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my first tri

I had posted some my experience under a prev post but I thought I would give a better account of my day.



Anyhow, I was really nervous about my first tri as I really didn't know what to expect. I had to get up at 5am as it was a 2.5hr drive to the tri.

Arrived and I saw all of the car geared up with some serious bikes attached to the cars.... made me worse given mines was a £400 entry level with a good few mods(come to this later).

Went to register and I was really hoping to be in on a later heat....nope 1st heat, contestant number 3... have to say that with hindsight this was a good thing but it didn't feel like it.

Went back to my car, had a few sandwhiches as I had a good 1hr to kill and then done some stretches to loosen myself off a bit. Congregated in the meeting point and I litterally dropped when I saw most of the folk all dressed to the hilt in some serious tri gear. I was in trackie bottoms and a hoodie.... I'm 30 hahahaha



Went and got ready and dipped into the pool to do a quick 50m warm up and to get a feel for the pool ( my local pool is very chlorinated and really warm, this was cold and felt good to swim in).



Anyhow, the tri got started and I just lost my nerves completely. Got immersed in the swim and tagged a few feet in the process. This is where my complete inexperience kicked in. I forgot to take some form of footwear from pool to trans 1, had to stop to get a marshall to call my wife to give me my running trainers which were not a trans 1. Lost time there....

I had trained in front crawl and I'm reasonable at it but for whatever reason I ditched it and went to billy breast stroker..... I think it was a confidence issue. The swim took me longer than I had hoped for it but it felt great to be getting out the pool and going to my first proper transition. Amazing buzzzzz.



Transistion 1 - as there was a breast screening truck parked in trans 1 then space was really limited so you weren't allowed a box into trans 1. This meant stuff was strewn all over the place. I decided to tie to my t-shirt and gore top to the bike via the sleeves. Worked a treat.

Comedy moment..... after leaving trans 1, couldn't get clipped in and fell on my side... looked like an idiot but I didn't care, just got back up and got on with it.



On the cycle I thought this was where I could make some time... how wrong was I!!!! Got overtooken by a women. fair enough as she had calves on here that the Rock would hav been proud of. Then came my glory moment. This dude in mega tri gear passed on an uphill, I was really struggling and got really peed off at this. I then came to what can only be described as one hell of a downhill. I passed the guy in all his cool tri gear and left him for dead..... I had a long running deul with him and fair play he won but that moment when I got on my aero bars and trounced him ( he was def trying, you could see it) will live with me for a long time.

From here in on it was like pissing into the wind. I've never felt a head wind like that ever.



Got off the bike, jelly legs a hoi..... first lap was terrible as my asthma was kicking in and had to stop to use my inhaler, but after the first lap I seemed to enjoy the run, on the last 300m I sprinted and low and behold I overtook the women who passed me on the bike.... job done.... chuffed to bits.



Overall came 5th last but given the time I lost to inexperience and not knowing what I was doing, its fair to say that an improvement on that time will be achieved.



In summary........ loved it. Roll on my next one in three weeks.



Cheers to all who gave me words of encouragement in the prev post.



Regards



Steven









Comments

  • moonshinemoonshine Posts: 335
    well done

    you managed a better time than I'm expecting in my first sprint tri

    hadn't thought about shoes from pool to T1 was anticipating hopping across the tarmac something else for the list[:D]
  • clarkey30clarkey30 Posts: 270
    Shadow whats it like doing it on a pool? ive always done open water swims as its something of a novelty!



    Well done mate, now youve got the buzz get into a few more
  • BopomofoBopomofo Posts: 980
    Brilliant! Well done, mate!



    As I keep saying, you can ask as many questions as you like but there is absolutely no substitute for getting out there and cocking it up properly! [:D]



    You have learned more in a couple of hours than you could learn from a hundred forum questions.



    Good effort, hope you are now thinking of all the areas of improvement for your next race!
  • BritspinBritspin Posts: 1,655
    Shoes? Pool to T1? Nah picking gravel out of your feet is the name of the game.

