In all my reckless insanity I competed in my first triathlon this past sunday. It was a beautiful sunny day at lake anna, air temps well into the 70s, but the water was a chilly 56 degrees.
I was one of the few people that found the water temp refreshing. This is primarily because i'm an awful swimmer and it is a lot of work for me, which results in me getting hot and bothered. Then my hot and bothered self enjoys the chilly water splashing on my face. I even once pulled down the neck of my wetsuit to let it fill with some chilling water. I finished very slowly (at least 12 mins behind most of my age group), but at least i finished, which is saying something since i've only been training for 3 months or so.
The bike was much more fun, and i was more in my element. I was disappointed that no matter how hard i tried, i was constantly being passed by a steady stream of people (to the point that i began to wonder if i was going to be the last to finish). I was amazed at how friendly the other racers were, constantly offering encouragement and support as they zoomed past. The encouragement was especially helpful on the run, which started with a quarter-mile long uphill (the initial 20ft a very discouraging and steep start). Since the run was an out and back course the people just starting out on the run were constantly encouraged by the people nearing their finish. I found this all surprising and thought people would be too focused on their individual performance to care about anything else, but i guess that only applies to the people who finished more than an hour before i did.
Overall, it was a fantastic experience and i'll probably sign up for one or two other short sprint tris before the summer is over, if i can fit training into my busy vacation schedule that is...
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