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| The white Specialized Allez is mine |
A couple months back I decided to take on the road biking as really another way to spend more time with Todd who has retired from competitive marathoning and back on the bike. But the ignition switch, the gas on the flame, the moment of no return, had to be watching Libby Bergman and Dirk Bockel rock the 70.3 in Disney.
So I decided to take on my own triathlon in the form of Jax Sprint Series #3 in Fernandina! While no where near the 70.3 my 13.25 was the first for me and boy was that a race. The results even amazed me, 7th in my grouping! Cant argue with that. Todd and I both hoped for under 1h30m and I finished 1h15m. For all you non trigeeks out there, or runners looking to convert here are a few things I learned along the way from friends, Runners World, Libby and Dirk.
First is you need to train consistent and combos. For example a swim and a ride in the same day, not necessarily together(although a BRICK, covered later, is the ultimate prep) but a dual is so important for transition purposes.
Second, do the BRICKS!!! A brick is a bike, run, bike, or combo of 2 disciplines back to back. I did a 15 miles bike and 3 mile run every Wednesday for approximately 4 weeks with the St Augustine Cycling Group in the Shores. Basically I warmed up with the group, then when they went to sprint I held on for as long as possible, one time almost 2 miles at 27 mph! Then would finish the loop do a transition and run 3 miles. I think this was key to my strong finish.
For the swim I really wish I had done a little more. I did 2 swims a week for about 3 weeks, mostly just to get the laps in, with some side/rescue/relief swimming to practice.
The day before I put aero bars on the bike, this was awesome and difficult, so I suggest maybe a little more training for that. I also got the opportunity to chat with Dirk out in CO doing his training for Kona and got some great insight(all top secret, but one important part, have fun and race)
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| Notice all the gear, water bucket, lucky sumo wrestler, and Gatorade absolutely necessary! |
Lastly the gear. Todd surprised me with a 2Xu one piece so I didnt have to even think about transition. With Libbys advice I wore a sports bra underneath and I was good to go. I put no tie laces on my shoes, and braided my hair, ate a banana, and there I was.
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| Me stretching before at the gas station, in a sundress, yes im awesome |
The swim is scary as hell. When we began the master of ceremonies had everyone raise their hand who had done an open water swim, amongst the 100 people in my heat there were 3 of us! 3! WTF, sorry for the extreme language, were these people doing running into the ocean! With that I moved to the front of the group, but when the gun went off you would think everyone of them were being chased by savage beasts and they sprint all out into the waves, once there they fell like dominoes! |
| Im in blue onesie |
After a lot of trouble, I made it through the riffraff to have a close encounter. I kept feeling someone grabbing my ankle which I shook off a few times. Finally I flipped over, began to backstroke, and asked the guy what his problem was, "Help me! Im drowning!" was his response. Was this guy serious? So lifeguard training kicked in! "Sir let go of my foot and I will help you." This happened to at least 3 other people, I would turn to breath and just hear "help!"
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| Wall of reasoning |
Anywho, after I get my own heartbeat under control and realize no, drowning is not normal, ok, or even happening to me, I finish the swim about 1.5 minutes slower than desired but happy to be out of the
water. I also exit about 50th due to the altercations.
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| Revenge Suckas |
So I go and jump on the bike and man was that fun. I went out a little conservative as it down poured all morning and the ride to the race earlier was sketchy with some areas having as much as 6 inches of standing water. Seeing that it was out and back style I figured get comfy out, then blitz back, so 18mph out, 23mph back, did my 10mile TT right at 30 minutes, Todd wasn't even ready with the camera because he expected me to be at least another 5 minutes and I must admit, passing all the jerks who tried to drown me was one heck of a fun time! Left, on your left, coming on the left, have a great day, scum-os!
Lastly we are at the run. Now under Todds direction, which more than likely should have listened to myself, I didnt wear socks on the run. If I knew then, what I know now, OYVAY! First of all, I wear road bike racing shoes, not tri-shoes. Tri-shoes do this awesome thing call draining! Heard of it, well its really useful when you are soaking wet and you ride 10 miles sweaty and dont wear socks. So now that my feet are all moist a supple lets stick them in stiff racing flats with not socks and see what happens! SURPRISE blisters and cuts mimicking my Adidas stripes! ARGH! Slowest 5k ive done in 3 years, !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It was slow my roll or spend the next 2 weeks in Europe with jacked feet! SO 27 minutes on the run
But all in all, good experience! Im crushing my bike right now( 60 miles last weekend avg speed 21mph) and swimming a couple times a week and race training for a couple halfs this fall(really aiming for that 1:45 or better half) and looking forward to a full sprint season next year, and who knows, maybe an Olympic distance?
