Deer Creek Triathlon 2007
So, I decided to write up a race report because (1) I'm doing laundry at Juniors and I'm bored (2) I want to keep a written record of my races and (3) If anyone cares, they can learn more about racing and triathlons.
I did my first triathlon on June 3, 2007. It was a few days after my 21st birthday and I was more nervous than I think I had ever been...ever. The Deer Creek Triathlon is a fairly small triathlon south of Columbus and was a very good beginners race.
I woke up race morning feeling very good. My training had been going well, but I still was very new to open water swimming and cycling. I warmed up in the hotel room for a little and then headed over to the race site. Unfortunately, I did not get there early enough...It took me much longer than I thought to set up transition and get my body marked, etc...On top of that, they started my wave 20 min early because of a possible storm headed our way. Lets just say I didn't warm up.... at all. As I literally ran to the beach while putting on my wet suit, I wondered what the hell I was doing there. It was too late to question myself. The gun went off and I started swimming. The water was warm and really murky. I wasn’t used to it. Around the first buoy, I was kicked in the face and swallowed a lot of lake water... needless to say, I panicked. After treading water for a couple seconds, I gathered myself and kept going. Finally, I got into a rhythm and finished the swim in 29:20. It was very slow, but I finished.
As I got on the bike, I was excited to push the pace and catch some people. The first half of the bike was very fast and I was making up time quickly...then I crashed. I decided to take the inside lane around a curve, right before the base of the only hill on the course...lets just say I ended up in the ditch. My bike and myself were fine, but I was forced to run up the hill because I couldn't get enough speed to climb it. This cost me 3 - 4 min, but I still ended up finishing the bike in 1:08:06.
The run killed me. I was definitely not as "in shape" as I thought I was. I tried to push as hard as I could, but I couldn't get any speed. I basically just cruised the 10k at a 6:55 per mile pace. After finishing the run in 42:53, I was surprised to find out I had finished first in my age group! My overall time was 2:22:52 and I finished 22/159 overall. This was several minutes off my goal, but I didn't expect to fall off my bike. Next race in Pittsburgh is going to hopefully be much faster...as long as I stay on my bike.
***This was my first triathlon 2 years ago. My growth in the last two years is astonishing***
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