Andy's First Triathlon

[andygates]

On Sunday I broke my triathlon cherry in response to a certain New Year dare. There was stress, weird unguents and the taste of blood... and dammit, it was fun!

The event was Taunton Deane Tri, an annual sprint-length triathlon with a shorter, novice-length companion. The novice seemed doable: it's a 200m pool swim, 13k hilly/twisty bike course and 2.5k run. I've done half-marathons (slowly); I was born on a bike; just needed to learn to swim crawl, then. How hard can it be?

The event management was great and very friendly. Everything was coned and gated off with lots of big cheerful signs (though the sad-face and smiley-face route signs on the toughest hill were distracting!). We got to lay out our transition areas with bike, helmet and tat; after mentally rehearsing it all a couple of times and watching other people transition, I rearranged it all several times. At registration I got my marking: 128 on my upper arms - cool, now I feel like a real triathlete. (Stop laughing at the back)

The swim was always going to be the hard bit, and it was. Apart from the "special" swimmers, I was slowest in over a hundred novices. But I did it and that's all I wanted to do: survive.

On to T1. Anal-retentive prep really paid off here. Goggles are off before I get to my station; vest on, helmet on, race number on. Feet dabbed on the towel where the helmet was, then into talced shoes (no socks), gloves on but open and I'm away - run the bike to the mount box and ride away. Do up gloves while riding.

The ride was always going to be my strong suit. I was on a fixie (69" gear) and the course was short and hilly so the only option was full-on nuclear assault. Passed five riders, mostly on non-competitive bikes. It turns out that this is about as hilly as tri courses get, so I might not need to go shopping for another bike after all. Then again, with a *freewheel* I'd have gained at least half a minute compared to the fixie... anyone got a road bike for sale?

T2 was trivial: rack the bike, kick off the bike shoes, into running shoes, and twist the number belt around to face forward while running out. The run itself was mechanical, very small steps (quads a bit over-used on the fixie with all that hill-dancing). Grab a drink at the drink station and plod on round.

Times, then. Swim: 6:26. Yeah, well. Bike (including transitions): 34:52, 12th in the field. Run 14:47, halfway down the field. 32nd out of 106 overall in 56:05.

I'm pretty chuffed. I know I can work on that swim - that's not crap, it's newbie: just needs a bit of coaching and lots of lunchtime sessions. And I can polish the run too, I was kinda chuntering that and hadn't done any pace work since, oh, April, relying on my Half conditioning to get me round and I ran it at a sedate Half pace.

So I've entered the Bude sprint tri and taken season hire on a wetsuit. Well, you gotta challenge yourself, eh?

Comments

[thudthwacker.livejournal.com]

Well-done, sahib. I think finishing in the top third of your first triathlon is a damned fine showing, especially when you already know where you're going to improve next time.

[andygates.livejournal.com]

Well, top half - the bottom third were all my mum on her hybrid and not competitive. I figure I can clean that swim up from ghastly to just slow, and do some pace training. The real question is: does the Bude bike course have any serious hills?

"That's him, the nutter on the fixie" - made my day, that did. Sam will understand :)

[skean.livejournal.com]

Woah! Rockin dude. I thought the first time was always supposed to be a bit painful and not much fun?

Just one question - whats a fixie? I mean, I thought it might be a bike with just one fixed gear like a BMX, but noboday could do a triathlon on that, so I discounted that possibility.

[(Anonymous)]

It's a bike with one fixed gear AND NO FREEWHEEL. You pedal, the wheel goes round. Like the track bikes used in the Olympics and Commonwealth Games.

[skean.livejournal.com]

I agree. He's a nutter :-)

[(Anonymous)]

You really have to ride one to understand the appeal. It's all in the hips and quite deliciously kinky. As far as training goes, they teach you a wider power band and to attack hills - all of which is valuable. And there's less to feck up.

[andygates.livejournal.com]

Mind you, it is stupid when the object is to go as fast as you damnwell can. Hence a probably shopping trip...

[simoneck.livejournal.com]

congratulations.
I hope you managed to avoid any leering, as detailed in an earlier post.

I knew a fixie had only one gear, but no freewheel! Do you have to slow down going downhill, to stop your legs go around at some stupidly fast speed?

[andygates.livejournal.com]

No leering at all, honest. Neither at the whippety-lithe ones nor the magnificent Athenas. No no no, not me.

As for fixies, you have to pedal really really fast - so yeah, they're slower downhill 'cos eventually I reach my legs' spin-out rate. You end up applying reverse pressure on the pedals or touching the brake(s) to keep at a sustainable max speed.

[flitljm.livejournal.com]

Eek, too healthy!

[arabis.livejournal.com]

Yay! No stopping you now. Are you doing the Burnham one too?

[andygates.livejournal.com]

No: Burnham was full; I didn't want to book one more until I'd survived the first; and anyway that'd be a bit too soon. I only just made the 200m pool swim - 500m open-water is a big ask.

But the wetsuit looks like an X-men uniform. :)

[arabis.livejournal.com]

But the wetsuit looks like an X-men uniform

In a more scary photos coming to an LJ near you kinda way?

Doing one tri before booking more sounds surprisingly sensible. I guess open-water swimming might be rather different to a pool. What is it with tris though? Everyone seems to be at it this year. OK, so the DSP's are old hands but even my sister is talking about taking it up when she's back in NZ!

[andygates.livejournal.com]

There was a recent Times article asking the same question. I think it's 'cos we're all rich middle-class folk with mid-life crises - there were a *lot* of fortysomething ladies "having a go". And NZ is just that sorta country...

To be honest, the appeal is N-fold. First, tri is alluringly "elite" - I like that, it's a cool club and I'm sufficiently shallow. Second, I train best with benchmarks, and these are as good as any. Third, I want to get some serious physical conditioning in before brain-rot puts paid to that - I'd *hate* to realise I'd missed my chance. Fourth, I'm a kit queen and there are so many beautiful toys. And there are probably more... I quite like the "big ask" - little asks can be coasted through, I like the pressure of scary demands.

[andygates.livejournal.com]

Actually, it doesn't look as much like an X-men uniform on me as it did on the dummy...