I just finished my first triathlon
Granted...it was an indoor "mini" triathlon...but the Ice Breaker Triathlon at the Walnut Creek YMCA was an eye opening experience!
The triathlon consisted of the following (my times in [ ] )
- 300 yard swim [5:29]
- 7 mile bike [18:13]
- 3 mile run [28:36]
Swim: Man it was hard to control the heart rate after about a lap. I found myself gasping for a breath each stroke. Adrenaline I guess. I tried to relax but really just couldn't. I knocked it out but was unusually winded for the short length of the swim. I MUST work on swimming.
Bike: My legs are still recovering from a lower body workout that I should not have done. The swim didn't deplete them so much as they were sore to begin with. I kept my RPM's at about 90 or slightly above and for the last 1/2 mile I pushed to over 100.
Run: Typically my weakest area (so I thought) I started at 6.5 MPH and began the run. Shortly into it, I got tired of the miles clicking by slowly but was starting to feel the cumulative effects of my activity. I had to back down for a while to 5.5MPH. At the two mile mark, I began to enter "the zone" and pushed up to 6.5 again...then 7.5...then 8.0...and the last half mile I was at full stride doing 8.5MPH. I was approaching that point where you start talking to yourself, heart rate is near 100% of max, etc.
The net result is that I wasn't last in my age group (I was next to last). Apparently 36-40 has some amazing athletes. My teammate, who I beat was first in his age group 31-35.
All in all, I'm proud to have a competitive triathlon under my belt. Now the serious work begins toward June 22. Yikes.
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