A Triathlon Tale

Wow, I did it! I completed my first triathlon in twenty-plus years this past weekend in the Desert International Triathlon. And I have just three words to say: Open Water Swim.
I have been training now for more than a year. I have worked really hard on my stroke and my endurance, and I have felt pretty good about myself....that is, until I jumped into the water with several hundred more swimmers.

So all I have to say is that I panicked, choked, and generally sucked out there. All of my training seemed to disappear as I battled for real estate. I began to hyperventilate and had to take breaks every few meters in order to get myself to calm down. I had the fitness, for sure, but wasn't able to use it until after the half way point. This is only the second open water swim that I have ever done, the first one in 1986 was a 400m swim that I was able to muscle my way through. So, of course, I was confident that I would be alright for this 3/4 mile swim...uh, WRONG!
But I did survive, and learned a valuable lesson. Next time you can be sure that I will do my share of open water swimming BEFORE I line up at the start.


Sunday was cool and cloudy with rain in the forecast. I was well rested and carbo-loaded. I felt good. So after finishing the anxiety ridden swim, I quickly got into brick mode and got to work on the bike. It was here that the rain began to fall, but I thew down a respectable bike split, averaging 24 mph, and finishing in 1:02.

The run was on a mix of pavement and dirt as it circled the lake. We ran two laps and after the first two miles, knew that I was having a good run. I averaged 6:36/mi pace and finished the six miles in 39:38. No one passed me on either the bike or the run legs.

So I chased myself back into the pack, so to speak. My final tally for the race was 83rd place overall (out of 573) and 69th in my gender. In my age group (40-44) I made it to 13th. Not quite top 10, but with lots of room for improvement. Total time: 2:14:40

So am I discouraged? Am I satisfied? I guess the answer is yes, and this just means that I will have to try another Triathlon in order to figure all of these mixed emotions out. See you out there!

E