Mixed emotions. That's what I have now that I've officially completed my second triathlon ever. I'm glad that it's over and proud that I did it, yet mildly disappointed that I didn't quite improve as drastically as I had hoped on my swimming. Part of me wonders how much better I could have done if I had committed to training sooner than I was able to. (Recall from my "Hectic Hiatus" that I had roughly four weeks of training that was sporadic at best due to work and personal travel.) As it stands, I really only committed four weeks to training leading up to it. Not bad, I suppose, considering I was legitimately dedicated to my training plan and diligently followed my Google calendar which told me how many minutes to swim, bike, or run in a given day.
On race day this past Sunday, I left the house at 5am geared up and ready to go. After making the easy drive from the city to O'Fallon, MO (about 50 minutes), I was pleasantly surprised to get a good spot in the transition area and pick-up my packet without issue. I was already thinking about my second breakfast (Cliff bar) by the time the official race started at 7am. Unfortunately, based on my projected swim time and the fact that it was a serpantine swim in an outdoor, inground pool (up the right side of the lane, back the right side of the lane, under the rope - repeat six times) my starting position was number 290. That's right, roughly 289 people began the race before me which meant that my start time was at 8:12am. Starting the race feeling late or behind was a psychological hurdle for me (as it was in my first tri), but I did my best to pass as many people as possible during the bike and run. It was also nice to have my parents there supporting me and cheering me on. They're awesome. :-)
Overall, the bike and run course had much steeper elevation changes (hills!) than I anticipated which slightly impaired my pace on both. However, considering that my overall time would have placed me in the top three finishers in at least two divisions (unfortunately not mine), I suppose I can't be too disappointed with my overall time. To further validate my performance, I decided to compare against the sprint triathlon I completed back in 2008. Here are the stats:
So I can at least say that I improved my swimming pace, which was part of the overall goal of my Operation 30 item. In fact, I'd like to think that if it had been an indoor swim that I might have even done better, as I would have had ceiling lines to spot and keep my line straight and gauge the end of the pool length. I'm also not too heart-broken over the fact that my pace on the bike wasn't as fast as in 2008 considering the differences in the course elevations. And while my run time was significantly slower than my normal 5K pace (8:00-ish min/miles), I can also chalk up a less than ideal pace to fatigued legs and hills, hills, and more hills.
As I type this I'm not sure if I'll be up for competing in a triathlon again, mostly considering the huge gap I have in my swimming. Duathlons - no sweat. I can bike and run for hours. But I've come to terms with the fact that I'm not a good swimmer and no amount of backstroking or Jimmy DeShea YouTube videos will make me one, especially in four weeks. But I suppose I wouldn't rule out a more ambitious Olympic, Half-Ironman, or Ironman distance for an Operation 40 or Operation 50 list. One thing I can say for sure is that if I decide to "TRI again", then the degree to which I learn to swim will be significantly improved.
Regardless, I did it! Another item off the list:
16. Do another triathlon (and this time learn to swim) - check!
Hooray!
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