Race Report TBF Super Sprint Triathlon

So now that I have had the weekend to decompress and step away from the edge of the bridge, I figured it was time to post my results.

The distances:

400 yard swim

8 mile bike ride

2 mile trail run

So last year this same event was my first triathlon, and it was not a happy experience filled with joyful memories.  So I had a lot of unfinished business with this race.

I had three goals for this year:

1.  Swim the entire distance without needing to stop or consider the real possibility that I might not make it back to shore.  It's amazing how far 400 yards looks when you are in the water over your head and you aren't sure you can make it back to the shallows.

2.  The second goal was to run the entire distance of the run portion.  Last year my legs were a wreck, I couldn't feel my feet and I never got into any kind of real running stride.  I walked probably 90% of the 2 miles

 3.  To significantly reduce my time.  Last years time was 1:22:08.  But since I was competing in the heavy tonnage category (Clydesdale) I actually managed 3rd place.  It helps that there were only 3 entrants ;-) I am hoping for a time under 1 hour for this race.

How the race went.

My wife was nice enough to get me a place to stay with her uncle for the race.  That saved me a 2 hour drive and was supposed to allow me to get a good nights sleep.  Well that didn't happen.  My eyes popped open at 4 a.m. and I was done.  There was no going back to sleep.  So I packed up my gear and tried to quietly slip out of the house so I wouldn't wake anyone.

I get out to the car and I can't find the straps to secure the bike to the car carrier.  I think I must have left them on the roof of the car when we left for dinner and now they are gone.  I drive the route from last night and they are nowhere to be found.  So now I'm mickey mousing the bike onto the rack and securing it with bungee cords and some flimsy straps.  So I'm imagining my bike bouncing down the freeway.  I stopped at a gas station bought some bottled water and a news paper, and some lottery tickets its up to 320 million.  I was going to have some time to kill so I thought I would read the paper. Luckily there was no bike mishaps, and I made it to the event bright and early.  A smashed bike would have been bad, but I might have worked in some pitty points with my wife and gotten my new bike sooner.  Gotta look for the positive! 

I got to the event so early that they were still setting up tents and getting organized.  It was a beautiful day.  I walked down to the lake to take a look, feel the water and take some pictures. I racked my bike, setup transition for what was the first of 3 or 4 times.  I just couldn't make up my mind how I wanted things laid out.  I visited the restroom/changing area, also the first of 3 times.  Please don't let it be one of those days.  I had brought my shiny new 1 piece tri-suit, my swim trunks and my wetsuit.  I knew I wanted to have a minimum of clothing changes, I planned to wear the tri-suit under the wetsuit so I could just peel it off and be ready to go for the rest of the race.  It ended up being a good thing that I brought the swim suit as well.  The tri-suit just wasn't fitting right, not sure what was up, I had worn it around at home for a while to get used to the feel, but today something was different.  I was getting the atomic wedgie from this thing.  I knew I wouldn't be able to run with that, I'd be picking tri-suit out of my A$$ for 2 miles.  I can only imagine that's what thong underwear feels like.  I have to remember to apologize to my wife for the previous Valentines lingerie gifts.  Anyhow back to my clothing issues.  I change out of the 1 piece and put on my swim trunks.  The trunks fit tight, maybe a little too tight, but they don't give a wedgie.  Actually, you could probably tell my religion, but at least it's not a banana hammock, and I don't have that uncomfortable feeling, so I figure wtf.  This just throws me all off, I was now going to have to put on a t-shirt or something when I stripped off the wetsuit.  So I had the bright idea of trying on the tri-suit over the swim trunks.  Problem solved, the trunks kept the tri-suit from annoying me.  Problem solved!!!

I head over to registration and get my number.  I get race #2.  Obviously they set these up alphabetically, and not by seeding.  That or they knew that I was going to race like #2 ;-).  Head on over to body marking where I start talking with a couple first timers.  They were asking about all the body marking and how come so many places, how come the age markings etc.  I told them it's so they could I.D. them should anything happen during the swim.  This was followed by some nervous laughter and the admission that this is what they were worried about and had come to that conclusion already.

