(Murphy's Law: "Anything That Can Possibly Go Wrong, Does/Will")
For pics click this link
The Goal: complete my first Triathlon (Olympic Distance) in under 3 Hours, while not drowning (special thanks here go to my Wet-Suit which makes actual drowning very hard - while making you feel like you are stuck in full-body corset.)
Actual Race Time: 2:46:33 ... which breaks down into the following:
| 576 | 484 | 36 | Ich | M | 27 | 26:46 (671) | 2:47 (318) | 1:19:47 (517, 19.1) | 1:38 (534) | 55:36 (876, 8:58) | 2:46:33 |
Which Means:
Overall Finish: # 576 - Finisher Among Men: # 484 - Age Group Finish: # 36
Swimming Time: 26:46 (i was the 671 'fastest' here)
Bike: 1:19:47 (average pace of 19.1 mph with the 517 'best' time)
Run: 55:36 (the 876th fastest in that event) ...
Which means my best event - in which I placed 318th was the first Transition (that is the time spent between getting out of the water and sitting on your bike and heading off)
With that out of the way here we go - the Race Report:
Before i got started with this tri-challenge i figured that the swim would be my hardest event, the biking would be doable and the run would be where 'i catch people'. But obviously it turned out in a completely different way and it ended up with my swim being 'doable', the biking were i caught people and the running being the event where i got past --- these things are always very humbling!
These bloody triathlons start way to early in the morning! I thought Marathon starts were early, but no! Triathlons win in this category with the first wave of athletes (these things start in waves - ages categories ... with the pro's going first ... I was in Wave 9) starting at around 6:30 am! Which means one has to get up at around 5am or earlier to eat some breakfast, go over to the transition area to do some final setting-up on the bike, climing into the wet-suit, getting a bit warmed-up etc, etc, etc
The Start/Swim:
Our Wave was made up of about 150 or so people which made for a nice and painful start in absolutely freezing water! (Thank god for the wet-suits otherwise who knows what might have happened.) Why do i say 'painful start' well its quite simple actually: imagine a large group of people standing on side of the swimming pool and all of a sudden trying to reach the other side as fast as possible. Obviously there is not enough space/width to support, say 150 idiots who collectively are quite a bid wider then the alloted space/width available - especially at the start. The outcome is quite simple: u get kicked and punched in virtually all areas of the body, all the time for the first minute or two. This, as u can surely imagine, at 7:30am in freezing water at the start of a circa 3 hour event in which u try to conserve as much energy as possible, while going as fast as u can, is nothing short of a wonderful time for any athlete ... a time in which one appreciates the closeness of hundreds of strangers like no other.
The Worst Part: realizing that your not in a pool where u can rest after 25 to 50 meters; that u have still over a kilometer to go, while floating in the freezing lake and realizing that all your practice of freestyle swimming was utterly useless while i struggled to keep up with the mass of people, swimming in my patented doggy-paddle/breaststroke style ...The Best Part: coming around that small island in the middle of the lake and seeing the exit point - just beautiful (the nicest surprise was seeing my swim time after the race and realizing that it was not that bad: 26min ... i had feared i might need close to 40min!)
Interesting Fact: you really get thirsty swimming (even in fresh water) ... i never expected that - although i never thought about it either - and it seems logical: you are exercising hard for 25min + ... but it still surprised me, nevertheless
Transition One (Swim to Bike):
After stumbling out of the water the objective is to get to the bike as quick as possible (running/sprinting) while taking off your wet-suit. The transition area is where u can really make up time on people and my goal was to get in and out of in under two minuets. Unfortunately i did not get even close to that. Overall the transition thing is quite fun - and its the first place where u have people gathering to cheer you on - which always gets the adrenaline pumping. I also managed to run to the wrong bike/isle ... but managed to correct my mistake quickly by dashing under some bikes into the correct isle/lane.
The Best Part:
Realizing that the people to left and right of me had already been here (early waves i figure) which gave me more space to get to my gear and change. There was very little space between bikes for everyone to put their stuff ...
The Worst Part:
Murphey's Law (#1) showing up for the first time: i decided not to put on my race top under the wet-suit and decided to put it on during transition. I even practiced this procedure several times to figure out how to best place the shirt in the transition area, and what the best way would be to get it on. Unfortunately, the stupid shirt/jersey ended up getting stuck and rolling up behind my back and i could be seen jumping up and down, twisting and turning next to my bike while trying to get the stupid jersey on - that this might happen was my biggest fear in the first transition and it ended up costing me about 25 to 30 seconds - very frustrating!
Interesting Fact:
Your not supposed to rest during transition ... its a part where u can make up time ... the recovery portion should be during the first couple of minuets on the bike and/or run.
