Scissett Triathlon. My 1st Triathlon
On Sunday I completed my first triathlon. It was all last minute having been convicted to enter on the Wednesday before the Sunday race. So not planning on doing a triathlon so soon I wasn’t really prepared for it. I didn’t have a tri suit, I never practiced getting my cycling shoes on and off while moving and I’ve never experienced going from cycling to running. I thought by the time I decided to do a triathlon, I’d be more practiced in the art of the triathlon.
So the night before I cleaned my bike and made sure it was in tip top shape. I was quite happy with my bike. I got all my gear ready to just pick up and leave on the Sunday. I like preparing the night before.
On Sunday my brother-in-law, Liam, came to pick me up and be my support crew for the day. We arrived, I registered and had a bike check and racked my bike with my gear ready for a smooth transition. I got lots of tips and advice from my friend Rachel and her daughter Flora, whom was also taking part in her first senior triathlon. She’s a natural.
As I mentioned, I don’t have a tri suit so I did the swim in my trunks. Not ideal but I dealt with it. The swim was harder then I thought. It was only 400m but the pool was small so there were so many turns to do. I think I pushed a little too hard. The woman in front of me wasn’t very accommodating. I was faster then her but she wouldn’t let me past. Rachel later said I was being too nice and that I should’ve just pushed past her. I don’t think I lost too much time from the swim. I completed it in 7:57min. The pool was hard to climb out of with tired arms but I did and I moved onto transition 1.
This wasn’t so smooth! I ran outside into the sun in my trunks. It wasn’t a pretty sight (I’ve seen the pictures!) Ran round to my bike, put my shorts on, then a vest (Dewsbury road runners). I then sat down to make putting my socks on little easier. I’d decided to wear socks because I didn’t like the idea of running without socks for the first time in a race. I need to practice it. I then put my cleats on and helmet and glasses on and made my way to the mount line, slowly, in my cleats. All in all, it took me 2:28 for transition 1. Not good. Loads of room for improvement.
The cycle leg was fantastic. I set off steady, knowing that a long climb was coming. 4 people overtook me at the beginning of the cycle so I upped the pace and as soon as we got to the climb I was warmed up and ready to push. I passed the purple that overtook me quite easily and built up a big lead on them. Only one person overtook me again but I found it hard keeping up with him. The way back to scissett was downhill and fast. By the time I got back to the transition area 37:24 minutes had passed. Not a fantastic time but there was a headwind.
Transition 2 was better. I ran back to my rack in my cleats so lost time there but I got the shoes off quickly and got my running shoes on and off I went. This only took me 54 seconds.
The running felt funny at the start but after half a mile I was feeling good again and back to my normal pace. The finish was fast, which I was really pleased with.
I came 61st out of 200 finishers in a time of 1:08:07 My splits were:
Swim: 7:57:80 Transition 1: 2:28:20 Bike: 37:24:90 Transition 2: 0:54:10 Run: 19:21:70
My main aim now is to practice my transitions. Just knocking a minute off my time would’ve jumped me up 8 places.
Closing comments: I’m hooked! 😃