Tri-ing something new
Newport Triathlon
April 19, 2009
Clock Time 1:44:36.2
Swim (1/2 mile) 18:07.6
T1 3:10.0
Bike (15 miles) 57:16.6
T2 1:38.6
Run (3 miles) 24:23.5
Some of you know, I have this crazy idea that I am going to complete an ironman one day . This was inspired by Alison, Michelle, Kristin and Heath’s accomplishment of the ironman last year in September. So, the plan is to start off small and work my way up. In October of last year, I got a call from Mazan, and in our conversations we thought I could go out to California and we could find a triathlon to do together. When I was planning my California trip with Ash and my Grandfather, I decided to schedule it around the Newport Triathlon, which would be most convenient for Adam, which meant it’d probably actually happen. In addition, since I lost my marathon virginity in California, it seemed necessary to lose my triathlon virginity there too!
I started going to spin class once a week starting in January and once Rachel, Alexis, Mike and I finished the New Orleans Marathon, Rachel and Alexis joined a 3 week free membership at my gym, and they were my partners in starting the swimming journey. I couldn’t believe how out of shape I felt in the pool. It took us the 3 weeks to work up to a half mile, and by week four I was doing it without being real tired. I inserted it into life, as a lunchtime workout. It took about 20 minutes (with one day at like 16 minutes!). And of course, the running was same as usual, in sync with the Marathon Training 30-40 miles a week.
I was actually real nervous about the triathlon, and knew I would have one in June with Andrea and Jen so I didn’t sign up for this triathlon until the Friday before. Earlier that week, Adam told Me I would need a wetsuit, and Alexis had one she offered up for the event. That thing was tight! It was real difficult to get on, but I guess that’s how it’s supposed to be. When I got to Calfironia, I put it on and took a quick swim in Ashleigh’s pool to give it a whirl. I was more buoyant, so that was great. Then, since I was in Cali, I borrowed Ashleigh’s bike. I think it’s a pretty good bike for a sprint tri; it’s a K2 Tradewind Cross Bike. So it wasn’t 100% road bike but since I had only been training in spin class I figured I wouldn’t know the difference (I still have to get a good bike…where is the time to do that?).
We got to Newport in time for dinner on Saturday night, we stopped by Adam’s to say hi and figure out details for the morning, as I was becoming a nervous mess (what a party house!). Then we went to Ashleigh’s friends’ house to get some sleep (that wouldn’t have happened at Mazan’s place). I woke p at 4:45am (well technically 4...I was anxious). Got ready, but a little early so I sat around for a bit being nervous, then biked to Adam’s. We then biked to the start…that was a nice warm up. It was pretty chilly out. Adam pulled the strings for us to be VIP and pick up our stuff on race day. I watched what Adam did to set up his transition area, asked questions about everything and followed his lead. He started in the wave before me. As they started I talked to two other newbies. We were talking about how the swim was our nervous part.
As the whistle blew for us to start my first thought was“OMG, I’m actually doing this” As we started to swim, you had to keep your head up as it was crowded and my next thought was “This isn’t so bad” Then as we turned the first buoy my next thought was “Adam lied, I can’t touch here!” Then “I’m already tired why am I doing this?” We finally spread out enough where I could actually swim with my head in the water but the water was dark and you couldn’t see in it, so you would have to stop to look up and then continue on. Every now and then you’d run into a foot. I felt like I was actually moving when you could put your head in, otherwise it was difficult. A few times, because I felt like I was expending too much energy on trying not to kick someone or be kicked. The third turn was the easiest, and then the fourth just seemed to drag on forever. I did kind of start going in the wrong direction, but I corrected it fast. I made my way the whole half mile without drowning.
Once I got out of the water, I started to walk up and out. I thought “okay I can take a mini break” but nobody around me was, they were running to the transition point….so I followed and tried to chat with another girl. I got to the transition, took off the wetsuit as fast as I knew how, and got my shoes on. I put on my Jacket, but didn’t zip it as I went on my way…following everyone else, running with my bike to where you mount them.
