September 2015

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Sep
6

Triathlon Results

Posted by Kevin Doak on Sunday at: 9:29pm (September 6th, 2015)
Triathlon Results

I successfully completed my first triathlon today! This is a goal I've had for over 10 years. I have my friend Tim to thank for motivating me into buying a bike and signing up for a local race.  Finish time: 1:33:12

The race went a lot like I had anticipated it would:

SWIM - 12:37
I had purchased a "Tri Suit" to wear for the entire race.  Although this Tri was "wetsuit legal", I decided against wearing one. As I prepared for the swim, the announcer suggested the strong swimmers go near the front of the start buoys and recommended the beginner swimmers hang back a bit and let the more experiened swimmers start a bit ahead so people weren't swimming on top of each other.  I felt like if anything, I was probably among the better swimmers, the bike and run I would never say the same.  Therefore, I inched my way up to the front of the start buoys and as the countdown started, I prepared my cap and goggles.  The horn went off and I began swimming long and strong.  My following take on the race is simply factual:  I was out in front, a few guys held with me for a minute but I was gaining ground each stroke.  I immediately hated my "tri suit", it might be what people wear in these races but they're horrible.  As I approached the last bouy, an earlier swimmer from the longer tri group rounded the buoy the wrong way and we collided head first.  I kept swimming but I was a bit dizzy, nothing serious but it didn't make my trip running out of the water easy.  I finished strong into the beach, swam till I was in about 2' of water.  I stood up and ran through the water towards the shore.  I don't typically run through water on sand, I nearly tripped and fell face first into the water.  I heard the spectators clapping but I think they do that for everybody.  My transition was a bit slow and clumsy since I hadn't ever done one.  Overall the swim went well, as I mounted my bike, I looked back and couldn't see anybody in the transition area.

TRANSITION 1 - 1:48
Without a little strap for my number, I had to manually pin on my number, it was a clunky transition to say the least.  I could save a lot of time here 

BIKE - 39:53
I held my own on the bike, the huge lead I got during the swim created a situation where the first 3 miles of the bike was very peaceful.  Not a single other rider, it was an open road and it was just an awesome feeling to be in the lead for a bit.  Each mile after that seemed to yield another biker passing me but I never felt like I was really in that bad of shape during the bike.  Later I would compare my times and see that I was simply average and just happened to start out with a huge lead.

TRANSITION 2 - 1:08
Pretty smooth transition, I imagine it could be done in 40 seconds if I was good though 

RUN - 37:47
Wow.  The most appropriate word to describe my performance seems to be "pathetic".  I was simply wiped out after the bike.  Combining my fatigue with low running ability and you get a very slow time.  I was getting passed left and right, it was humbling for sure.

 

I'm proud of myself and I learned a lot during my race.  It was a great experience!

Sep
6

Triathlon today!

Posted by Kevin Doak on Sunday at: 2:10am (September 6th, 2015)

It's finally happening. I've been talking about doing a Tri for 10 years. I'm starting out small with the "sprint triathlon". For those as ignorant as I was a few months ago, a sprint Tri is:

- 750m swim
- 20k bike
- 5k run

If I had to guess: The swim will be easy. The transition to the bike will be annoying and clunky. The bike will be challenging but ok, fumble through another transition and try to survive the run, the most challenging part.

In my estimation based on times from last year, I will be among the top finishers for the swim. Therefore I will spend the next hour of my life getting passed by great bikers and runners. That short little 3.1 mile run will just demolish me, it's tough enough for me to run 3.1 miles without anything ahead of it. This is gonna be brutal. Somehow I'm still looking forward to it!

Here goes...