My First Triathlon

Before I begin, I must first apologize to my readers for never completing my mock trial series.  To make a long story short, the WIHS mock trial team advanced to the fifth round of competition and lost.  This earned them the status of top 16  in New York City.  This was a pretty fascinating story filled with all sorts of drama.  I'm sorry I didn't finish the series. Maybe I will later this summer.
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About 40 minutes into the biking portion of my first triathlon ever, I was passed by an overweight middle-aged lady on a not-so-great bike.  She passed me pretty quickly, too, and I was trying really, really hard to go fast. I was passed by a lot of people the entire time I was riding.

At the beginning of the biking leg of the triathlon, I thought I had over-exerted myself earlier swimming through the Potomac. I'm a good swimmer and had been told by several people that I didn't need to train for it, so I didn't.  I thought that maybe that was my mistake, and the cause for my exhaustion on the bike.

Competitors started the race in waves of eight people.  Eight people would jump in the water, and 10 seconds later, another eight people would jump in.  Even though female competitors did not begin swimming until after all of the men had started, I ended up finishing the swimming leg surrounded by men.  So in the beginning of the biking section, I was only being passed by a lot of men, which I didn't think was particularly surprising.  But then I started getting passed by a lot of women, too, and my confidence in my athletic ability took a beating. When this woman in particular passed me, I decided to stop and check to see if I had a flat tire.

I didn't. Relieved but still perplexed, I tried spinning my wheels.  The front wheel barely moved.  I then realized that for the past 15 kilometers I had been riding with my breaks pinched against my front tire. I had my bike"repaired" the night before by a bike mechanic, and I thought my my ride was in good shape.  Frustrated at my novice mistake of not checking my breaks before the start of the race, I quickly fixed them and hopped back on my bike. To the relief of my legs and my sanity, I started passing people (including that lady).

I finished the biking section and started the running section with very sore legs.  Despite my setback, I finished the race and didn't do too badly-- I came in 9th out of 70 women competing in the event for the first time, and I was only 10 minutes away from the first place "newbie." My total time for the 1.5k (1mile) swim --40k (26mile) bike-10k(6 mile) run was 2 hours and 52 minutes.

The physical stress of the biking mishap, however, was no where near as stressful as the logistical preparation for the triathlon.  I was a basket-case the day before the race, stressing over the minutia of my equipment, the transition area, and making sure everything was set up correctly so that I could easily switch between events.

Preparing for a triathlon is an organizational feat.   Triathletes must get together all of the equipment they'll need to compete in three different sports, and then figuring out a way to get all of it to wherever they're going. This is especially difficult if you're an urbanite without a car.

Competitors vary in the equipment they'll use for the event.  I am more of a minimalist.  I used a swim cap, reflective swim goggles, a "triathlon suit" (an outfit that you can swim, bike and run in), biking cleats, a bike computer, my bike, socks, a helmet, sunglasses, a 'chest strap' (a strap that goes around your body to make it easier to put on your racing number after the swim), and my running shoes. I also had a lot of Clif bars and Powerade with me.  On top of that, was given a lot of numbers to put in various places-- one for my helmet, one for my bike, one for my gear bag, one on my swim cap, and one I had to put on between swimming and biking. I also had to have my racing number written on both arms and above both of my knees, and my age written on the back of my right calf.  I had to wear an anklet with a timing chip and a wrist band that signified I was a competitor in the race.  So much stuff!  Some racers had even more equipment: wetsuits for swimming, zip laces to save seconds on tying their shoe laces, areobars for their bicycles---the list goes on and on.

That's me! (in the black)

As you might gather from my list above, not only is this a logistical headache, it's also a very expensive endeavor to be involved in a triathlon.  I had no idea how much money I would end up spending in order to compete when I signed up for the race in January.  I thought I would be all set after dropping nearly $800 to a "decent" bike and $190 on a registration fee.  What I didn't realize is that I would have to buy so many more things than that (like special pedals for my bike, special biking shoes, and everything else listed above), along with a gym membership so I could swim (which I didn't use much), a car rental for the weekend, and a night in a hotel.  I can also safely say even though I spent a lot of money, I did things on the cheap compared to many triathletes.  Most competitors were sporting bikes in the $2000 range, and some were upwards of $6000.  I was astounded by how many people  had so many expensive pieces of equipment.  There is definitely a huge barrier to access in this type of competition-- it is not for the unemployed or underpaid.  It turns out that the money spent on equipment has very little to do with how fast someone finishes, though.  It doesn't matter how expensive your gear is if you're out of shape.  It was funny to watch the professional triathletes speed away on bikes less expensive than the ones used by men with beer bellies.

The money I spent to participate is what motivated me to still compete even after I injured my foot 12 days prior to the race.  Against nearly everyone's (and the doctor's) advice, I figured that I had put too much into it financially to back out. The good news is that my foot was fine, and if I won't need to pay the 'start-up' costs for my next triathlon.

When I crossed the finish line in front of the Capitol building in Washington DC, there was no doubt in my mind that everything was worth it.  I have competed in hundreds of athletic events in my life, and I have never had so much fun, and I felt so happy.  The finish line was crowded withe friends and family members celebrating everyone's achievement.  I cannot wait to compete in another triathlon.