I survived my first full triathlon – a sprint distance: 500M swim / 20K ride / 5K run. It’s nice to actually put a number / accomplishment to all of the training I’ve done in the past 8 months. I also ran the whole 5K without stopping, which I thought I wouldn’t be able to do.
I’d recommend the Strathmore Women’s Triathlon to any woman who wants to do one for the first time. There is tons of spirit, people are nice / encouraging / funny and the distances are easily attainable. It’s also not scary competitive; most women do this as their “fun” triathlon of the year.
Next year I’m planning on doing more triathlons; I’d like to do a couple of short pool events and a longer lake event. For this I need to actually buy gear that isn’t falling apart. My bathing suit was so old that I had fears that it would rip at the seams during my first flip turn and that I’d be running out to transition with my backside exposed. Thus, my second purchase is going to be a Zoot Suit — after I get a new saddle for my bike. I need a girl saddle because anything longer than 10k is hard on the girl parts — if you know what I mean.
Here are some reflections on yesterday’s event:
The Swim: Maybe if I actually trained I could maintain a 1:15 x 100m pace comfortably during the swim instead of dying after 200m and feeling like my lungs were exploding on each flip turn and like my arms were wet noodles dragging 10lb weights. That said, I’m glad I have a swimming background. (Pause to take a moment to thank my parents for forcing me to join the swim team when I was little — and keeping me on the swim team for many many years.) The swim is the greatest barrier to most people doing a triathlon and I’m so glad that is the one part of a TRI that I don’t even think about. I also feel that you have a bit of a mental edge when you are focusing more on the ride / run and not worrying about surviving the swim.
The Bike: I was beyond ready for the 20k bike ride. I love my bike but it’s time to move up in the cycling world. My body is now wanting to push more than what my bike was designed for and I really noticed it during this race (there were times when I could only glide because I’d reached the RPM max). I’ve also been told that my legs combined with something faster than my 15 year old Diamondback mountain bike will be a killer combination in a road race. So, I’ve been scoping out the Cervelo Dual and periodically going down to Bow Cycle to caress the Dual they have in stock. It’s only a matter of time before one ends up in our basement on a wind trainer. I chose Cervelo because it suits my cycling style/body/purpose more than a traditional racing bike like a Cannondale.
The Run: My running sucks. To give myself some credit: I only started to learn now to run in January (before that I flat our refused to even run for the bus). For those who don’t know me won’t really truly understand that for me to run 5k is a major accomplishment; my feet go numb, my toes pop, my calves cramp, I don’t have any running muscles, my joints ache the whole time, and mentally there are demons that are constantly screaming to stop. I could easily swim 2km on a rainy day in the middle of a dark murky lake or ride 50km in the middle of a hurricane, but ask me to run 1km in the sunshine with no wind on a flat road and my mind is screaming the whole time because when I hit the running wall I hit it hard. Still — the first step in getting better is working on my soggy core stability so I will continue to take baby steps towards being a better runner.
Overall: It wasn’t as hard as I thought it would be and there were tons of women out doing their first triathlon including an A.W.A.D. (Athlete with a Disability). Everyone was so encouraging and nice; it was a very gentle event for my first full triathlon experience (I’ve done individual events before as part of a team). The hardest thing for me to get past was not being warmed up enough in any of the events to hit my groove; my body is never warm until about 800m in a swim or 10k in a cycle and I found that a bit uncomfortable. That said, I’m pretty excited that I was able to complete my goal — and all for me. It’s been a long time coming and now I’m excited about getting to work on next year’s events.
0 comments on “Musings on the Strathmore Tri”Add yours →