As I started, I knew I should zip my jacket but didn’t want to stop, so instead I probably made the ride a little tougher with being less aerodynamic. I was cruising, and it felt good. There were lots of curves which was real fun. Then there was the hill (which I realized is the same hill I’d run with Elvia when Ash lived in Irvine). I didn’t have my gears switched up and ended up having to get off and walk/run with my bike (that was pretty common). There after, it was a quick ride with a lot of down. You actually had to break when you turned around and went down the hill I had walk on. This was a two loop course, so the second time, the goal was to get the gears changed in time and not walk. I managed to do that. As I hit the turn around, a guy in front of me ended up wiping out. That was a little scary and made me think twice about how fast I was going down the hills (but it didn’t slow me down). Finally, the 15 miles was finished.
The next transition was quicker, I got off my bike and put it back on the wrack, re-tied my shoes and took off the jacket. I was home free with the run.
As I started to run, my legs felt wobbly. I didn’t have my Garmin so I had no clue my pace, and I had no clue if I was on my two hour goal. I felt like I might not have been. There was a girl dressed as wonder woman. She was in a group of superheroes but they were all running separate. I chatted with her for about a half mile and then I felt like my legs were regaining running strength and I picked the pace up. Right before the turn around they had a horrid hill. So we had to climb that. I am horrible at hills, but I passed people, trying to say hello, but I was breathing heavy. Then there was the turn around, and we made our way down and I still passed people. As we had a half mile left, I picked the pace up and as we neared the finish I kept going faster and the 3 miles were quickly over.
As I crossed the finish line, the clock read something like 1 hours and 52 minutes. Because I was in the 2nd wave, my actual time was 1hr 44 minutes 36 seconds.
The whole time I kept thinking, this is real hard and I was tired out. By the end, I realized the reason why I was tired, was because was working it so hard. I finished a good 15 minutes faster than what I thought I would. So that’s it- the first one is over with. Next tri will be Naperville, which is a the day after the Madison to Chicago Relay where I will be running around 30 miles in 30 hours, so that will be interesting.
Newport Triathlon
April 19, 2009
Clock Time 1:44:36.2
Swim (1/2 mile) 18:07.6
T1 3:10.0
Bike (15 miles) 57:16.6
T2 1:38.6
Run (3 miles) 24:23.5
Some of you know, I have this crazy idea that I am going to complete an ironman one day . This was inspired by Alison, Michelle, Kristin and Heath’s accomplishment of the ironman last year in September. So, the plan is to start off small and work my way up. In October of last year, I got a call from Mazan, and in our conversations we thought I could go out to California and we could find a triathlon to do together. When I was planning my California trip with Ash and my Grandfather, I decided to schedule it around the Newport Triathlon, which would be most convenient for Adam, which meant it’d probably actually happen. In addition, since I lost my marathon virginity in California, it seemed necessary to lose my triathlon virginity there too!
I started going to spin class once a week starting in January and once Rachel, Alexis, Mike and I finished the New Orleans Marathon, Rachel and Alexis joined a 3 week free membership at my gym, and they were my partners in starting the swimming journey. I couldn’t believe how out of shape I felt in the pool. It took us the 3 weeks to work up to a half mile, and by week four I was doing it without being real tired. I inserted it into life, as a lunchtime workout. It took about 20 minutes (with one day at like 16 minutes!). And of course, the running was same as usual, in sync with the Marathon Training 30-40 miles a week.
I was actually real nervous about the triathlon, and knew I would have one in June with Andrea and Jen so I didn’t sign up for this triathlon until the Friday before. Earlier that week, Adam told Me I would need a wetsuit, and Alexis had one she offered up for the event. That thing was tight! It was real difficult to get on, but I guess that’s how it’s supposed to be. When I got to Calfironia, I put it on and took a quick swim in Ashleigh’s pool to give it a whirl. I was more buoyant, so that was great. Then, since I was in Cali, I borrowed Ashleigh’s bike. I think it’s a pretty good bike for a sprint tri; it’s a K2 Tradewind Cross Bike. So it wasn’t 100% road bike but since I had only been training in spin class I figured I wouldn’t know the difference (I still have to get a good bike…where is the time to do that?).