The Bike:
I loved this part ... i felt strong the entire time and its a great feeling to just fly by people instead of being passed. I knew the course, knew the hills and the race just seemed to flow smoothly at this point. I even managed to eat during this part and I really enjoyed it - am really surprised how much i like biking. My little $160 metal bar on wheels felt good and i was flying down hills ... could have used some extra (harder) gears, but was glad no parts came flying off on those portion ... was very happy to finish the course in under 1h 20min (that was one of my goals)
The Best Part:
Hard to say ... that entire ride was fun. Possibly being passed and passing a fellow triathlete on about 6 occasions. She passed me (she had an awesome bike), i passed here - we just went back and forth and it really kept my pace up and we pushed each other on ... also the fact that we just missed the rain .... the weather forecast for the race had not been to great and the real concern was the rain during the bike course ... but thankfully, apart from a few drops at the very end, we stayed dry on the bike course.
The Worst Part:
Murphy's Law Strike #2: I was flying up the mountain, down shifting to keep my cadence and momentum going when suddenly my gear gut stuck. All of a sudden i lost all speed, all rhythm and almost fell of my bike. I was literally stuck on the hardest part of the hill and the guy behind me nearly crashed into me while i barely managed to clip out of my peddles. I ended up pushing my bike up part of the hill before getting back on the bike and dragging myself over the edge ... it was the first time my gear gut stuck every since i have been training with the bike (nearly 3 months) - perfect timing.
Murphy's Law Strike #3: Just as i had recovered from the stuck gear event and had build up my speed again my chain came off the bike. Once again, that had never happened before, and I had to stop once again to put that thing back on - thankfully it was a quick fix and did not cost to much time.
Interesting Fact:
Jesse - one of our TNT team members (and amazing swimmer) had even worse luck on the bike. She had gear problems as well, and suffered a flat tire. She ended up riding the last 7 miles of the race with no air in her back wheel .... quite remarkable! Also it is illegal to 'draft' during the bike portion ... which means u cannot be less then 5 bike lengths behind someone, and u only have 30 seconds to pass somebody - otherwise u get disqualified (DQ'd).
Transition Two (Bike to Run):
I managed to find my bike without any problems this time around and had caught up with some of the girls from our team (they started 8 min. ahead of us in a different wave) ... which i thought was excellent since it meant that i had made up around 8 to 10min on them on the bike portion (I know i lost some time to them during the swim) and i knew that i would finish the race in under 3hours - if i can manage to run the 10k in under an hour (my goal was to run it in circa 45min) - which is not to difficult.The Best Part:
Coming of the bike and running towards the changing area, while hearing some of our supporters scream your name. Its such an adrenaline kick!
The Worst Part:
Murphy's Law Strike #4: I was pushing my right foot into my running shoe when all of a sudden this intense pain shot through my right calf and i slowly fell to the ground (into a combination of wet grass and mud) like a big log/piece of timber. I just got a huge cramp in my right calf muscle and with no one around to help stretch me out, i clumsily did it myself. But the worst part is/was that i knew the 10k would be a disaster ... especially due to the hills to come. This was a horrible feeling ... a mix of frustration, pain and disappointment ... u train and await this race for so long and then something stupid like this will not enable you to truly see how well you could have done ... but thats part of it all ... i guess. So after stretching out for a bit I was able to put on my shoes and go off on the run ....
Interesting Fact:
You can get disqualified if you take off your biking helmet before 'racking' your bike (i.e. putting it back into its proper position) ... apparently this is one of the most common reasons why people suffer being DQ'd.
The Run:
This should have been my strongest event ... and my legs still felt strong when i started the run, after coming off the bike. This was a great sign, since in previous practices my legs felt dead trying to run after just finishing a tough ride, but this time i felt good and i set off on a nice pace. But the run ended up being a complete disaster - it was just horrible. I think i compensated with my left side a bit to keep some pressure of my right calf and it promptly led to a me developing a second cramp in my left quad. In the end the run took me a disappointing 55 min - i had to stop several times in order to stretch and allow my muscles to recover and worst of all i ended up walking up most of the hills on the course since running up the hills just caused me to get more cramps. So my predicted best event turned into a nightmare ... leider.
The Best Part:Easily the finish ... well more precisely the last 250m of the race course. When i got to this point, realizing that no more hills or inclines of any sort are anywhere to be seen and with people cheering on, my adrenaline kicked into overdrive and i sprinted to the finish. It was a great feeling ... and nice way to end the day.
The Worst Part:
Murphy's Law Strike #5: This easily goes to the continued cramps i got while trying to maneuver the hills of the race course. The absolute highlight might have been me trying to stretch out my left quad near the top of the steepest hill on the course by myself. Now please picture and individual standing on his right leg only, pulling his left quad backwards with his left hand - in order to stretch the muscle. The result of this stretching attempt was that my right calf started to ramp up while doing this and i just fell down in the middle of the road in pure pain and agony - an absolute highlight!
Interesting Fact:
I think, realistically speaking, i lost about 10min on the run .... which means that next year i should aim for the 2h 30min mark as a time goal for the race/course.
And that was the race .... very eventful, very enjoyable (in retrospect) and a great overall experience which will undoubtedly and inevitably lead to only one thing: an IronMan at some point in the next couple of years!
FYI: IronMan = 3.8 Swim, 181km Bike & 42km run ...
