thndrmatt
Real Life Mickey Wannabe!
- Joined
- Oct 9, 2005
- Messages
- 799
The Clermont Triamerica short course triathlon was .6 mile swim, 18.6 mile bike, and 4.7 mile run. Having never done a triathlon before, I thought it would be a good introduction and feeling out session for how things might go if I do attempt the Half Ironman at Disney next month. Distances there are of course 1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike, and 13.1 mile run, so obviously it will be significantly more difficult.
I woke up at 3am randomly due to a nightmare of starting the race, and running the first mile at a great pace probably too fast, and then realizing the first leg was supposed to be swimming! Somehow I ended up at a concurrently running 5k on the wrong side of the lake! I ran another mile to the transition area for the correct race and they had closed it and wouldn't let me start or bring my bike in!
Managed to get that nightmare to pass and the alarm eventually went off at 0400. Dragged the wife off (need a videographer for my first, they say you'll always remember it!) and we made the hour trek from our free lodging at her friends place up to Clermont for the race.
The star of the show was of course, the weather. Forecast was for the 70s which is nice, but close to 29mph winds from the southwest, and significant thunderstorms. Anyone who lives in FL probably heard/saw the rain and the wind that passed through Saturday night in the panhandle and Sunday morning in the center of the state. Initially it was dry however as I set up the transition area. Kept thinking I was ready, and kept coming up with stuff that I had left in the car. Things like race number for the running shirt (duh, have to wear it across the finish line) and even better the timing chip anklet (hm might want to get timed at some point). Eventually got everything into a waterproof bag I then stacked upside down next to the bike so no water could get in. I was as far away from the entrance/exit to the transition area as you could get, but I was on an end so that gave me some elbow room instead of being crammed between people.
I haven't yet purchased some of the "required items" for triathletes, such as a wetsuit. The water temp was 76 degrees which didn't both me at all, but some thought was beyond freezing for some reason. I'm the world's worst swimmer (or close) so I'm guessing the buoyancy would have helped though. So there I was in my running shorts, shirtless in my royal blue swimming cap (the starting waves went by color, all short course men ended up in the same one) while these hardcore guys have these elaborate two piece wetsuits and are off on their hundreds of meters of "warm up" swimming.
My first classic noob mistake was right at the horn. Get all excited, wave at the crowd, let the mob of people go first so you don't get clobbered, wade out a ways, and start swimming in your own little area. Get about fifty yards, and realize water is getting in your eyes. Hm, probably should have put on the goggles first.
Reach up for the goggles, no goggles. So my 8 dollar pair from college are somewhere at the bottom of the lake. This was just the beginning of the pain though. Picture a squared off U shape course. Running slightly NNE, then about WSW, then pretty much due S. Then picture 29 mph winds from the SW. That's right, two upwind legs, and only a partially downwind one. So on the way out to the first buoy I did alright, if you don't count the times I ended up heading for Mexico unknowingly before looking up and spying the correct direction to the buoy off my left at about 45 degrees. After the turn though, it was like every time you came up to breath someone threw a bucket of water in your face. I ended up having to breaststroke a lot of that leg, any time I tried freestyle I ended up basically making a U turn and going back where I came. Goggles might have helped, but it was real murky so you still had to sight, and I guess I need practice. At this point all the women started passing me (their wave was 5 min behind) so that was a little discouraging. That and shore seemed really far away. I'd swam 2100 yards just last week, but 960 meters in open water seemed just as difficult. I probably ended up doing closer to 1200 with all the zigzagging. Somehow I finally spotted the swim finish near the pier, and saw my wife cheering and taping as I alternated between frog kicking on my back, breast stroking, and occasionally freestyle. Swim split for 960m: 33:57
Coming out of the water though, I felt thorougly drained, but emotionally thrilled. I knew at that point I would at least finish the race. It might not be fast, but who cares? Several dozen yards of soft sand reminded me what it was like to be on two legs again, and then I was off down the path about a hundred yards to the transition area. I took my time here, making sure I got everything on that I was going to need and not rushing. It showed as I ended up the 3rd slowest out of the entire 150ish people for this split. T1 split: 7:39
A gnarly hill was right off the timing mat of the transition, so I got introduced to the easy gears and grinding up out of the saddle in a hurry. After one more quick downhill and tough uphill it was relatively flat for the remainder of the course. There were some undulations, but that mostly just made you use different muscles and kept it interesting. There was only a gatorade bottle exchange way out at the turnaround (9.3 miles) but I was wearing a camelback carrying 40 ounces and that turned out to be more than enough. Obviously the wind and cold helped me stay hydrated. I was very pleased with myself with how many people I started passing. I knew my swim was terrible and I was a stronger rider so I should be able to pass some, but I passed literally dozens. And the amazing thing is, nobody passed me for the entire ride! Not even the pros who were doing the loop twice managed to lap me.
