Well that was trying...
Scratch one from "The list": Do a triathlon
On Saturday this weekend I participated in a "Try-a-tri" to get a sense of what one of these things is like. In my usual fashion I didn't train beforehand, but I wasn't too worried going in as the distances were all things I could handle: 200M swim, 15km bike ride, 3km run. In the past, I'd been a lifeguard, so the swimming shouldn't be too bad and I biked all the time to work two years ago and my year in Fredericton, so that should be easy too. My main concern was the run, as I don't do that, unless it's from first to second base. But 3km didn't seem too daunting, so I set myself an overall goal of 1 hour 25 minutes for the course and thought that seemed reasonable.
I arrived Saturday morning to a huge crowd at the Terry Fox Athletic Facility - not a crowd of watchers, but rather participants! They had all sorts of different length triathlons and duathlons going on, including the nutty Ironman (that would be a 3.8km swim!!!, a 180km bike ride followed up with a 42km run (yes, a whole marathon)). That race took participants between 9.5 and 15 hours to complete. Yeah, I'm not there yet.
So I showed up, learned about the rules of the race, the routes and went and set up my transition zone (the spot where you switch from swim to bike to run), laying out my stuff like other people who seemed to know what they were doing. Then I got bodymarked - when you race you wear a bathing cap with your number on it (obviously just for the swim) and you have your number written on both thighs and both arms. On the back of one leg is the race you're competing in - on the other, your age. Once temporarily tattooed, I headed for the beach.
The swim ran 200M along Mooney's Bay beach (site of the Hope Beach volleyball tournament). I was plenty nervous for the start, even though there didn't seem to be any really competitive people in my race (those people would have been in the Sprint Triathlon - same distances as the Try-a-tri, but for serious athletes). The horn went and we started off in complete chaos. Thirty-one men (the women started 3 minutes after us) all trying to swim in a straight line with lots of kicking and splashing.
Despite telling myself to stay calm off the start and not kill myself, I kind of got caught up in the race. I kept popping up to see where other people were and pushing hard. About 150M into the swim, I discovered two things: 1) 200M is longer than you think it is and, 2) it was a long, long time ago that I was a lifeguard...I mean, a really long time ago. So I switched to breaststroke. I finally made it out in a time of 7:10, good for 35th out of the 94 of us who did the race (that's men and women combined). A decent time, all things considered.
Of course, it came at a cost - namely, I was beat. I swam a great 200M race, but turns out there was still this cycling thing to go, not to mention the run. Out of the water, a 300M barefoot run to the transition zone, strap on the cycling shoes, grab the bike and jog another 200M with it to the start of the cycling course. This should have been my best section - I still bike frequently and have a faster bike than some of the other people in this race (since this wasn't geared to serious athletes, there were some clunky mountain bikes out there). But the swim and two jogs had really winded me - I knew I was in trouble when the first of the women (who started 3 minutes behind us) caught up to me as I was mounting the bike. I'd expected that the better ones of them would pass me, but what disturbed me was the number on her back right calf - a 12. Yes, a 12-year-old girl whupped my ass. And she wouldn't be the last one.
The bike ride was awful. It wasn't until the very end that I finally felt like I'd caught my breath and was able to get a proper cadence. I was learning the hard way not to go out too hard in the swim! I finished with a time of 43:34, a disappointing 76th out of 94 racers. Plus I had the pleasure of watching a lot of people well below and above my age zoom past me. Although it was neat to share the course with the really good ironman and half ironman athletes, who had 180km and 90km rides to do. They went past us like we were standing still, probably doing 35-40km/hr the whole way.
Back into the transition area, into the running shoes and out onto the track. Onto the dreaded run! I started slow and told myself to just take it easy - my main goal being just to run the whole thing, no walking. Strangely though, the run turned out decently for me. First, I passed a few people that had got ahead of me on the bike ride. Second, I was able to breath well for the first time all race - the swim had really winded me. On the way back into the stadium I even picked up the pace (although I resisted the urge to toss my hat into the crowd a la Simon Whitfield) and sprinted the last 50M or so to surge across the finish line, catching a guy who had passed me earlier. Final time of 20:04, good for 46th out of 94.
That gave me a total of 1:13:16, well ahead of my goal. I finished 62 out of 94. I'm quite pleased I did this - it's way more fun than just going out and doing a long run. I like the strategy of having three events, pacing yourself and making quick transitions. I learned a lot on this first race, and am already eyeing a second on in late September (possibly with even longer distances!). Maybe that will give me motivation to train a little.
Anyhow, I would encourage anyone in halfway-decent shape to try one of these out. The distances are quite reasonable and it was a fun way to spend a Saturday morning. Plus you get the ego boost of watching 12-year-olds kick your ass.
For more info on this and other races in the Ottawa area, see www.somersault.ca. If you're bored and want to see my time go to http://results.sportstats.ca/display-results.php?lang=eng&racecode=43966.
