Peres Family Adventures: I Tri'd and I Did: My 1st Triathlon July 11, 2009

My 3rd place plaque

On July 11th Steve and I began a new adventure and are now hooked. We'd always wanted to do a triathlon and found the perfect one to start with. The Rancho Seco Park Tri for Fun Sprint Triathlon. It consists of a 1/2 mile swim, 16 mile bike, and 3 mile run.
We got the kids up at 5 a.m., had a quick energy-filled breakfast, and headed out the door at 5:40 a.m. We arrived at the park at 6:30 a.m. Rick, our brother-in-law, had already picked out a great spot for our transitions. He had trained Anne (Steve's sister) and Rebecca and Elizabeth (daughters) to time us on our starts, transitions, and finishes. They were equipped with spreadsheet, clipboard, and stop watches. Quite the 0peration. We quickly got ourselves set up in the transition area and then picked up our packets and t-shirts and then had our numbers written ALL OVER our body. Hands, shoulders, and thighs had our race number, and right calf had our age.
We went back to the transition area and got wetsuits on and started stretching. I was a little nervous, but pretty excited. Steve said he was really feeling the nervousness/excitement which excited him even more because most races he did like the 5K, 10K, and half marathon didn't really have the same effect on him. He felt totally different this time. Rick was nervous too.
We headed over to the lake where they were getting ready to start. A quick little warm-up swim and check on the goggles and we were good to go. The water was so warm. It was like a bathtub. So nice. I don't like cold water, not even a little bit. Graeme, Rick's friend and training partner, was in the first wave. Five minutes later Steve started, then Rick started, and 10 minutes after Rick was my start. Since I am NOT a swimmer I chose to start in the back on the side, hopefully far away from the thrashing masses. Two people already had to be rescuted just yards away from the start, I'm assuming from getting kicked in the head. Fellow swimmers saved them, not the people on the kayaks. My fellow swimmers and I didn't like that at all. There were clearly not enough safety people out on the course. Makes one a bit nervous. At the start I waited a few seconds for people to get going and then started swimming. Right away I could see bubbles everywhere, which meant people kicking, which meant danger. Nope. Not doing that. Stopped and waited a little more and then swam more over to the side. I had read that it was a good idea to do the catch-up swim stroke to protect your head in the beginning. It worked like a charm. Once I got through all the yucky seaweed stuff that was trying to grab me and the visions of dead bodies floating up from the bottom, I was good to go. It was a little tricky trying to swim and sight ahead, but I got it down pretty quickly. I occasionally got kicked or nudged by somebody from the side and I would just move over a little more. Once we reached the first buoy it was like a bottleneck. I started getting kicked and pushed over by this lady next to me. I kept thinking "Hey, it's a big lake. We can share. No need to get pushy." I just swam a little faster and got past her. I settled in and before I knew it I was finished with the swim. According to my trusty timers, I did the swim in 14:52...much faster than I anticipated. I jumped right up and started running out of the water. I felt really good. Much better than the time I swam in a 50+ degree lake in the mountains and was so dizzy and disoriented I could barely walk to the edge of the lake and sit on a rock...not to mention all the teeth chattering and uncontrollable shivering. Nope, this time was great.
I ran out of the lake, put my goggles on my head, pulled my wetsuit down halfway, and ran to my transition area. Rick was there getting ready to head out on his bike. My wetsuit came off quickly and easily, thanks to the Body Glide stuff I put on, and my transition went smoothly. Yes, I put socks on. I know lots of people bike and run without socks, but, I'm sorry, socks bring comfort. I need comfort in times like these. I can be pretty fast putting socks on anyway. Not a problem. My transition was 59 seconds. Not too bad for the first time. Apparently, I beat everyone by 11-50 seconds.
I ran my bike through the transition area, trying not to slip in my road biking shoes, and hopped on my bike as quickly as I could muster. I really didn't feel like jumping and landing on the seat like a lot of people do. You could really hurt yourself down there if you're not careful. I took off quickly and started passing people right and left. There were speed bumps all through the park until we got out to the highway. I thought it was silly that everyone was slowing down to go over the speed bumps. It's a race, people, and, yes, your bike can handle it! I was going so fast that I caught air on every one of those speed bumps. Probably helped that I've been mountain bike racing recently. Just before I left the park I passed Rick. Told him good job and good luck and was on my way. I tucked into my aero bars and flew. I passed hundreds of people and passed them quickly. I didn't get passed by anyone. I was getting more and more excited with each woman I passed who had a number between 35 and 39 (my age group) on their calf. I started to realize that I had a real possibility of placing in this race. Not something I even dreamed of. I was just there to do my best and finish and not embarrass myself too much. I saw Steve on his way back on the bike. He was cruising. I was so proud of him. I pushed hard, but not all out. I knew I had a run ahead of me and was unsure how that was going to go. I got to the transition area, hopped off my bike, ran a little like a drunken sailor for a bit until I could get control of my legs, and got to my transition area. I did the bike in 46:44.
This time my transition was 40 seconds. It was so fun to see the boys right there on the other side of the fence yelling and screaming for me. Graeme's girlfriend, Ashley, who was doing the duathlon instead, was getting ready for the run too. We were both a little confused about where to go. It took a few seconds to find the sign that said "Run" and then once we found the signs we still couldn't figure out where to go. It was weird. Finally we see a lady waving at us and found the chute we were supposed to run through. Ashley took off and was ahead of me in a hurry. I didn't care. I really am not a runner. I do okay, but with all of my knee surgeries I am happy just to be able to run again. I just plugged along and got passed by some people including a woman in my age group, but that was okay. Just finish the race, I kept telling myself. I waved at Steve as he ran by and Rick high-fived me when I ran by him. Towards the end of the race I picked up the pace and passed a bunch of people who had passed me earlier. I ended up sprinting the last minute or so right with these two other guys. I think they were worried about being passed by a girl. I was kind and let them cross the finish line first, but I was right on their tail. I did the run in 26:03.
My total time was 1:29:18. It was a great feeling to finish my first triathlon. Steve was there to welcome me and Anne, Rebecca, Elizabeth, and my boys were cheering me on at the finish.
We figured I placed somewhere in the top three so we hung around for the awards ceremony which was so long and so hot. Why they couldn't do ladies first I don't know. I ended up taking 3rd place in my age group. Steve took 11th place in his age group. He did great and was so excited to have done as well as he did and knew he found something he could really be good at. He was one of the first guys out of the water, had a great bike ride, and an okay run. He tripped and fell on the run, but was okay. He beat me in the swim, but I had him on the bike, the run, and the transitions. He still beat me overall with a time of 1:27:47 because he rocked on the swim!
It was funny. After the race a woman who was in my age group came up to me to congratulate me and tell me she decided she was going to follow me in the swim, but couldn't stay with me. Apparently, I just took off. I thanked her, but laughed, because I would never describe my swimming as fast at all. It made me feel like a realy swimmer when she said that.
It was such a fun experience that we are going to do another one at the same place on August 8th. I guess the training never ends...