Tri-ing Hard

On July 10, I attempted my first triathlon. It was fun. When I finished I compared how tired I was to running a marathon. All my marathons have been more exhausting. I'm not sure if it's more grueling than a half a marathon. Maybe, I didn't push myself hard enough. Anyway, what did I learn? My weaknesses are the same ones I identified earlier - swimming and biking.

I was able to get out of the water in under 15 minutes for the half mile swim. The main issue is that I never really got comfortable in the water. My head was constantly above water trying to site the buoy. Also, it really takes time to get use to swimming with lots of people in close proximity to yourself. Once I got out of the water, the biking was my weakest section of the race. My thighs stayed tight for several miles until I could get them feeling okay. I only made up a little time on the people in front of me during the 17.1 mile ride.

Luckily, I've practice many bricks of biking to running and it paid off. I was able to pass quite a few people in the 10K run. The first 3 miles were downhill which allowed my legs to get acclimated to the ground. The second half was pretty good too.

Overall, I clocked in around 2 hours and 5 minutes. Hopefully, sometime later this week I'll find out my actual time. Nevertheless, I was able to capture 2nd place for my age group. Oh, I got a nifty flashlight. The only reason I know I came in second in my group and got my gift was because another person I worked with stayed for the awards ceremony. I had left to drive the 3 hours back home instead of wait around. I don't race for prizes. I race against myself.

Here is a picture of Pat who I work with at GE Plastics.

I celebrated my efforts by running a 12 miles the Monday after the race. 5 weeks till the half marathon in Parkersburg. Now, this is a real half marathon. I'm shooting for a 1:30 time. It's a slow time, but the course is a real doozie! Hills, hills and more hills.