First Triathlon...Lessons Learned

Well here it is......

First: I FINISHED!!!

Second: NO Results for me...apparently my chip malfunctioned so I have no finishing time or splits

Third: IT WAS HOT!!!!!!!! Over 100 degrees and no shade whatsoever or any breeze

Very nervous Saturday ...went over to the Choptank River to do a short swim with a friend ...water was perfect although we could not practice sighting at all since the fog was so thick you couldn't see more than 100 yards...nice swim maybe .4-.6 of a mile...then went back to the house (my friend has done Eagleman 10 years and rents a guest room next to a garage...set of bunks (got the top as the rookie) and a full for 4 guys...$80 total for the weekend..thats split 4 ways..how great is that?? especially since it is one block from the transition area.....then went out a rode the run course....went to Expo and then hung out and went to meet a bunch of other friends for a pasta dinner...could not sleep and laid in bed listening to the thunder and seeing the lightening....that ended by morning...up at 5AM and head to transition area to set up...sweating just walking one block....my wave went off at 7:32....sweating even worse in my wetsuit...we're off...my lack of swim training was evident (this should not happen since I was a competitive swimmer most of my life)...got through it, lost my cookies slightly about 1/2 way and actually beat a few of my wave out of the water and thank god that the river did not live up to its name it was almost mirror like although the first leg was into a current, the second a lsight or so they said tailcurrent and the final leg to land had a cross current that was pushing swimmers to the side...wobbled to my bike and took my time...so hot, all bets are off for a time goal...made sure I put a refresher layer of sunscreen on (of course missed a few spots) and I head out get on the bike and here we go...legs feel ok not great ...but starting rolling as best as I could...VERY NAUSEOUS ......well, mile 25 passes and I am riding alone...all of a sudden a brown blast flies from my mouth to the right (thank god I was alone and it was to the right...pull over and proceed to puke two more times......start riding again and feel better...WORD OF ADVICE...DO NOT drink Ensure between swim and bike in 100 degree temps UNLESS IT IS STORED ON ICE...very stupid on my part, was obviously was not thinking straight.....keep rolling through the blast furnace...kept drinking water and gatorade...because any thoughts of taking a gel were not pleasant ...did not eat anything the entire race just took fluids ......heading towards the bike finish, I am passing more people than were passing me...into transition and off the bike....again took some extra time to up the sunscreen and off to the run...legs feel good, moving steadily, not sure of pace but moving quicker than most......at mile 4 caught one of the Team in Training Tri coaches and she was really hurting so starting run/walking with her since time was not an issue today.....did so and picked up another woman who we encouraged to join us...felt good enough to run more than they were able to but since Sarah (Tri coach ) was hurting I stayed with them...a bit frustrating but could not just abandon her.....the blast furnace continued but the aid stations were awesome...cups of ice...ice water and gatorade with ice...and later cups of flat coke with ice...the volunteers were fantastic...and EAGLEMAN'S RACE DIRECTOR should call Carey Pinakowski and offer to do a seminar on preparing for an abnormally hot raceday.....they had those ice coolers that you see in the supermarkets for the bags of ice......finally could wait no longer needed to finish this race...so asked Sarah and the other woman (from Bethesda) if they were ok..they said yes...so I took off at mile 10...started my watch just to see what I could do the final 5k in.....passed 51 people over the final 5k......including two woman within the final 5 yards....I was done!!!!!! grabbed my medal and walked through the finish...spotted two friends, one took 3rd place in his AG..22 yo...great triathlete..turned down a KONA slot and then remembered to stop my watch...watch time 26:15...(8:27 pace without factoring in time from finish to stopping watch)...very happy with that pace.....back to the house...showered...hydrate, a banana... chilled out literally and figuratively in the AC....packed up...in the truck off to dinner..had some great crabcakes sandwiches which were devoured in short order and then on the road back to NJ..arrived home at about 12:30 am......feel great this AM except for the fact that I have no splits or finishing time...but I finished .......I can only estimate that I finished between 6:25 and 6:40...again very happy and I believe I will be back....now this weekend do a sprint tri.....Do I have this backwards??? First Tri = 1/2 IRONMAN ....second =Sprint....thanks everyone for your encouragement and thanks Lance for the tips....I was thinking of your race when I passed a guy from the prior wave hanging on one of the buoys and hoping he was alright!

Thanks to all of the TNT folks and all my friends and family that offered words of encouragement or had periods of concern because I was not coming up in the athlete tracking online...

Bill

REPEAT LESSON LEARNED....No warm Ensure!!!!!!! This prevents vomiting