My first Triathlon...

Last Sunday was finally THE DAY, I would compete in my very first triathlon. This has been a dream of mine for a while now. 

I will do a post on how I went from just running to multi-sport soon to continue my how-I-got-into-running-posts. Here are part 1 and part 2 of that series.

I was so exited about race day that I already thought the Saturday the weekend before that it was the day of the event. Pretty silly but I guess it helped getting my nerves out of the way. I couldn't sleep and was quite nervous and worried the whole day so when I realised on Sunday morning it was all false alarm and the race wasn't until the following weekend, I was very relieved.

This past Sunday started at 4:00 am for me but this time I had gotten some sleep and I was all calm and exited to go. I had all my kit packed the night before and just had to eat, put on my tri-suit and drive to the lake. Registration opened at 5:45 but we didn't get there until 6 am. I registered, racked my bike in the transition area and set up my space:  helmet, cycling gloves, shoes, food (gels, water and sports drinks just in case) and a few different shirts in case I needed to wear something over my tri-suit when coming out of the water. As this was my first triathlon, I didn't have a clue whether I would be cold in my wet clothing after the swim.

nervous much?

After setting up I had plenty of time to put on my wetsuit and make my way to the start. All participants got a short race brief and then it was time to go. I like the way the swim was organised. The men younger than 40 went in first, 10 minutes later the 40+ veteran men and then all women at 7:25. The swim is still the part that worries me most and I have heard horror stories of people swimming over other people and it all being a big mess. So with swimming being my weakest discipline and me being afraid to be pushed under I decided to start at the back of the pack. I also had not been in a lake for about 2 weeks so I was a little worried I would have wet suit issues again. 

getting in the lake

So anyways, once the veterans had taken off for their race, the ladies could get in the water to get acclimatised. I wanted to go in as soon as possible as I had problems adjusting to the cold of the water against my face in previous lake swims. It kind off takes my breath away and makes swimming that much harder. To my surprise the water was a lot warmer than at my previous lake swims and I felt comfortable very quickly. At this point I finally relaxed, forgot about all my anxieties and looked forward to the race. 

The swim was so much better than I thought. It took me 20 minutes to swim the 750 m course and I didn't come out of the lake last. That was one of my goals for the day. 

the women's swim pack

approaching the end of the swim

the hardest part is done

The first transition took me just under 5 minutes. Try to get out of a wetsuit in a hurry, then dry yourself as much as you can and get on some socks and shoes....sounds easy but man, it's hard work.

Next onto the bike part, 20 km road cycle. The first thing that happened was that my chain had come off while my bike was racked in transition but a nice marshal guy popped it back on for me while I was getting ready for the cycling. I then took a wrong turn on the course but thankfully realised it after just 100 m or so and then my chain came off again on the course. I managed to get it fixed and finished the cycle after 52 minutes.

My second transition was super fast, just about 1 minute 40. I only had to rack my bike, take off my helmet and cycling jacket (I can't believe I wore a cycling jacket....what a newbie I am....it's like dragging a parachute behind) I'm currently not cycling with clip in shoes so I was already wearing my running shoes on the bike and didn't need to change them.

I took a sip of sports drink and off I went on the 5 km run. 

The run was a trail run, which I think I had read before but must have tried to ignore as a fact. It was a very wobbly run on the first kilometre. The uneven ground and my legs having just cycled 20 km as hard as I could, didn't really help but eventually I got into it and finished the run in 28 minutes.

My total time was 1:45:30 which was about 15 minutes faster that I expected. I was aiming for a sub 2 hour finish but that good??? Who would have thought. Needless to say, I am hooked now and can't wait to do it all over again. I think I lost my last fears of lake swimming that day. I could even imagine going in just a bathing suit now if the water is warm enough. Of course looking at the wonderful?!? English summer we are having here, I won't have to prove that any time soon.

I must say, the race was very well organised. Everyone I met on the day, organisers, helpers and athletes, were super friendly and encouraging. I wasn't the only newbie there which was nice. And there was no difference being made between the elite and the first timers.

The only bummer was, that there were no medals for the finishers. Just a T-shirt :-( I love my medals.

But then I can't find my medal from my first 5 km race either. So no firstie medals in my collection.

Do you collect your race medals? Do you do triathlon, running or think about giving any of it a go? If you do, go for it. You will never regret it! EVER!

So I swam in a lake.....kinda a big deal for me.....