Right near the end of the bike is when the rain started coming, and we had some huge cracks of lightning as I shot back towards the transition area. Had kept up a great average even over the hills and it showed. Bike split: 1:01:25 18.2mph avg
Couldn't see the wife anywhere (turns out she was in the car hiding from the rain not realizing I was going to go so fast) so without a camera to ham it up in front of I moved a bit faster through the second transition. One thing I DID make sure to do was throw off my light blue under armour that I always wear and bust out my BRAND NEW WISH TSHIRT!
I'd already put on the race number beforehand so other than that, losing the cycling shorts I had put on over the running ones and changing shoes there wasn't much to do. Surprisingly even with what seemed like a rapid transition I was still in the highest view dozen times for that area. T2 split: 2:17
Coming out of the transition area I got to discover what the "rubber legs" feeling associated with triathlons is. It was pretty bizarre, but I wasn't feeling overly tired or anything, just as if my muscles weren't acting normally. Then, the skies just opened up. I don't think I've ever even been outside much less running in rain like that. Still had the winds, which on the out and back course was great on the way out, but when you made the turnaround it was like being stabbed all over the place. Worse yet the water/gatorade stops with tables full of cups ended up some sort of gatorade/rain water mix because they weren't covered and made the stomach feel somewhat nauseous. Some people passed me here, including pros on their second out and back since the long course repeated the run as well, but I was pretty much in the zone. Sub 10mpm the whole time which is only slightly over my half marathon pace and way below marathon. Both the bike and run traveled a portion of the roads on the rim of the lake so the scenery was great. What wasn't great was the finish line. I guess the wind had tore it apart, all you had was the metal scaffolding over the timing mat, not even the word "finish." Worse yet you had people leaving already trying to get out of the rain, just wandering across the finishing stretch of the course with their bikes and strollers and what have you. Kind of killed the triumphant victory for me, but I posed for the cameras knowing my shirt would still be visible through the downpour and crossed the line. Think the clock had blown over too, had no idea what my time was, and didn't really care. Run split for 4.7: 42:42 9:17mpm
Wandered around looking for DW, and spotted her within feet of the finish looking out towards the course.
Apparently she'd missed me completely, or just gotten there as I'd crossed and come from the other direction or something. So on video all I got was up to me leaving to go out on the bike, and that was it. But alas, I shall remember this one for quite a while. There was a guy a few bikes down who said it was his 53rd triathlon, and the worst conditions he'd ever been in.
Total time: 2:27:58
And now the funniest part. As I sit here looking at the age group results and see the note about the top 5 getting awards in each, I realize that the 2 next to my name means I was actually 2nd in my division.
I'm having to pay $8 for whatever it is to be mailed to me, so hope it's worth it! I should caveat that it appears I was 2nd of only 4, and the winner of the AG beat me by over 18 MINUTES. But I'll take it!
So now even though the swim still intimidates me given it is twice as long, I think I'm going to take the plunge and sign up for the Ironman 70.3 at Disney. You heard it here, first!
I woke up at 3am randomly due to a nightmare of starting the race, and running the first mile at a great pace probably too fast, and then realizing the first leg was supposed to be swimming! Somehow I ended up at a concurrently running 5k on the wrong side of the lake! I ran another mile to the transition area for the correct race and they had closed it and wouldn't let me start or bring my bike in!
Managed to get that nightmare to pass and the alarm eventually went off at 0400. Dragged the wife off (need a videographer for my first, they say you'll always remember it!) and we made the hour trek from our free lodging at her friends place up to Clermont for the race.The star of the show was of course, the weather. Forecast was for the 70s which is nice, but close to 29mph winds from the southwest, and significant thunderstorms. Anyone who lives in FL probably heard/saw the rain and the wind that passed through Saturday night in the panhandle and Sunday morning in the center of the state. Initially it was dry however as I set up the transition area. Kept thinking I was ready, and kept coming up with stuff that I had left in the car. Things like race number for the running shirt (duh, have to wear it across the finish line) and even better the timing chip anklet (hm might want to get timed at some point). Eventually got everything into a waterproof bag I then stacked upside down next to the bike so no water could get in. I was as far away from the entrance/exit to the transition area as you could get, but I was on an end so that gave me some elbow room instead of being crammed between people.
I haven't yet purchased some of the "required items" for triathletes, such as a wetsuit. The water temp was 76 degrees which didn't both me at all, but some thought was beyond freezing for some reason. I'm the world's worst swimmer (or close) so I'm guessing the buoyancy would have helped though. So there I was in my running shorts, shirtless in my royal blue swimming cap (the starting waves went by color, all short course men ended up in the same one) while these hardcore guys have these elaborate two piece wetsuits and are off on their hundreds of meters of "warm up" swimming.
My first classic noob mistake was right at the horn. Get all excited, wave at the crowd, let the mob of people go first so you don't get clobbered, wade out a ways, and start swimming in your own little area. Get about fifty yards, and realize water is getting in your eyes. Hm, probably should have put on the goggles first.
