Tempe International Triathlon Competed!

Yesterday I finished my first official triathlon! I'm very happy, and I finished close to what I had expected. The water was 77 degrees so wetsuits were allowed, however, I hadn't purchased a wetsuit yet so I was going without regardless. The temp was fine, it was a deep water start and when the gun went off I tried to select a path that was clear of anybody else. I kept pretty much to the outside of everyone and only a couple times did I come close to anyone at all. The swim looked very intimidating, I hadn't done any open water swims and it looked like such a long way. I guess it's just hard to compare a 1500m loop to 30 laps in my gyms pool. I used some breast stroke here and there to get my bearings and get a good breath after sucking in some water. I exited the water and looked at my watch as I ran to the transition area and it had just hit 35 minutes. T1 was kind of slow, just over 4 minutes, but I have wimpy feet and so I rinsed the grass off of them and toweled them off before putting on my socks and shoes.

I started out on the bike and was trying to get going and was frustrated because I couldn't get my computer to show my speed. I couldn't read the display and eventually just forgot about it and tried to concentrate on my riding. The bike route was a loop to be completed 4 times, I hadn't previewed it at all so it was all new to me. There was a slight climb about half way through the loop but it was short and it had a nice long downslope on the backside of it. All in all the bike portion was pretty easy, the only thing I had difficulty on was getting my fluid replacement. I noticed alot of people with bottles up by there aerobars with a long straws, I definately need this. I had two bottles on my bike, it was just difficult getting drinks while on the go. I need to practice that some more to get more comfortable. I finished the 4th loop and pulled into the transition area and figured that I spent under 1 hour and 20 minutes on the bike.

T2 was a quick one, i think only a little over a minute. I grabbed an energy drink out of my bag and took off on the run. The temp had started to climb and I was feeling it. It was definately in the mid 90's already and I as sucking down the liquids but was feeling upset to my stomache also. I finished off my bottle by the 2nd aid station and started drinking the water they had. Even though my running is my strongest discipline I felt overheated and just not running good. I started walking at the aid stations just long enough to get my water and dump some on my head and then I would pick it up again. My pace was just slower than I had hoped and I knew that my 10k was going to be in the upper 50s. The roar of the crowd as I neared the finished pumped me up and I really tried to push myself the last quarter mile. I crossed the finish line relieved it was over and stopped my timer on my watch it read 2 hours and 58 minutes. This was about 13 minutes over what I had hoped to do but for my first but altogether not too bad. I know a few places where I can make some quick improvements and then of course with some more all around training I would like to see my times on the Olympic distance under 2 hours 30 minutes. I've been looking online for a good sprint distance triathlon in the area to do in the next month or so, but my next major Olympic distance might be the Las Vegas Triathlon in the fall. We'll see! But for now, I'll keep training like a madman. No pictures yet but I'll post some soon.