Pitt Indoor Triathlon - Sprint
This was my first triathlon this season. I knew it was going to be for training purposes, but I couldn’t help but want to compete and do my best too.
I knew last year, my first year in triathlon, I was near the back of the pack or towards the middle. I had a lot of fears to overcome; but that wasn’t something that I was afraid of. I was never willing to give up; even if it meant having to swim back or breast stroke, going super slow on my bike, or walking. Each time I raced was learning. Each time I practiced I was learning. Each time I volunteered (only once) I was learning.
This race was no different. I have been training for months. I have my eyes set on my “A” races later this year - two, 70.3 distance triathlons (July and September), and a half marathon (May). I scheduled several races throughout the year because I enjoy racing, and to help push me with my training.
The prep for the race was no different than any other race. The only difference was the week prior was a week full of migraines and barely any training. That should not have affected race day at all. I was mentally and physically prepared.
Swim
I was in the third wave, sixth lane; I shared it with another woman. Prior to entering the pool we chatted a bit, and talked with college student who was the timer and part of the Pitt Triathlon team. It was finally go time. The buzzer went, and all the 16 swimmers began their swim in the 50 meter pool, including me.
My first 50m was okay. I kept reminding myself not to go too fast because I often have a tendency to start too fast. I don’t do flip turns, but my lane partner did; so she was able to get ahead of me because of it. Finishing the first 100m was interesting. I wasn’t focusing on my speed anymore. I was trying to remember to breathe every 3 strokes. I knew my body position was descent, I could feel my feet leaving the surface of the water, and I could feel the water moving along my body. I was trying to focus on feeling the water and making sure I could feel it during the entire stroke, but I couldn’t. All I could think about was not getting enough air. I knew that panic was trying to set in, and I was trying to control it.
So I decided I would do 50m of backstroke to control my breathing and calm down; and 50m of freestyle of gain speed again. Fortunately, I’m a descent swimmer at backstroke - not great, but not awful. I was able to continue to control my breathing and focus on feeling the water move towards my feet with every stroke.
When it came time to do freestyle again, I felt ready to swim. But as soon as I started swimming freestyle, I wasn’t able to breathe … again. WHAT THE HECK!?! I know how to swim! I know how to do it without panicking! I was getting irritated with myself, and that wasn’t helping me at all!
So I decided that I would swim 100m backstroke and get complete control over myself and the water. I would forget that it was a race, because it was really training for future races. And let my previous training take over. I needed to trust myself, I could do this; I knew I could. So backstroke I went. When that 100m was done, I tried freestyle again, and once again couldn’t control myself. At this point, I was getting so mad at myself knowing that I’ve swam way more than this at least twice a week, almost every week for 8 months. I decided I didn’t want to give up, but I knew it was going to kill me mentally, so I finished the race doing backstroke.
I wasn’t happy about it; I swam 2:04 min/100m - much slower than my average, 1:45min/100m, but I got it done. I got out of the pool and wanted to cry because I was so upset with myself. I wasn’t the last one out of the pool, but to me, I knew I could do better.
I went to the locker room mentally defeated. But I had two more events. I had to let it go and move on. So that’s exactly what I did.
Run
Yes, I know, the bike is usually next. But in this case, the run was next.
We had to go from the pool to a different building, which was about a 5 minute walk; and it was snowing outside. (I walk outside in the snow and cold at least twice a week after swimming at 5:30 a.m., but it doesn’t mean I like it.) Each athlete had to run a 5k on a treadmill. I had to wait about 5-10 minutes before I could run.
When it was my turn to get on a treadmill, I continued to increase my speed, and I just kept going along singing in my head to the music that was playing in my earbuds. When I was a little more than halfway completed with my run, the fire alarm went off, and everyone had to evacuate the building.
We were outside for 10-15 minutes. I was cold; as I’m sure many people were. I had a wet head, I was sweaty, and I had spandex, and a tank top on (Fortunately I was able to grab a coat, some people didn’t.).
When I went back inside, I got back on my treadmill, but I had no idea how far I had gone and how long I had run. Thank goodness I had my Garmin going, and I stopped it when the alarm went off. That’s was how I tracked my distance and time. So I had to find my rhythm again and get moving after being freezing … again. I know other people were in the same situation, but it made it difficult. (It wasn’t the race director’s fault at all, it was just an unfortunate situation.) It was not my best run 38:39 minutes or slow AF.
Bike
Each participant needed to complete 14km on a stationary bike. I knew that my last two events were done, and there was one left, so I needed to finish strong; especially since I hadn’t done as well as I wanted. I got on my bike, and was biking hard, but not going all out. There was a set resistance and a gauge on the bikes. I really wasn’t paying attention to how far I had ridden. I knew my wattage was in the 150’s-250’s the entire time. I was okay with that. I saw that I was nearing 14km and I was getting close to 30 minutes, but I wanted to make sure I didn’t hit the 30 minute mark, so I made sure to increase my speed for the last 30 seconds to beat it. My final time was 29:23 minutes.
Overall, not a great race for me, but I’ll use it as a learning experience for my next triathlon in a month. Between now and then, I will look at each discipline and focus on what I need to do to improve on each.
Results
Swim: 600m (656 yds) - 12:24 min (Pace: 2:04 min/100m)
Run: 5km (3.1 mi) - 38:39 min (Pace: 23.38 mi/min)
Bike: 14km (8.3 mi) - 29:23 min (Pace: 17.76 mph)