Reach up for the goggles, no goggles. So my 8 dollar pair from college are somewhere at the bottom of the lake. This was just the beginning of the pain though. Picture a squared off U shape course. Running slightly NNE, then about WSW, then pretty much due S. Then picture 29 mph winds from the SW. That's right, two upwind legs, and only a partially downwind one. So on the way out to the first buoy I did alright, if you don't count the times I ended up heading for Mexico unknowingly before looking up and spying the correct direction to the buoy off my left at about 45 degrees. After the turn though, it was like every time you came up to breath someone threw a bucket of water in your face. I ended up having to breaststroke a lot of that leg, any time I tried freestyle I ended up basically making a U turn and going back where I came. Goggles might have helped, but it was real murky so you still had to sight, and I guess I need practice. At this point all the women started passing me (their wave was 5 min behind) so that was a little discouraging. That and shore seemed really far away. I'd swam 2100 yards just last week, but 960 meters in open water seemed just as difficult. I probably ended up doing closer to 1200 with all the zigzagging. Somehow I finally spotted the swim finish near the pier, and saw my wife cheering and taping as I alternated between frog kicking on my back, breast stroking, and occasionally freestyle. Swim split for 960m: 33:57Coming out of the water though, I felt thorougly drained, but emotionally thrilled. I knew at that point I would at least finish the race. It might not be fast, but who cares? Several dozen yards of soft sand reminded me what it was like to be on two legs again, and then I was off down the path about a hundred yards to the transition area. I took my time here, making sure I got everything on that I was going to need and not rushing. It showed as I ended up the 3rd slowest out of the entire 150ish people for this split. T1 split: 7:39
A gnarly hill was right off the timing mat of the transition, so I got introduced to the easy gears and grinding up out of the saddle in a hurry. After one more quick downhill and tough uphill it was relatively flat for the remainder of the course. There were some undulations, but that mostly just made you use different muscles and kept it interesting. There was only a gatorade bottle exchange way out at the turnaround (9.3 miles) but I was wearing a camelback carrying 40 ounces and that turned out to be more than enough. Obviously the wind and cold helped me stay hydrated. I was very pleased with myself with how many people I started passing. I knew my swim was terrible and I was a stronger rider so I should be able to pass some, but I passed literally dozens. And the amazing thing is, nobody passed me for the entire ride! Not even the pros who were doing the loop twice managed to lap me.
Right near the end of the bike is when the rain started coming, and we had some huge cracks of lightning as I shot back towards the transition area. Had kept up a great average even over the hills and it showed. Bike split: 1:01:25 18.2mph avgCouldn't see the wife anywhere (turns out she was in the car hiding from the rain not realizing I was going to go so fast) so without a camera to ham it up in front of I moved a bit faster through the second transition. One thing I DID make sure to do was throw off my light blue under armour that I always wear and bust out my BRAND NEW WISH TSHIRT!
I'd already put on the race number beforehand so other than that, losing the cycling shorts I had put on over the running ones and changing shoes there wasn't much to do. Surprisingly even with what seemed like a rapid transition I was still in the highest view dozen times for that area. T2 split: 2:17Coming out of the transition area I got to discover what the "rubber legs" feeling associated with triathlons is. It was pretty bizarre, but I wasn't feeling overly tired or anything, just as if my muscles weren't acting normally. Then, the skies just opened up. I don't think I've ever even been outside much less running in rain like that. Still had the winds, which on the out and back course was great on the way out, but when you made the turnaround it was like being stabbed all over the place. Worse yet the water/gatorade stops with tables full of cups ended up some sort of gatorade/rain water mix because they weren't covered and made the stomach feel somewhat nauseous. Some people passed me here, including pros on their second out and back since the long course repeated the run as well, but I was pretty much in the zone. Sub 10mpm the whole time which is only slightly over my half marathon pace and way below marathon. Both the bike and run traveled a portion of the roads on the rim of the lake so the scenery was great. What wasn't great was the finish line. I guess the wind had tore it apart, all you had was the metal scaffolding over the timing mat, not even the word "finish." Worse yet you had people leaving already trying to get out of the rain, just wandering across the finishing stretch of the course with their bikes and strollers and what have you. Kind of killed the triumphant victory for me, but I posed for the cameras knowing my shirt would still be visible through the downpour and crossed the line. Think the clock had blown over too, had no idea what my time was, and didn't really care. Run split for 4.7: 42:42 9:17mpm
Wandered around looking for DW, and spotted her within feet of the finish looking out towards the course.
Apparently she'd missed me completely, or just gotten there as I'd crossed and come from the other direction or something. So on video all I got was up to me leaving to go out on the bike, and that was it. But alas, I shall remember this one for quite a while. There was a guy a few bikes down who said it was his 53rd triathlon, and the worst conditions he'd ever been in.Total time: 2:27:58
And now the funniest part. As I sit here looking at the age group results and see the note about the top 5 getting awards in each, I realize that the 2 next to my name means I was actually 2nd in my division.
I'm having to pay $8 for whatever it is to be mailed to me, so hope it's worth it! I should caveat that it appears I was 2nd of only 4, and the winner of the AG beat me by over 18 MINUTES. But I'll take it!So now even though the swim still intimidates me given it is twice as long, I think I'm going to take the plunge and sign up for the Ironman 70.3 at Disney. You heard it here, first!
