My First Triathlon

This past weekend I competed in my first triathlon. It was the city club mini triathlon. I was expecting to finsh in about an hour and 30 minutes. This would put me on a constant pace, that I knew I could keep up with. I told myself that I would not be disappointed if I finished in under an hour 45,giving myself a little more leaway.

I also expected to see a few other people like me, trying to loose weight, and not in the greatest shape. In the 5K’s I have run, this was always the case, but not here. Most people there with the exception of 1 or 2 others seemed to be a hard core athlete. I was hoping that If I hit my goal of an hour 30, I would at least beat a few people.

I finished in an hour and 8 minutes, beating my own goal, but I was the last to finish. It left me with very mixed feelings of excitement but also defeat.

These were my times

Event	Distance	Time
Swim	80 meters	1 min 05 sec
Transition		3 min 23 sec
Bike + Trans	10 Miles	39 min 52 sec
Run	2 Miles	24 min 22 sec
Total		1 hour 8 min 43 sec

What I did right

1. I did it: I faced my fears and I completed the race. It is hard for me to enter a group of 80 people (all more fit and serious than me) and not knowing any of them in advance.
2. transition setup: watching a few videos on YouTube, I learned how to setup my transition area. When the race started everything was right where I needed it, and it worked out well for me.
3. equipment: for the most part I had everything that I needed, I didn’t forget anything but my water (probably one of the most important items)
4. warm up: I road my bike to the event, about 2 miles, and I think that was a very good warmup, I was sweating slightly when I got there, but was not tired or out of breath.

What I did wrong

1. Wrong Clothes: I wore a normal swim suit throughout the race. when I was done I had a large red area on my leg from the suit brushing against my bike seat, It is almost gone, but it was not the right thing to do.
2. No Water Bottle on bike: I realized that I had forgot my water on the way to the race. I would have turned around, but I thought I would have been late. This being my first event, I wanted to be on time.
3. Pushed too hard in swim: this was a staggerer start in the pool. I knew the guy behind me was in much better shape than me. instead of going at my own pace, I really pushed myself so that I would not hold him back. in the long run, I think this really hurt me in the race.
4. air in my tires: I forgot to check my tire pressure in the morning, on the way there I realized my rear tire was not as full as it should have been.