New Jersey State Tri
3349
Member
1362 days
RV posted 2 years ago.
Congrats! Welcome to the addiction!
RV
It takes a long time to get good. - Scott Molina
Slow is smooth; smooth is fast. - Rich Strauss
18
Member
1180 days
rob88 posted 2 years ago.
Congrats!
I did the olympic distance and was impressed with the job they did for a first time event. The course was great. The only problem was getting to the inwater start required crossing a floating bridge to a dock. Too many people were on the bridge waiting for one of the sprint waves and the bridge collapsed into the water. As people climbed off the bridge it popped back into position and nobody was hurt. But after that they required everyone to stay single file on the bridge. The result was that if you were near the back of the single file line (as I was) it was difficult to reach the starting line by race time. I was still making my way to the start when we started. The rest of the course was great and the support was good. I'm definitely coming back next year.
Well, I finally dove in and raced my first triathlon. I've done du's this year and last and have been having fun, but knew I wouldn't really feel complete until I had raced in the water.
So....
It was an in-water swim (500 M). Which apparently means send everyone out and let them yell at the starter while treading water for a couple of minutes before actually starting the swim. But we're finally underway and things went off course immediately. Literally. I apparently have no ability to swim in a straight line unless I'm in a pool. After being redirected and assuring several lifeguards and park rangers in various watercraft that I was in fact OK, I finally made the turn bouy at 250M.
Then the next wave caught us and my calm start at the back of the pack turned into the flailing arms and legs of the washing machine I've heard so much about. It really wasn't as bad as I would have thought, though the murky water made it interesting because if you saw the foot coming at you it was too late. Got punched, kicked and groped a few times, but I'm sure I gave back as much as I got. Finally out of the water in about 15 min, so not too bad for a first effort considering the zig-zag course I had laid out for myself.
Now, I've done the run to bike transition several times, but this was the first swim to bike and I learned severl things:
1. Pulling a dry jersey over wet skin is tougher than I would have thought.
2. If you bend over to pick up said jersey and stand up too quickly, you're likely to end up on the ground from the head rush.
3. Ending up on the ground makes it easier to get shoes and socks on.
Onto the bike (13 mi) and off. First race on the tri bike with the Zipps. I couldn't believe how much better (and faster) it felt than the road bike. Great course, lots of police protection, something like 4 miles of cones laid out for us. Really a great ride. Back into transition and I'm ahead of the time I was shooting for. Quick transition and out again.
Got through the run but never felt right. Probably didn't take in enough calories and liquids on the bike. But still finished within my goal time, so I'll consider it a good first effort. And I finished much higher than I ever have in a duathlon, so I that's a plus.
Lessons learned and addiction confirmed. Next event is in three weeks.