This event had Tri 4 kids races to start the day.  50 yard swim 4 mile ride and 1 mile run.  It was great to see the little kids out there giving it their all.  It was probably the best part of the day.  Those kids are great and they really try to make them all feel special.  At last months race there was a 4 y/o little boy who still had training wheels on his bike.  He completed the whole event.  Oh how I wish I could have seen that.  I'm trying to interest my son in the sport and he is waffling.  I'm going to have to take him over so he can see these kids do it and how much fun they are having.

So by the time the adults races start, I have made several transition changes, a couple clothing changes and a few trips to visit the restroom.  This was a very disorganized start to my day, but nothing earth shattering and I was in a good mood.  Ready to get rolling and excited about the day.

Here is where my day starts to unravel.  I decide to take a warm up swim.  I do o.****il I hit the weeds.  I start to freak.  I don't know what the deal is, but I'm in a dead panic, and I start to hyperventilate.  I swim back to shore, calm myself and try again.  I did this 4 times and finally had myself convinced that everything was going to be o.k.   

I was in the final wave of the day, and the swim started out o.k. for the first 125 yards or so.  Then it started to go downhill, I lost my breath and couldn't recover.  I tried floating on my back catching my breath etc.  I would calm down, but as soon as I turned over and started swimming again it was right back to the same old thing.  I never did recover.  The only good thing was that I wasn't the last person out of the water this time, and I actually caught some people from the wave in front of me.  However the only time I felt good was when i finally made the turn back towards shore and was covering the final 50 yards or so.  I don't for the life of me know whats going on with my swimming, obviously I need more practice, but I just don't seem to be improving and now I have myself all psyched out.  

I head on up to transition and strip off the wetsuit, get my shoes on and take off on the bike.  The bike is my favorite part of the triathlon.  I'm actually doing pretty good, I'm picking people off left and right.  There are 3 of us that keep trading position.  We aren't drafting, but none of us can actually make a big enough of a break that we can distance ourselves from each other.  So we end up swapping positions numerous times.  I'm sure this is going to come back and haunt me, and I even think about it while we are doing it.  Save something for the run, take it easy, but I don't listen.  It feels too good and I'm not tired, so keep on going.  About half way through the ride I remember to hydrate, omg that was awful, my drink had gotten hot and was undrinkable.  I was very happy with the bike, I can't wait to see what it's going to be like riding on a new carbon road or triathlon bike.  

Back into transition with my fellow bike racers, we all skid in and get changed.  I was glad I picked a good transition area, I was able to cross the line and rack the bike, very little running with the cycling shoes on.  and I was off on the run.  I did o.k. for about the first half mile and then I was done.  I had to start walking.  My legs just wouldn't go and I gave up on myself.  I walked the remainder of that first mile.  When I hit the aid station I grabbed some water and a gel packet.  That really helped, because after that I was able to run again.  I had one more short walking distance, but I managed to berate errr encourage myself to run again.  I even managed to pass a couple people.

When they posted the results at the race, I was not happy.  I was already irritated with myself for walking and for my weak arsed swimming.  The list had me as finishing 85th.  I was ready to quit doing Tri's right then and there.  Well come to find out that that was the finish order for everyone, it didn't take into account the wave starts, it was just the number you were given when you crossed the finish line.  When the times were posted last night I found out that I actually finished 56th and that I had completed my 3rd goal of reducing my time to under 1 hour.

My final time results were 

0:59:58 So I took 22 minutes off my time from last years race.

I finished 11th out of 24 people in the M 40-49 age group

Now if I could just take another 22 minutes off I'll be wearing winners gear hahaha ;-)

 I still have unfinished business with this race, I won't be happy with my results until I can swim, bike, run without stopping.  But there is improvement and that makes me happy.  You can't always see the improvement happening, and it sure didn't feel like I had done any better, but I took over 22 minutes off my previous years time.  I'll take this as a learning experience and continue to work on my weaknesses.  

Thanks for taking the time to read, and thanks for being here to help educate and share your experiences and support with me and everyone else.

Scott