Okay, I have acknowledged my lack of keeping my blog updated, and I am moving on... :-)
With the urging of my TNT tri coaches, I signed up for the Hempfield Area Recreation Commission Tri for Life, a Sprint-distance triathlon on April 14, 2013, that consisted of a 300-meter swim (in a pool), a 16 mile bike, and a 5K run.. My main reason for participating in this prior to Black Bear was to see how transitions worked, since that was one thing I had no experience in.
Nothing really significant, funny, or memory-making happened during this tri (unlike Black Bear, which will be my next post), but it WAS my first triathlon, and for the sake of posterity, I feel like I should at least put it down on paper....er, screen....or whatever...
The tri was held on a Sunday morning, so the afternoon prior I drove to Landisville to pick up my packet, and then made the same trek the next morning. Bryan didn't come with me, and aside from a few other TNT people, I didn't really know anyone, so it was a bit lonely. It was also CHILLY! The transition area was set up in a grassy area off of a parking lot, and beside the building where the pool was located. I got there pretty early (it was still dark), and there were no assignments for transition spaces, so I randomly picked a spot to rack my bike somewhere towards the back. I had read all of these tips on how to set up your equipment, how to mark your transition spot so you could quickly find it (some people use a balloon, which I considered but then dismissed in case I was the only crazy person who did it), etc., but I'm pretty sure I didn't follow anything on the "what you are supposed to do" list. I mostly looked around at everyone else's set-up and kept re-arranging mine.
Once it became time to shed all of my clothing except for my tri shorts and tri top (I had gone round and round about what to wear for the swim - at first I thought about my swimsuit, but then I wasn't too keen on throwing clothes over that and wearing it for the bike and run as I was afraid of it being quite uncomfortable in a certain area, and for awhile I considered tri shorts and a sports bra, but I finally settled on getting a tri top as well as tri shorts), including shoes, I was freezing. Right before the tri officially started, we all gathered in the parking lot around the person announcing how things would go throughout the event, and my feet were in pain from being so cold. However, once we moved into the building with the pool, I quickly warmed up.
Since the swim was six laps in a pool (up one lane, down the next, and so on the width of the pool), part of the registration form was to indicate your estimated time to complete the swim so they could seed you from fastest to slowest to minimize congestion, people passing slower swimmers, etc. If I remember correctly, I estimated 7 minutes and 30 seconds based on the time it took me to swim laps during our weekly swims at Cedar Crest High School. Needless to say, I was close to the back of the line, but was happy to see that right around my same spot in line was Beth, another TNT participant that I had met at the Kickoff a few months prior. Beth (who is also a teacher and around my age) was part of the Harrisburg team and participating in the Mt. Gretna Tri, so we didn't train together other than a combined swim practice at Messiah College, but it was nice to have a familiar face to talk to in line.
For me, the swim was the worst part...I enjoyed swimming in the pool at Cedar Crest for the most part because I could go my own consistent, slow pace. Here, I felt rushed because the person behind me was only starting something like 10 seconds behind me...so I started out fast, and quickly got tired...and people soon started to pass me in the lane, or asked to pass me once I got to the wall and had to slip under the rope to go up the next lane. At one of the walls Beth came up behind me, and I indicated to her that it was more than okay to pass me, and she must have seen the panic/fear/embarrassment in my face, because she simply said "It's okay", and that made me feel a little bit better. Once I finally reached the other end of the pool and started to exit the water, I wanted to cry with relief.
I quickly made my way out of the pool, exited the building, and ran down a narrow macadam path to the transition area. Surprisingly, I found my bike without too much trouble, and began to get dressed for the bike. Of course, there were "hard-core" athletes who were rushing to get through the transition as quick as possible, but that just isn't me as I am a very non-competitive person for the most part. I also don't like wet feet, so I took some extra time to thoroughly dry them before putting on my socks and shoes....I didn't have fancy bike shoes with clips, there was just a "cage" on my bike's pedals, so I wore my running sneakers. I threw on a long-sleeved running shirt, and since it was still chilly out and I knew that the wind was going to be no fun, I also put on my running gloves and a jacket...but silly me didn't zip it up. And, of course, my helmet, which they make you have buckled before you can mount your bike. I exited the transition area, and jogged beside my bike to the point where we were allowed to mount our bike and begin pedaling. Once I began to pedal, I quickly realized my mistake in not zipping up my jacket, because it was if I was wearing a cape, flapping in the breeze. The first little bit of the bike course was through a development/residential area, so I pulled off to the side of the road (maybe in someone's driveway?) and zipped my jacket and tightened my shoe laces.
There wasn't anything really significant about the bike course that I recall...once we got out of the residential area and through a bit of an industrial area, we were in the gently rolling hills of Lancaster County farm country. It did get quite windy at times, to the point where I thought the wind might tip me over. The course went out, and into what I refer to as a "lollipop", and then back the same way we started, so once I got back to the residential area, I knew that I was soon finished the bike. Here is a picture the professional photographers took of me as I was almost back to the start:
And here is the bike data from my Garmin.
Once I dismounted my bike, entered the transition area, and re-racked my bike, I was definitely glad to have the swim and bike behind me, because, after all, I started out this whole crazy thing of completing endurance events as a "runner". On a run, I know what to expect...I feel like so much more could go wrong during the swim and bike that I may not always be able to "fix" by myself. So, I got rid of my helmet, gloves, jacket, and threw on running shorts over top of my tri shorts...hey, I realize it may look funny, but I just can't bear the thought of running for all of the world to see my bum in just tight tri shorts...and headed out for a nice run. The run was an out and back course (which really isn't my favorite), and I wasn't displeased with my time considering I had just finished a 16-mile bike ride. Here is the run data from my Garmin, and below are some pictures from my run...the first you can see me heading out, and in the second I am on my way back (and yes, the "view" wasn't all that bad, I suppose...). In the second picture, you may not be able to see them all that well (I had quite the time trying to hack these pictures off of the photographer's web-site and get them inserted into this blog...), but my thigh muscles sort of creep me out...
I do enjoy looking at my data/results, so here are my "official" results for the 2013 Tri For Life:
Overall Place - 115/145
Overall Time - 1:53:31
Overall Female Place - 36/54
Overall Female Ages 20-29 (Division) Place - 7/12
Swim Time - 7:37
Swim Pace - 2:32
Swim Overall Place - 123/145
Swim Female Place - 42/54
Swim Division Place - 10/12
Transition 1 Time - 3:13
T1 Overall Place - 116/145
T1 Female Place - 38/54
T1 Division Place - 10/12
Bike Time - 1:10:00
Bike Pace - 13.7
Bike Overall Place - 122/145
Bike Female Place - 38/54
Bike Division Place - 7/12
Transition 2 Time - 2:09
T2 Overall Place - 123/145
T2 Female Place - 49/54
T2 Division Place - 11/12
Run Time - 30:32
Run Pace - 10:11
Run Overall Place - 112/145
Run Female Place - 34/54
Run Division Place 9/12
So...my first triathlon - DONE! Next up, the Triathlon that I began training for because, for some reason, I decided to "Dare the Bear"...