On Saturday this weekend I participated in a "Try-a-tri" to get a sense of what one of these things is like. In my usual fashion I didn't train beforehand, but I wasn't too worried going in as the distances were all things I could handle: 200M swim, 15km bike ride, 3km run. In the past, I'd been a lifeguard, so the swimming shouldn't be too bad and I biked all the time to work two years ago and my year in Fredericton, so that should be easy too. My main concern was the run, as I don't do that, unless it's from first to second base. But 3km didn't seem too daunting, so I set myself an overall goal of 1 hour 25 minutes for the course and thought that seemed reasonable.
I arrived Saturday morning to a huge crowd at the Terry Fox Athletic Facility - not a crowd of watchers, but rather participants! They had all sorts of different length triathlons and duathlons going on, including the nutty Ironman (that would be a 3.8km swim!!!, a 180km bike ride followed up with a 42km run (yes, a whole marathon)). That race took participants between 9.5 and 15 hours to complete. Yeah, I'm not there yet.
So I showed up, learned about the rules of the race, the routes and went and set up my transition zone (the spot where you switch from swim to bike to run), laying out my stuff like other people who seemed to know what they were doing. Then I got bodymarked - when you race you wear a bathing cap with your number on it (obviously just for the swim) and you have your number written on both thighs and both arms. On the back of one leg is the race you're competing in - on the other, your age. Once temporarily tattooed, I headed for the beach.
The swim ran 200M along Mooney's Bay beach (site of the Hope Beach volleyball tournament). I was plenty nervous for the start, even though there didn't seem to be any really competitive people in my race (those people would have been in the Sprint Triathlon - same distances as the Try-a-tri, but for serious athletes). The horn went and we started off in complete chaos. Thirty-one men (the women started 3 minutes after us) all trying to swim in a straight line with lots of kicking and splashing.
Despite telling myself to stay calm off the start and not kill myself, I kind of got caught up in the race. I kept popping up to see where other people were and pushing hard. About 150M into the swim, I discovered two things: 1) 200M is longer than you think it is and, 2) it was a long, long time ago that I was a lifeguard...I mean, a really long time ago. So I switched to breaststroke. I finally made it out in a time of 7:10, good for 35th out of the 94 of us who did the race (that's men and women combined). A decent time, all things considered.
Of course, it came at a cost - namely, I was beat. I swam a great 200M race, but turns out there was still this cycling thing to go, not to mention the run. Out of the water, a 300M barefoot run to the transition zone, strap on the cycling shoes, grab the bike and jog another 200M with it to the start of the cycling course. This should have been my best section - I still bike frequently and have a faster bike than some of the other people in this race (since this wasn't geared to serious athletes, there were some clunky mountain bikes out there). But the swim and two jogs had really winded me - I knew I was in trouble when the first of the women (who started 3 minutes behind us) caught up to me as I was mounting the bike. I'd expected that the better ones of them would pass me, but what disturbed me was the number on her back right calf - a 12. Yes, a 12-year-old girl whupped my ass. And she wouldn't be the last one.
The bike ride was awful. It wasn't until the very end that I finally felt like I'd caught my breath and was able to get a proper cadence. I was learning the hard way not to go out too hard in the swim! I finished with a time of 43:34, a disappointing 76th out of 94 racers. Plus I had the pleasure of watching a lot of people well below and above my age zoom past me. Although it was neat to share the course with the really good ironman and half ironman athletes, who had 180km and 90km rides to do. They went past us like we were standing still, probably doing 35-40km/hr the whole way.
Back into the transition area, into the running shoes and out onto the track. Onto the dreaded run! I started slow and told myself to just take it easy - my main goal being just to run the whole thing, no walking. Strangely though, the run turned out decently for me. First, I passed a few people that had got ahead of me on the bike ride. Second, I was able to breath well for the first time all race - the swim had really winded me. On the way back into the stadium I even picked up the pace (although I resisted the urge to toss my hat into the crowd a la Simon Whitfield) and sprinted the last 50M or so to surge across the finish line, catching a guy who had passed me earlier. Final time of 20:04, good for 46th out of 94.
That gave me a total of 1:13:16, well ahead of my goal. I finished 62 out of 94. I'm quite pleased I did this - it's way more fun than just going out and doing a long run. I like the strategy of having three events, pacing yourself and making quick transitions. I learned a lot on this first race, and am already eyeing a second on in late September (possibly with even longer distances!). Maybe that will give me motivation to train a little.
Anyhow, I would encourage anyone in halfway-decent shape to try one of these out. The distances are quite reasonable and it was a fun way to spend a Saturday morning. Plus you get the ego boost of watching 12-year-olds kick your ass.
For more info on this and other races in the Ottawa area, see www.somersault.ca. If you're bored and want to see my time go to http://results.sportstats.ca/display-results.php?lang=eng&racecode=43966.
posted by Mr. G. at 12:32 a.m.
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