they always come back out. I love them for this. They walked back out and started playing a song that I love love love but that they have NEVER played at any concert I've ever been to before. It isn't on any of their albums but is on the soundtrack to a movie that I love (and that I only saw for the first time because Eve 6 was on the soundtrack). Anyway, Lisa was very amused with me because I jumped up and down and shrieked (yes, really). She has never seen me react this way to anything ever before. I was that excited (and felt like I was 18 again). It was one of the best things ever and totally made my night. We decided it was meant to be that I won those free tickets and she had the night off.

Training runs

I haven't mentioned it, but I've been helping a friend of mine train for her second half marathon. She is relatively new to running and has turned her life around in the past year losing weight, eating healthier, and working out. She started running and trained for a 5k and then earlier this spring she ran her first half marathon (and got married a week later).
Her second half is June 3rd (the day after my tri) and she asked me if I would mind doing some long runs with her on the weekends. I agreed because it's nice to have someone to run with and motivate me to put miles in on the weekend. If I'm not training for something long, I'll often times only run during the week on my lunch break. I definitely like to run long on the weekends but sometimes can't self-motivate. We are helping each other though and it has been awesome so far.
Yesterday we met in the morning and got in a nice 10 mile run. We went to the canal a short drive from my house to run on the tow path. It is a nice place to run offering scenic views, a flat surface, and occasional bathrooms along the way. 

We also saw some wildlife along the way. I didn't snap any pictures because I'm not that talented. I took the above photos while my friend was taking a quick bathroom break. Anyway, we saw turtles, great blue herons, big fish under the water, and geese. The geese were pretty funny. We approached 2 parents with their goslings and they were all over the path. The babies had moved more toward the right side and the parents were in the middle/left side. We approached and my friend mentioned how she was a little nervous when the geese had their babies with them. I told her they should only hiss at us and at worst they might goose us. I went first just in case. They hissed and the goslings ran across the path in front of us. Have you ever seen goslings run? It was hysterical. Then, the poor little gosling in the back fell over and face-planted because he was going to quick. It was so funny. 

It is awesome to help a friend out and to share my knowledge of running with her. I am by no means an expert, but I've been running since 8th grade, so I definitely have a bit of experience. I am a little sad that I'm not training for my own half marathon but that's ok. I could probably find one to run if I really wanted. I don't have any on my schedule until August and I don't usually race in the summer due to the heat.

The weather we've had lately has also been incredible. Delilah has been enjoying it as well. :)

Hope you had a great weekend too! Happy Mother's Day to all you mothers out there. Delilah treated me to a walk around the lake today.