    Well done on 5th..I can only dream.
  • gomiboygomiboy Posts: 59
    Don't let the fast blokes ever intimidate you. You're here to run your race, and they might just as easily cock theirs up :)
  • BlurredgirlBlurredgirl Posts: 292
    Well done! First tris are magic. I'm revisiting my first event in May. This time last year I was ready to start my first ever season, I remember what it was like.



    Hope you're hooked and plan to do more?



    blurredgirl

  • Can I add to Shadowone1's thanks to this forum for being really supportive of newbies and answering their questions. I did my first tri yesterday (sunday). Had a geat day. I was too was really nervous but everybody was really friendly and wanted to help each other out. It all makes sense now! And I'm definitely hooked!



    Roll on July for Trentham - the next step an open water swim!!!







  • garyrobertsgaryroberts Posts: 869
    Hi TripeHound



    Congrats on your first tri, tell us more.....

    [:D]



  • meakiemeakie Posts: 124
    Your story is ace! Funny yet v realistic no doubt and I love your Jelly legs ahoi comments and saying what gear u were wearing! it sounds ace and made me smile, really cant wait to do my first Tri now, hope I lick it like you did

    - thanks for the tip re remembering shoes for T1 from the pool!



    nice one dude, great! [:)]
  • Gary,



    It was the East Leake sprint (400m, 20km, 5km) near Loughborough



    I spent Saturday worrying what to wear because it was going to be cold! After scraping ice of my car at 6pm was 3rd car in the car park worrying what to do next! Turned out the lady in the car next to me was doing her first tri too so we sorted out registration and racking our gear at the same time - helped my nerves (the bike racks were numbered to tally with your race number).



    After all worrying about what to wear, I decided to swim in my tri-shorts and top although I hadn't swum in them before. Got to poolside really early (nerves, nerves, nerves). But everybody poolside were really supporting each other. Talking about what they had and hadn't done before. Took my mind off the challenge about to happen! Before I knew if I was standing in the pool and then I was off. Time to put 3 months of training to the test!



    I was really worried about the swim, but it went well. I overtook someone but was overtook by someelse!! I touched the toes of the guy I overtook and he let me past at the next turn! I don't know who was more surprised me or him!



    Next thing leg it (no shoes!!) though the carpark to my bike (blooming freezing). Pulled on a bike top and pair of gloves helmet etc and off I went. (I didnt bother with my shoes pre-clipped in, elastic bands etc - thought should keep it simple first time). I knew the bike route really well so I think that helped as I knew when to push and when hills were comming etc. Overtook a few people on the bike and one person overtook me - made me look as though I was going backwards (ha ha!)



    Transition to run went fine -I left the bike top on but unzipped - very retro 70s look! Enjoyed the run, overtook a few people. I was so pleased to finish - it felt a real achievement. Really pleased with the time 1:16 - much faster than I thought I would do!



    Once finished I spent an hour or so watching people doing their transitions and being amazed at the range of people and the bikes in the tri. (and how much talcum powder can fall out of a pair of bike shoes!!) I'm definitely hooked! Saviing up for a set of tri-bars now!



    Cheers



    Tripehound
  • garyrobertsgaryroberts Posts: 869
    Excellent stuff Tripehound!



    Thanks for the de-brief, sounds like you did great. I'll be v.pleased with that time. My first tri is in four weeks, still a little time to get better! I love hearing about how others get on, it helps to focus my training (don't want to come last)!



    Good luck with the next, and the next one after that, and the next one after that,.......
  • shadowone1shadowone1 Posts: 1,408
    clarkey30 wrote:


    Shadow whats it like doing it on a pool? ive always done open water swims as its something of a novelty!



    Well done mate, now youve got the buzz get into a few more



    i've got nothing to compare it to but overall it felt fine. To be honest the pool was just a nice temp, my local pool is way too hot.



    I wore my tri-suit and felt really comfortable.







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