That Time We Tried-A-Tri

This past June, the Fabulous Running Buddy and I completed our first Triathlon. I won't say it was "just" a Try-a-Tri  (shorter than a Sprint Tri, just a taste to see if you like it).

250m swim, 10k bike, 2.5k run.

It was all new to us. Setting up our  transition area, getting the body markings. It was nerve wracking and exciting all at the same time.

We were obvious newbies, watching everyone else and trying to do something similar.

The race itself was hard, for me at any rate. The swim wasn't bad, except for the big gulp of pool water I took in near the end. The bike ride wasn't awful. A couple of big (for me) hills on the out and back route. The run,short as it was, was the hardest part of the race for me. For the first kilometre at least, I had a horrible cramp in my right calf. It was a drag-your-leg-like-a-zombie type of cramp. I honestly thought that I might not be able to finish the race! Thankfully, the cramp finally let go, and I shuffled along until I crossed the finish line.

High Points of this Race:
*The people! The volunteers were fantastic. Encouraging, friendly, and so very positive. The volunteers really make the race I think. Without them none of it would be possible.
*The competitors! No matter the ability of the people racing, everyone was welcome. Cheering other competitors on, smiles and supportive words. A great energy throughout the race.

Low Point:
*The timing. This race was chip timed...or, at least, it was supposed to be.

"We experienced some technical trouble with the results of the 2014 race.  A number of timing chips were issued to the wrong participants by mistake resulting in missing times in some cases and widely inaccurate times in others.  We have done the best we can through review of the timing database and consultation with athletes to arrive at the most accurate finish times possible.  Unfortunately we will not be able to supply split times for the race segments, and some participant times were not retrievable.  We apologize for the inconvenience."

This was the explanation given by  Human Powered Racing, the company that planned/ran/organized this race for the inaccurate times announced and posted for the race.

It was very disappointing. Neither of us had checked the time when we started and finished, so we don't know how long the race took, or what our splits were.

Lessons Learned:
1. Always time your own race,even if it is a chip timed event.
2. Bring a basin to keep your stuff in at the transition point.
3. Train more.

Overall,it was a really good experience....enough so that I am planning to do the Sprint Tri next year!