First Triathlon
July 14th, 2024. The French national holiday. I completed my first triathlon: the Tri for Fun Sprint Triathlon at Rancho Seco in Herald, CA - 750 meters swimming, 16 miles cycling and 5K running.
After completing the AIDS LifeCycle (ALC) ride in 2023, I had been looking for a new goal.
I signed up to be a Training Ride Leader (TRL) for my ALC team. This meant often that I was sweeping the ride and supporting the new, yet slow, riders. I wasn’t pushing myself.
The real workouts were now happening in the gym. I joined a new gym in November. I lifted weights, completed HIT classes, and I started to swim. Nothing gave me as much energy as a 5:30am swim in the outdoor pool. The idea for a triathlon hadn’t hatched yet. As I still was experiencing some plantar fasciitis in my left foot, I wasn’t running.
Fast forward to the spring. The ride around Lake Tahoe in May was my first big goal. So what’s next? I wasn’t riding ALC this year. I started dreaming of doing a triathlon. My swim workouts became more deliberate. I bought new running shoes and started short runs. And in June I bit the bullet and signed up.
The Tri for Fun was indeed a lot of fun. It went by in a heartbeat. I felt great and never like I was suffering. That doesn’t mean it was easy either.
Swimming in open water was harder than I thought. Not that there were waves. I bumped quite a few times into others and often got of course to the buoy. I never felt I was in my regular and steady swim rhythm. I exited the water towards the back of my age bracket.
Perhaps because it was a race and my first tri, my breath and heart rate showed it. Only by cycle 5, did I feel I could relax a little, and only for a short while. Then I got back in overdrive. It is surely something to work on in future races.
Cycling was great. The course had rolling hills. I could catch up to many ahead of me. It is my strongest event.
The run went much better than I expected. It was a dirt road with rolling hills. You had to push yourself a bit. You also had to watch out for rocks and when crossing cattle gates. I had prepared a great motivational Apple Music playlist that got me into the zone. Rocky, Eminem, Darube.
My transitions were smooth. Having a tri suit makes them easy. I didn’t need a wet suite as this lake was warm.
What’s next? I had a 100 mile ride early August. I am toying with the idea of a half marathon in October, as I won’t have too much time cycling and swimming in September and October. If I want to do an Olympic-distance triathlon, I will need to be more deliberate about my training. We’ll figure out the next goals in August.
July 14, 2024 healthyLifestyle