My 1st Triathlon

It was the end of summer, I'd just finished doing my 2nd STP and I was getting ready for the fall running season. A friend of mine from work, Eric Hartman, ran into me in the locker room and started talking about a Tri he'd done earlier in the summer. Next thing I know, he's talked ME into doing a Tri! While I'm a decent runner and biker, I'm not that strong of a swimmer. In addition the thought of doing all three activities together sounded a bit scary. But not being one to go back on my word, I started to prepare.

The first thing I did was head to my local pool and swam 32 laps which is ~half a mile. While it wasn't easy, I was able to do it, though it took me 37 minutes and I spent a lot of time swimming on my back.

The next thing was to read some Tri articles online. I found some useful information, but what I found most interesting was that most people posting about their 1st tri actually talked about that it was easier then they thought. All of these were talking about a sprint tri of course, which I was doing, so it did lift my spirts a bit as to the reality of finishing.

The day of event my brother was in town, and so he went down to the lake with us to take pictures.

The first part of the event was swimming. I was actually pretty happy about this as I wouldn't have to worry about drowning because I was exhausted! :)


Thats me in the blue and black wetsuit diving in.

The swim WAS much harder then I expected. The wetsuit did help in terms of keeping me warm and helping me keep afloat, but all the splashing made it really difficult to breath without choking on some lake water. In addition swimming in a pool is nothing like jumping into a lake and then realizing that tiny little blob WAY out there is the 1/2 way point.

Finally after 25:31 I dragged my soggy self into the transition area. I then spent the next 4:32 trying to figure out how to put my shirt on. Yes, I said shirt. Most people have problems taking off the wetsuits. I had practiced several times before the race and had that down. But for some reason after I had my suit off, my shorts on, my shoes on, I then had the devil of a time getting my friggin shirt on. It was probably because my skin was half dry/half wet and was sticking but in any case I finally got the shirt on and headed off biking.

It felt great to get on my bike and start passing people. On the swim I quickly fell to the back of our pack and was being passed by waves that started after ours. Matter of fact, out of 183 men only 8 swam slower than I did. The good news this is a great place for me to make up time.


This is me leaving the transition area after the swim.

The bike ride was actually a familar route for me (East Lake Samamish) though its usually part of a much longer ride. My friend Eric, who is a strong swimmer, quickly showed up and disappeared from my radar as I pedaled furiously trying to make up for my swimming performance. 14 miles later and I finished the ride in 48:43 and finished 107 out of 183 for the bike leg.

Since I had toe clips on, my 2nd transition was pretty quick. I just parked my bike, took off my helment, and ran out the other side. All together it took 51 seconds. I was then off on a VERY rough 3.5 mile cross country run. The first part of the run I actually had a problem I thought I would earlier, my calf muscles were cramped up. I actually expected this from swim to bike, but I guess the bike to run had a bigger effect on the muscles I was using. I quickly worked out the cramps and then proceeded to try not to twist my ankles on the rough path we were running on. The good news was that it was also slowing everyone else down, so once again I found myself passing people. A little bit past the 2 mile mark we actually got a real path and I was able to hit the gas. The last 1/2 mile I passed quite a few people and ended up finishing 86 out of 183 for the running leg.


Dash to the finish, not even stopping to tie my shoe!

My total time was 1:47:06 and I finished 135 out of 185 men, not too shabby for my first Tri! Overall I really enjoyed the experience and will most likely do a couple more Tri's next spring/summer. In the mean time I'm planning on hitting the lap pool to see if I can't do anything to improve that swim leg!

James