My First Mini Triathlon

Today was my first Mini Triathlon.  It took place in Santa Fe, New Mexico.  I had to leave the house this morning at 5:00am.  I ate a Clif Bar and a Banana on the way.  I arrived at 6:15am where I picked up my race packet, grab bag, number, got "marked up", etc.  After that I placed my bike close to the exit of the transition area and put my racing shoes, running shoes, towel, helmet, etc. into place.  I then rode the stationary bike for about 5 minutes, and took a nice little jog around the parking lot.  The race began at 8am.

THE SWIM (4:30)
They lined us up in the order of our swim time we put on the application.  I think I might have guessed wrong because I was #9 out of 130 racers.  The #1 person was a guy that actually made the time trial for the 2004 Olympics (I think he swam his 200 yards in 1:56).  The swimming was definitely the hardest section for me.  I started out way too fast thinking I might get "swam" over if I didn't as we did a traditional serpentine swim down the lanes.  When I finished the 2nd lap I found out real quick that I was in a salt water pool because I took in about a gallon of water.  I was only half way finished when I was totally spent.  I haven't seen the video my coach recorded yet, but I know it wasn't pretty.  I felt like I was doggy paddling the last 2 laps.  I was just wanting to get out of the pool.  I did make it through the 'swim' and then made my way to the transition area where I put my socks, shoes, and helmet on.

THE BIKE (41:20)

I wasn't sure if I should wear gloves, but I did.  Mounted the bike and off I went on the 11.22 mile bike ride.  I was totally out of breath (trying to recover from the swim) but I kept on pushing.  The ride was up and down and had to shift gears often.  The last couple of miles was down hill which was very nice.  The one thing I noticed on the bike ride was the change of altitude (we were at 6700 feet).  As I came in to the transition area I had a problem trying to get my right foot out of my pedal but after that I walked into the area to put my bike away and put my running shoes on.

The Bike Elevation

THE RUN (26:53)
I was nervous about this transition but it actually felt pretty good.  I ran the 5k in about 28 minutes which wasn't too bad.  The run was pretty easy, it was up hill and then turned around and ran back down the hill for the second half of the race.

The 5k Run

 














I ended up finishing 2nd in my age and took home some hardware from my first triathlon. 
My total time was 1:16:14 minutes (200 yard swim, 11.4 Mile bike, 5k Run).  I felt great after the race and ready to do more!