Saturday morning I got up at 4:45 so that I could get to the race site early to set up a tent for my family to sit under since the weather was going to be cool and rainy and I didn't want Amanda, my mom and the kids to be sitting out in the rain. I took a shower and got dressed and I got to the site at about 5:45. I was one of the first 15 people to arrive (including race workers and volunteers). I wanted to make sure to get the tent set up in a spot where my family could sit and see everything. The were definitely troopers for getting out in the weather to watch the race! I definitely had some awesome family support for the race!
The transition area opened at 6:30 and I began getting set up shortly thereafter. I checked my bike in and laid out a towel and went over the checklist of items that I got from some members of the triathlon team. I laid everything out according to when I would need it. Helmet, sunglasses, socks, and cycling shoes were laid out on my handlebars for the bike and running shoes and visor laid on the towel for the run. I covered all of it in plastic trash bags since it had already started to rain.
Once I got everything set up, I walked around the transition area and met a few MS Heat Triathlon Team members that I had not met, yet (all of them were really cool and encouraging and fun to talk with). I had planned on taking my bike for a short ride prior to the race to make sure everything was in working order, but that didn't pan out due to the rain. About that time was when Amanda, my mom and the kids arrived and I was glad to see them. After I talked to them for a bit, I went and got into the water to relax a little before the race and check out the water temperature. It was a steamy 84 degrees in the water, which meant no wetsuits. I just hung out there until race officials made us get out to line up for the start.
The start was a time
trial start. We lined up according to when we signed up for the race and everyone started 3 seconds apart. Since I signed up very early, my number was 26 out of nearly 400 people. So, I was close to the front of the line...maybe next year I will rethink that strategy (more on this later). So, as my time to start approached, I got pretty excited and my HR climbed up to about 150 bpm, not really ideal...especially since I knew it would only go up once I hit the water, but I reminded myself what Larry Creswell told me a few weeks ago, "don't pay attention to the heart rate monitor during the race, but it may provide you with some good information after the race."Swim (1/3 mile)
I hit the water and quickly passed the two people who started right in front of me. It seemed like it took forever to get to the first buoy. I felt like I had settled into a good rythm by the time I got to the first buoy. I soon realized that I actually do swim straight without having a black line to follow on the bottom of the pool. That was a relief, so I just tried to maintain a good rythm at a comfortable pace and didn't do too much sighting once I figured out that I don't have a problem 
swimming straight. I passed a couple of more people on the way out to the turnaround. The turnaround was a little bit of a challenge because I was swimming right behind two people who started ahead of me who slowed down a lot while navigating the turn. Since I was slowed down so much here, I switched to a breast stroke/dog paddle sort of stroke and actually struck up a mini-conversation with someone sitting on a surfboard at the turnaround (just an acknowledgment and a thank you mostly and he returned some words on encouragement).On the way back in, I maneuvered my way around the slower swimmers and shortly after I was passed by a faster swimmer. I snuck in behind the faster swimmer and took advantage of the draft for as long as I could. I actually got bored with the swim on the way back in, probably because all I could see was brown water. It was a huge relief to get back to the beach and know that my first triathlon swim was done. Looking back, though, I learned a few things during the swim. I learned, most importantly, that I can do it. I learned that I swim straight in calm water with no current.
