Hey all!
Thanks for all the great motivation for my awesome wife - it really means a lot to her and I think you all are a big reason for everything she's accomplished. She asked if I'd do a quick recap of my Triathlon this past weekend.
This past weekend was the Batavia Triathlon & Duathlon. It was a modified sprint distance triathlon and was my third Triathlon and first this year. I've been training pretty regularly as I push to increase to an Olympic size tri for the first time this year. As a result I wasn't overly nervous about this race - but after some tough training I was a little worried about my energy levels.
The race is a 400 meter swim (1/4 mile), a 14.7 mile bike, and a 4.1 mile run. Typically a sprint should be 750M, 20K Bike, and 5K run but I've done three sprints now and none were that distance - so who knows what's up with that.
I had not done this race before but the company that puts on this Tri runs two other events that I'll be doing later in the year and if you do all three you get a special medal (yes please) at a special ceremony (uh double yes). Anything to make my accomplishments feel greater than they are I'm down with.
The race was scheduled to kick off at 6:30AM so my wake up call was 3:30. I did everything I possibly could to prep the night before. The bike was racked on the car, my transition bag was fully packed, clothes laid out, a giant sign that said WATER to keep me from forgetting the water bottles in the fridge. Turns out the only thing I forgot was sunscreen, which I borrowed form a fellow racer so not so bad.
I arrived around 4:45 which is right about when transition opened. Got my body markings, swim cap, and ankle chip, and headed off to setup my transition area. Lucky triathlon towel, running shoes (with socks prepped inside), sunglasses, bike helmet, race belt with bib number, some random fuel items, and my running hat (which is frankly becoming increasingly disgusting).
After setting it up 45 different ways and moving things a micro-millimeter for no good reason I heard an announcement that the pool had opened for warm-ups. The swim leg of this race is done in a natural quarry pool. So its a great beginner way to do an "open-water" swim in a controlled environment. It is still natural water so visibility is low and there is a sandy bottom (also my college nickname but thats another story...). I through my flip flops on and grabbed my cap and goggles and headed to the water. Mostly it was people staring at the water wondering who would go in first. I joined them until someone went in and then suddenly people were cool with it. I waded around and got used the temperature. It was 72 degrees so not too bad, my last tri the water was 59 degrees and it felt like getting stabbed. I started swimming back and forth a bit just to get my muscles moving and basically stayed in the water until they announced that transition was closing. I walked back and sadly parted ways with my glasses.
This is always my least favorite part. I don't wear contacts and obviously I'm not going to swim in my glasses so they have to stay back at transition. This means the entire half-hour (or more) leading up to a race once transition has closed I have to be without my glasses. I have prescription goggles but its not the same. It can be very disorienting. This time wasn't as bad because I immediately started conversing with fellow racers and while I had to stand inches from their faces and really creep them out - it made it easier for me.
Soon enough the national anthem played and we were on our way. It was a time trial start which means they released one swimmer into the water at a time every 3 seconds. It took about 20 minutes to get to my turn. The lady releasing people into the water asked everyone if it was their first time so it was fun to cheer for so many people and it gave me a lot of positive energy right before I dove in.
Suddenly I was off. A few splashy yards running and I dove in and HEY I"M SWIMMING NOW HOLY GAH DON'T DROWN IS THAT LEG YOU CAN'T BREATH UNDERWATER I CAN'T SEE, WHAT WAS THAT AM I GOING STRAIGHT - I don't know what the deal with the swim panic of a tri is about but it is real. I read about it before I ever raced and it has happened every single time. But about 50 yards in I had settled down and found a spot. I focused on my technique and counted my strokes as a mantra to calm me down (a theme for the day - spoiler alert). It was two laps around the center island of the pool. At one point the water gets so shallow my hand actually scooped up sand - so I ran a few feet and dove back in. Soon enough I was out of the water and I checked my watch and it was just after 7 minutes - about 3 minutes faster than I had planned for and I felt great.
Ran up to my transition area - said a prayer as I tried to get on socks while socking wet, hardly being able to see and with feet full of gravel. I didn't fall over and shoes were on, helmet was buckled and HALLELUJAH I could see again. About 2:17 later transition was done and I was out on the bike course. Started a little slow and there were a couple of giant hills right in the beginning that sucked a lot of energy up. I decided to count my breaths very slowly to recover and that helped. The first 7 miles had me a little worried. I felt week and couldn't seem to push my speed. It was windy but I never really blame anything but myself. Talking to some racers later it seemed the wind did alter a lot of people's speed so I guess it affected me too.
The second 7 miles were a different story. I felt strong and was getting up above 20MPH pretty regularly. It was a beautiful rolling course through some perfect country/farm roads and I was really trying to enjoy the scenery as I rode. I fell in with a couple of riders and we would sort of change positions periodically. One woman rider in particular seemed to being going back and forth with me a lot. I noticed her because the back of her jersey said "GO DOMINATE".
Eventually we came to transition number 2. As I was rounding the final bend down a sweet hill (biking is really my favorite leg because it feels more like racing than surviving) I heard someone yell "Go Chris" - I turned and saw my coach there and it really was a great feeling to get the support. Gave me a lot of energy going into the transition. Helmet off, some water, gross hat on, race belt on, some fruit snacks and I was off on the run.
I really tried to make this a blind run and not watch my time. I fell in behind a group of runners and just tried to keep pace. I was really worried about my energy levels given the early part of the bike so I didn't want to get myself down with a slow time. But at mile 1 I peeked and I was well within my goals which gave me a nice boost. After that I started counting the people running the otherway. I told myself I wouldn't look at my watch again until I had counted 100 people. That moment came right at the turn around - which was at the 1.35 mark. Then i started counting the people behind me. It was a good device to keep me focused on anything but how terrible running and excercise and generally being up early and moving is.
Around mile 2 i hit a water stop and was walking through it. I probably walked a little further past the water stop than I should have. I heard a voice behind me say. "Keep pushing, you got this. You pushed me on the bike and I'm pushing you now" - then "GO DOMINATE" ran passed me and smiled. I smiled too and it was a HUGE boost. I fell in stride behind her and we ran the final two miles pretty close - I passed her on the final half mile but I don't think I finish as strong without that moment. Saw my coach again around that moment too and I was feeling great.
The last .25 miles was 7.5 miles long as far as I remember it, but then out of nowhere was the finish line and I was done. Medal achieved, banana in hand, and another tri done. I talked with my coach for a bit and chatted with a few of the people I had talked with prior to the swim. All of these events are full of such great people and energy but i have to say the Tri community is really really great. I can't say enough good things about it. We walked back to transition and talked about the plan for the next race. Drove the 45 minutes home and tried to move as little as possible while also eating as much as possible the rest of the day.
It was a great time and really re-instilled in me that triathlon is the thing for me. It also gave me some much needed confidence going into the Olympic tri in July.
Anyway, thanks for reading this and allowing me to share. I'm happy to answer any questions and I'll try to post pics tomorrow.
Thanks!
Chris "Sandy Bottom" Aubin