We got to Newport in time for dinner on Saturday night, we stopped by Adam’s to say hi and figure out details for the morning, as I was becoming a nervous mess (what a party house!). Then we went to Ashleigh’s friends’ house to get some sleep (that wouldn’t have happened at Mazan’s place). I woke p at 4:45am (well technically 4...I was anxious). Got ready, but a little early so I sat around for a bit being nervous, then biked to Adam’s. We then biked to the start…that was a nice warm up. It was pretty chilly out. Adam pulled the strings for us to be VIP and pick up our stuff on race day. I watched what Adam did to set up his transition area, asked questions about everything and followed his lead. He started in the wave before me. As they started I talked to two other newbies. We were talking about how the swim was our nervous part.
As the whistle blew for us to start my first thought was“OMG, I’m actually doing this” As we started to swim, you had to keep your head up as it was crowded and my next thought was “This isn’t so bad” Then as we turned the first buoy my next thought was “Adam lied, I can’t touch here!” Then “I’m already tired why am I doing this?” We finally spread out enough where I could actually swim with my head in the water but the water was dark and you couldn’t see in it, so you would have to stop to look up and then continue on. Every now and then you’d run into a foot. I felt like I was actually moving when you could put your head in, otherwise it was difficult. A few times, because I felt like I was expending too much energy on trying not to kick someone or be kicked. The third turn was the easiest, and then the fourth just seemed to drag on forever. I did kind of start going in the wrong direction, but I corrected it fast. I made my way the whole half mile without drowning.
Once I got out of the water, I started to walk up and out. I thought “okay I can take a mini break” but nobody around me was, they were running to the transition point….so I followed and tried to chat with another girl. I got to the transition, took off the wetsuit as fast as I knew how, and got my shoes on. I put on my Jacket, but didn’t zip it as I went on my way…following everyone else, running with my bike to where you mount them.
As I started, I knew I should zip my jacket but didn’t want to stop, so instead I probably made the ride a little tougher with being less aerodynamic. I was cruising, and it felt good. There were lots of curves which was real fun. Then there was the hill (which I realized is the same hill I’d run with Elvia when Ash lived in Irvine). I didn’t have my gears switched up and ended up having to get off and walk/run with my bike (that was pretty common). There after, it was a quick ride with a lot of down. You actually had to break when you turned around and went down the hill I had walk on. This was a two loop course, so the second time, the goal was to get the gears changed in time and not walk. I managed to do that. As I hit the turn around, a guy in front of me ended up wiping out. That was a little scary and made me think twice about how fast I was going down the hills (but it didn’t slow me down). Finally, the 15 miles was finished.
The next transition was quicker, I got off my bike and put it back on the wrack, re-tied my shoes and took off the jacket. I was home free with the run.
As I started to run, my legs felt wobbly. I didn’t have my Garmin so I had no clue my pace, and I had no clue if I was on my two hour goal. I felt like I might not have been. There was a girl dressed as wonder woman. She was in a group of superheroes but they were all running separate. I chatted with her for about a half mile and then I felt like my legs were regaining running strength and I picked the pace up. Right before the turn around they had a horrid hill. So we had to climb that. I am horrible at hills, but I passed people, trying to say hello, but I was breathing heavy. Then there was the turn around, and we made our way down and I still passed people. As we had a half mile left, I picked the pace up and as we neared the finish I kept going faster and the 3 miles were quickly over.
As I crossed the finish line, the clock read something like 1 hours and 52 minutes. Because I was in the 2nd wave, my actual time was 1hr 44 minutes 36 seconds.
The whole time I kept thinking, this is real hard and I was tired out. By the end, I realized the reason why I was tired, was because was working it so hard. I finished a good 15 minutes faster than what I thought I would. So that’s it- the first one is over with. Next tri will be Naperville, which is a the day after the Madison to Chicago Relay where I will be running around 30 miles in 30 hours, so that will be interesting.
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