Current Weight: 198.5
Weekly Change: -1.0
Total Lost: 61
To Goal: 8.5
About 8 months ago I decided I wanted to become a triathlete. This is how things happen with me. I decide, and then I dive in head first. My partner will tell you I’m obsessive. I prefer highly motivated. Things didn’t exactly go as planned. There was the bike wreck, a couple minor injuries, and a host of other learning experiences. But it’s 8 months later, and I’m now a triathlete. In 8 months I haven’t had a drink (which I don’t miss so much) or a donut (which I miss horribly). I’m not complaining here, because I’m also no longer lugging around 60lbs of fat. It’s been 48 hours since the race, and I don’t really care about things I haven’t had. I care about what I’ve got, which is a medal for completing my first triathlon.
The race went slightly better than planned. I’ve worked my tail off for this race, and I expected to do pretty well. After getting into the water, I settled into a moderately fast pace. Since I have to do breast stroke because of a shoulder injury, I’m never going to do exceptionally well on the swim leg. That being said, I’ve worked hard on the breast stroke technique and have become fairly fast. I passed plenty of folks doing freestyle, which is always a good feeling.
The highlight of the race was the bike. I crushed it. I didn’t get passed, not even once. I got in the aero position and never got out. I passed a lot of folks, and tried not to be a jerk when I came flying by. Competitive folks don’t always respond so well when you pass them, and this race was no exception. I got a couple f%&@ you’s out there. Hey dude, I would have felt sorry about blowing by you, but you see, I was so busy going fast in my fastness. Thanks for trying to ruin my day though. My average speed was slightly over 21 mph. Not incredible for a triathlon speed, but the fastest time trial split I’ve ever clocked. I was right around the top 10% for bike splits for all competitors which was pretty cool.
My run was pretty strong. I went out at about an 8:30/mile pace, and finished with an overall pace of 8:36 for the 5k. For some reason the run course was a bit longer than the posted 5k distance. I talked to several athletes who also had Garmin devices, and we all measured the course at closer to 3.25 miles. Not sure exactly what happened on that front, it just makes the run split a little skewed.
My goal for this race was to execute it well, and get as close to 1:15 as possible. I did that, and am really proud of where I ended up. I would have had a killer race if I hadn’t had to retape a big toe that has a tendency to hyper extend on the run. It’s fine as long as it’s taped, which is what I’ve been doing during training. Unfortunately the water proof tape I applied prior to the race didn’t hold, and I had to cut off the old tape and retape during transition 2. I think I lost about 4 minutes just doing that. So my 1:15 could have been a 1:11. Back to the drawing board for the next race, which is exactly two months from today. I step up to the Olympic Distance – 1500m swim, 25 mile bike, and 10k run. Bring it.