I hope you have all enjoyed a wonderful weekend. I definitely had a great one. Actually the whole last week has been very eventful for me. Since I have been writing a lot about the past in my running posts here and here, I want to share a bit of what I'm currently up to.

Last Tuesday I went for my very first open water swim. This is such a big deal for me that I have to share it with you readers instead of waiting for it to fit into my running/multisport story.

 

As I mentioned in my last post I am currently training for my first sprint triathlon which will be on the 9th of June (not long now!) The whole event will be a 750m swim in a lake, 20k bike ride and 5k run. Now, I only started swimming last September when I enrolled in an adult swim class at a local swimming pool. I built up some strength and stamina since then and swim quite well now. But swimming in a pool and in a lake a very different things. A pool is kept at a comfortable temperature, you can see what's below you and around you (this is not always a good thing though, I must say....pools are gross, even nice ones) and you are always close to something to hold on to in case you need a rest.

 

How do you like my new look? I wish they did polka dot wet suits...

 

None of these things apply in a lake. It's dark, there is stuff living in it that you can't see, it's cold and there are no walls etc to hold on to in case you run out of steam. I am not at all happy with any of those aspects and was super scared of the moment I had to get into a lake and swim. I had pushed this experience as far away as possible but now with the race so close I had to face this last step that kept me from competing in a triathlon. So I went and bought a wetsuit and a trisuit last Monday. I didn't think I would get both items so quickly but I was lucky to live near the warehouse for www.mytriathlon.co.uk and they people there were super helpful and got me sorted out in no time.

 

There is a lake just outside Reading where you can go open water swimming at the Copthorne hotel on Tuesday and Thursday evenings and weekend mornings. So I took my new kit and my very nervous self to the lake and went in. I also brought my husband along to document the whole event and for moral support. I was very scared of having a panic attack in the lake and having to be saved by "David Hasselhoff in a canoe" (had to mention him as we Germans are always said to be his biggest fans....) and be pulled out of the lake. Fortunately he never had to come and save me. I went in and started swimming pretty much straight away. The swimming itself was VERY bad. I swam like I used to, awful breaststroke, head above water, all over the place (even ended up floating into the banks at some point) and I was very uncomfortable the whole time. The wetsuit was very tight around my neck and felt like it was choking me. But the things I was most afraid of, the dark water, the stuff in the lake and being away from anything to hold on to, didn't really bother me much at all. It's cold at first when the suit fills with water but it warms up very quickly and it keeps you very straight and afloat. Drowning is virtually impossible. So when I ran out of breath (basically every two minutes) I turned on my back and floated until I was ready to swim some more.

I floated on my back a lot on this first swim and took forever to get around the buoys.

The water was very fresh and clean and much nicer than pool water. As you get water in your mouth when swimming, this is much more pleasant. My skin felt great afterwards as well. Not dry and smelling of chlorine as it usually does after a pool swim. So that was great. When I got out of the water I felt like I had just done the most amazing thing ever because I had managed to conquer my fear of swimming in dark open water including all it's "lake monsters" and I didn't panic.

 

My actual swimming was appalling which crushed my spirit a bit. I thought I was getting kinda good in the pool but this is sooooooo different. It was like learning to swim all over again and on race day I will have to swim almost twice as far. But for now I had managed to get a step further by not freaking out. I know now I can do it and swim in a lake. I don't have to like it, just do it.

 

I went back on Saturday morning to have another go. The fact that I am so slow and uncomfortable made me want to have another go as soon as possible. I didn't do the suit up as tight around the neck and pulled legs, arms and torso of the suit up as high as I could to try and avoid the choking feeling as much as possible and it worked. I also realised once the choking feeling was gone that the cold water on my face (lake was 14C) was what took my breath away and made me swim mainly head above water. Once I had acclimatised to the cold, swimming felt so much easier. I managed two 400m laps and felt quite good during the swim. I was also twice as fast as on my first swim.

 

On Saturday morning, feeling so much better after the second swim and all the improvements I had made from the first time. And no, I don't swim with sunglasses on but I wanted to spare you no-make-up-albino-ginger-face. It's not attractive.

I'm still not in love with lake swimming but I can see myself getting there in the future. I want to treat open water swimming as I treated olives. I used think they were gross and I hated olives. Something made me try them again and again though and now they are a weekly buy for me and go in most of my meals because I really love them. I hope this will happen to my relationship with the lake. Have you ever swam in a lake? Do you like it?

 

What was the scariest thing that you have ever done? Is there anything you really would like to do but fear is holding you back?