Do'n the Du, Try'n the Tri.

So several months ago I decided to be bold and do a triathlon. I asked around to see if anyone would like to join me and my friend Ian stepped up. I'm not sure what made me so ambitious, especially considering that I already had a lot on my plate, but I'm glad I did cause it was a blast! I have a little photo diary of the events on Picasa. Go ahead and check them out.

Training for the triathlon was important. First, I needed to know I could swim 1/4 mile. I wasn't so worried about the 11.8 mile bike or the 3.1 mile run, cause I had done those distances before. Just never at once. So first order of business was to make sure I could push myself through the water for 10-15 minutes straight. In the Clark University pool, a 1/4 mile equates to about 8 laps. I started off for 4 laps the first week, then planned to add a lap each additional week. After about 3 weeks I got fit enough to where I could easily swim 10 laps. Mind you, this is more doggy paddling/breast stroke rather than actual crawl technique. I'm still having problems doing more than 1.5 laps in a pool with the crawl.

Ian noticed that there was another race about 2 weeks prior to our triathlon that looked like fun. This one was called the Rockbuster Offroad Duathlon in Ashland State Park and was on April 27th. Both Ian and I had been going Mt. Biking to get in shape, and this looked right up our alley. It starts with a 1.8 mile trail run, then 5.6 miles mt. biking, then finishes with another 1.8 mile run. I had initially backed out of doing this cause I didn't feel ready or that I had the time. Ian talked me back in, and I'm glad he did. It really helped prepare me for the triathlon, mentally as well as physically. Now I new what to expect from a race. I also found it interesting that my body wasn't completely exhausted immediately after the race. It wasn't until later in the afternoon when my energy level tanked. Anyway, my times are below out of 80 people.

Bib Full Name Category
104 Wilson, Andy Males 35-39

Run : 1.8 Bike : 5.5 Run : 1.8 Overall
Cat Ov Time Cat Ov Time Cat Ov Time Ov Time
9 38 13:33 24 6 29:36 9 37 16:05 32 59:14

The triathlon itself was held in Hopkington State Park. Called the New England Season Opener, it was held just northwest of where we did the Rockbuster Duathlon in Ashland State Park. The race was on May 11th which, as you know by now, was Mother's Day. Early on I had decided that I wanted I [heart] Mom inked alongside the bib number on my arm. Fortunately, the woman who was doing the marking was into the idea. For simplicity, I just had her put MOM inside a heart. It worked out pretty good I think. How about that for a belated Mother's Day gift Mom? Part of the fun of these races is comparing your times with those of others. For the triathlon, they actually timed our transitions which was cool. I think I did much better switching to and from the bike than when I did the Rockbuster. What was amazing to both Ian and I was that some of the top competitors were able to transition in as little as 40 seconds. It made sense to me when Ian said the transitions were called "the fourth event".

By looking at my times for each event, I could easily tell that while I was good at the bike and decent at the run, I completely sucked at the swim. The water was soooo cold. Every time I put my head in the water, I ran out of breath. I basically had to do a breast stroke about 90% of the swim. Pretty much explains my lousy time. Out of 231 contenders, I ranked 204 in the swim. But I was good enough in the bike and the run to place 122 overall. No overall top 50% that I was shooting for, but it was my first tri.... (get it? tri vs. try?). Whatever. My results are below.

Place No. Name  Hometown
===== ===== =====  ============
122 299 ANDY WILSON WORCESTER MA 

Final Div/Tot Div
======= ======= ======
1:19:58 12/21 M3539

Rank Swim Tran1 Rank Bike Tran2 Rank Run
==== ===== ===== ==== ===== ===== ==== =====
204 14:05 2:25 92 39:38 1:41 105 22:09

Another fun thing was viewing the professional photogs of me in action. The ones from the Rockbuster, when I had a beard, were pretty impressive. I looked intimidating. You can check the best ones out on my Picasa site. I totally didn't recognize myself in the pictures they took for the triathlon. I thought the pictures were of someone else until I noticed the clothes were mine. One of the perks of training for something like this is that you develop a whole different body image. Not the scrawny kid I used to be anymore. ;)

So now Ian and I are discussing doing an Olympic Triathlon as a relay with this other guy Ben. Ian will swim, I'll bike, and Ben will run. We don't know what/when we're going to do it yet, but it sounds like another fun goal to shoot for.

Anyway, that's my latest blogventure.

As always,
Luv n stuff..
andy...