Swim time- 12:40 (6th of 12 in my age group- would have been 10th of 71 in beginners)
Transition #1
I ran up the hill to the transition area and found my bike. Thank goodness for the red towel I put down under my bike which made it really easy to find my place in the transition area. I put on my socks, shoes, helmet and sunglasses and headed out on the bike. Overall, a decent T1, but missed goal of less than 2 minutes.T1 time- 2:23
Bike (16.5 miles)
The bike didn't start out so well because I stopped about 1/2 mile into the ride because my bike computer would not read my cadence and my speedometer was telling me I was riding 30+ miles per hour. When I stopped the bike, everything looked like it was aligned correctly. I'm still not sure what caused the computer to act up...maybe rain or dirt on the sensors??? I also started out a little bit hesitant on the bike because I had never ridden in the rain before and I didn't know the course. The course was hilly, in fact, it seemed like it was all uphill. The hills were steep, rolling hills which I am not used to riding. It seemed like there was no time for recovery between climbs because the hills were short and steep. I had to ask some of the officials how far we had ridden a few times because my odometer wasn't working. Finally, about 13 miles into the ride, I got to a long downhill section which let me recover a little bit before the run. I noticed at about that point that my socks were soaking wet and I wasn't looking forwards to putting my wet feet in running shoes. I did get passed a lot on the bike. As I mentioned earlier, I had signed up early for the race, so there were really very few people that I was able to pass and those that I could pass were passed in the water. At times, it was pretty annoying that I was getting passed so much.Bike Time: 59:23 (16.8 mph, 10th of 12 in my age group- would have been 41st of 71 in beginners)
Transition 2
T2 went very smoothly- shoe change and visor on. The wet socks weren't so bad!T2 time- 1:58
Run (3.1 miles)
The run felt OK at the beginning, but the second steep hill I got to dashed all hopes of me completing it without walking. I walked up most of the hills for the first mile of the run, but I don't think I walked any slower that I was running up the hills. The hills were much steeper than any I have run on to date, which was difficult considering I had just done a lot of climbing on the bike. Just after the one mile mark of the run, there was a long downhill section (about 1/2 mile) that allowed some "recovery" time. I ran all but about 100 to 150 yards of the last couple of miles and got a huge pickup once I turned a corner and a volunteer told us we were on the home stretch. I picked up the pace for that final stretch because I only had 4 minutes left to cross the finish line before my time goal of 1:50:00 passed. I was excited to round a curve and see the finish line with 2 minutes left before my goal. The last 100 yards was a cool feeling and even cooler was hugging my family after crossing the finish line.Run time- 32:24 (10:48/mile, 12th of 12 in my age group- would have been 61st out of 71 in beginners)
Overall Time- 1:48:46 (12th of 12 in my age group- would have been 45th of 71 in beginners)
Overall, the race was a great time and I am very proud of the accomplishment. I realized after the race that Jenna Kate, my mom and Amanda had made me some posters and hung them up on the tent I had set up for them and I wish I had seen them during the race. They would have been a big boost, but just having them there rooting for me was a huge boost in itself.Did I achieve the goals I set before the race?
Swim Goals
1. Swim straight and don't waste energy- YES
2. Time under 11 minutes- NO (but only one person in my age group did this and he was the overall winner of the race)
Bike Goals
1. Conserve energy for the run- YES (as well as could be expected considering the hills and was disciplined about backing off to conserve energy when needed)
2. Time under 57 minutes (17mph)- NO (0.2mph off of goal pace and missed time by 2:23, but pretty good considering I had no speedometer or cadence sensor usage)
Run Goals
1. No walking- NO
2. 34 minute run time- YES (beat this goal by 1:36)
Transition Goals
1. Don't forget anything- Yes
2. Under 2 minutes transition time- NO in T1, YES in T2
Overall Race Goals
1. Have fun- HELL YES!
2. Finish under 1:50:00- YES (1:48:46 race time beat goal by 1:14)
That was it....my first triathlon. For all the other triathletes who read this, I know you're probably thinking back to your first race and remembering what a great experience it was. Well, I'll tell you, my experience was just a great. For those non-triathletes who read this, you should try it. One of the neat things I noticed was that you don't have to be an athlete to complete a triathlon. I saw everything from speedos to surfing trunks; top-of-the-line triathlon bikes to mountain bikes to cruising bikes you might see in your grandmother's garage; racing flats to barefoot runners (yes, I saw someone doing the race barefoot!). I saw people of all shapes and sizes. It's really very inspiring to see someone cross the finish line that weighs 250+ pounds. If you've thought about doing it, you should.
So, I really need to thank some people at this point.
- My wife, Amanda, for putting up with this new "obsession" of mine. I know I talk too much about racing and training, but I appreciate her for putting up with me and my training. Maybe one day I'll be able to get out there racing with me.
- My mom, for coming over to the race after work late Friday evening after a long day at work to cheer me on and help Amanda with the kids and encouraging me along the way- and my dad for being on the other end of the phone to congratulate me when I got done.
- My kids, Jenna and Parker, for being good during the race so Amanda and mom didn't have to chase them in the rain.
- Larry Creswell, Matt and Amanda Cassell, Scott Poag, Charlie Murray, and all of the other MS Heat Triathlon Team members who offered me great words of encouragement and advice which were essential to me completing the race while having fun.
- Cain Clinkscales: for motivating me to get out of bed on the mornings when I really didn't feel like it.
- Fallen soldiers: for the ultimate sacrifice and an unfortunate source of motivation.
- And, everyone else who offered encouragement along the way, I appreciate you.
