Confession: I had trouble spelling triathlon a few months back. Now, I’ve completed three triathlon events, improved my time, and internalized the proper spelling!
I just finished completeing an Olympic distance at the Coral Springs triathlon (1.5km swim, 40km bike, 10km run). I am pleased with my effort at this event. My time was 2:34:08! Plus, in the men’s 20-29 age group I came in third overall (age group resutls here). Furthermore, I hacked over 15 minutes from my previous Olympic time (2:49:20). Not too bad (my goal was to improve by 10 minutes).
I’m by no means an expert, but here are some more things I’ve learned about doing triathons. Read about what I learned at the first event here.
(1) Get tri bars. A tri specific bike is a luxury I can’t afford. I opted for an entry level Trek 1600, but I haven’t been able to throw tri bars on them yet. Tri bars help you get more aerodynamic and they permit you to lean into your bike, meaning that you actually get to rest you arms. This would have been really helpful on today’s ride. It seemed there was a headwind going both ways.
(2) Learn to drink. Although I don’t overhydrate to the point of danger, I did have to pee during the race (just like the first race). I’m not hardcore enough to urinate in my shorts while running or biking, so I relieved myself during the transition. This cost me about a minute. Speaking with some experienced racers, they suggested drinking lots of water the day and night before, but not too much water the morning before the event.
(3) Draft. Drafting is not permitted on the bike, but it is permitted on the run. I saved myself some energy by running a few feet back from another runner when we were going into the wind. This saved me a noticable amount of energy. Admitedly, drafting is somewhat bad form, but if the opportunity arises, do it and then move on!
(4) Master the transition. I haven’t done this yet, but I am getting better. Bike gloves take too long to put on when you’ve just come out of cold water and they aren’t necessary for the race. I ditched them and suffered no ill effects. Don’t eat in the transition area (even if it is a gel). Do that on the road.
I’m happy to say that I learned from my first event. I stuck around for the awards ceremony, got a free massage, at lots of free grub, won a bike jersey, and got my third place memento!
I met some great people at the event, but Steve sticks out in my mind. He placed his bike near mine in the transition area, so we got to talking. Turns out Steve signed up to do an Olypmic distance on Thursday, after reading an article in Impact Magazine about triathlons. Steve is a younger and fit looking guy, so he figured he would try one out. He opted to do an Olypmic distance with nearly no training! He hadn’t swum in over six months, he didn’t bike very often (his bike was a older, 10-speed with a heavy pannier cage on the back), and ran “from time to time.” But, he simply committed to doing the event, appraoched the whole thing with a really positive attitude, and then gave ‘er. He finished the event in 3:13:00—a respectable time. Nice meeting you Steve, whereever you are. I hope the pointers I gave you helped!
Related posts:
0 Responses
Stay in touch with the conversation, subscribe to the RSS feed for comments on this post.