High-Octane

So here's a new experience for me....TRIATHLON...!

I was a little tenative going into this Triathlon. I contomplated attempting the Olympic Distance but decide to just go for the Sprint Distance mainly because I needed to be finished in time to make it to church (our new Pastor was preaching for the first time on Sunday). I'ts probably a good thing I just did the sprint since my swimming was so weak.

The Triathlon people didn't seem as friendly as people at the races I've been to. I attempeted to strike up a few conversations but most were too busy to take much interest. I had a good time but would much rather done it with someone and not alone.

The swim was in a ski lake just a couple of miles from my home town (Martindale, Tx). I was a little worried about the swim since I haven't done any swim training. I did get in the pool and swim for about 5 minutes on friday (end to end) but my pool is only about 20 feet long. I would consider myself a fairly confident swimmer but I've never swam for any distance. I lined up about 2/3 back in the group for the swim start. As you can see from my swim time, I was very slow. Many of the swimmer were twice as fast as me. I really took my time, I swam on my back, dog paddled and just rested some. When I came out of the swim I couldn't understand why everyone was walking to the transition. I took off running, passing 10-12 people. I guess I really didn't exert myself on the swim very much :-) ... BUT I DIDN'T DROWN...! There were sticker burs in the grass around the transition so we were allowed to put shoes on when we got to the grass area. I decided to place my bike shoes there instead of flip-flops (like most people). This turned out to work well as I could run pretty fast with the bike shoes in the grass. I got my bike and and out of transition pretty fast and took off. I immediatly started passing people and wondering why they were going so slow. The bike route was a familiar one to me as I ride it quite often. It goes right by my place in Martindale (where I keep my horses). The roads are fairly rough, I think it's called chip rock, and it's commonly used here on Texas roads but there aren't many potholes and such. I continued to pass bikers throughout the ride, picking them off one at a time as if they were standing still. I would yell left and scare some of them as I went past :-) At the end of the bike ride I eased off a little to allow my legs to recover a little before the run. My transition from bike to run was not as fast as the previous but I wasn't really prepared and didn't have the quick tie shoe laces like most people there. I was supprised as I starated to run that my legs were moving that quickly. I wasn't expecting to be able to run a sub-7:00 pace and actually didn't feel like I was putting out that much effort. I passed many people running and was only passed by one young guy. At the end of the run I put out a little kick for the last quarter mile but didn't try to kill myself. Immediatly after I finished I headed out to church so I was unaware of my placing until late last evening. I guess they will mail me my award. I will probably do another Triathlon in the future but I would really like to do a longer distance and have someone to do it with. Now...back to running!

7/1/2012
	Time	Pace Speed	Div Place	Distance
Swim	16:14:00	3:14	5	500m
Trasition	0:15		1
Bike	33:22:00	19.8	2	11 miles
Trasition	1:13		2
Run	21:17:00	6:52	1	3.1 miles
	Note: We were allowed to put our shoes on outside
	Transition-1 because of stickers in the grass so
	my time is very short.
Total Time	1:12:23
Place Overall	33 / 167		Div. Place	2
Martindale Tx  -  Triathlon For Old Glory
72-80Âş - Humid, Rained during the Run.
Target: First Triathlon. Don't drown. 18 mph Bike. 7:?? Pace Run.
Note: I was very tenative on the swim. I lost about 4 minutes there. Biking, I passed about 75 people, running I passed about 20 people. One guy passed me on the bike, I passed him on the run. Only one (25 yr old) guy passed me on the run.