March 7th, 2010. Desert Triathlon in La Quinta, CA. First Triathlon. Ever. Olympic distance. Consider this my "before" picture. I previously wrote about why I picked the Olympic distance. I stand by my choice, but if you are skittish at all about doing a Tri, you should start with a sprint. If you care about your time, you can kill each event at full speed. The unspoken rule is that you should almost be puking when you cross the finish line.
But, if you're new to the sport or races in general, you can go through each discipline at your own pace and feel good that you got through them and the transitions in back-to-back-to-back fashion. I guarantee you'll be hooked and an Olympic distance will be in your near future. Now for the recount...go get some popcorn and refill your drink, I'm going the distance on this one...in a thrilling 2-parter:
After falling asleep to a crackhead woman in the motel room next door ranting for an hour about how her boyfriend (in the room) has jedi-mind tricked her with his personality and riches (Travelodge), I managed 5 1/2 hours of sleep. Lesson 1: Pay for the nicer hotel room when your buddy tweets that the place near your motel looks sketchy. I arrived at Lake Cahuilla around 6 a.m. to beat the crowd and pick up my bib packet. I planned to have Starbucks oatmeal and a small coffee. Fail. We missed it. My perfectly planned pre-race diet was already in jeopardy. I had a banana, apple and one CLIF bar. I was saving the CLIF for mid-cycle, but it had to be breakfast. I had my own oatmeal but no hot water. Coffee vendor saved me, though I didn't appreciate the donut tease. Plenty of time to digest and if I get hungry, I've got Hammergel to tie me over on the bike. I'll drink the entire cup. I've got 2 hours, so what's the harm? (<--we call this foreshadowing).
We arrive in the parking lot before 80% of the participants. Time to pump the tires but my buddy's pump doesn't work. I knew I shouldn't have left mine in the garage (Type A). Borrow one. Lesson 2 averted by friendly camaraderie. Registration takes 10 seconds. Seriously? That's our SWAG? I'm never a fan of race t-shirts so no judgment there (it's ugly). Timer chip around the ankle, Bib No. on helmet, and bike, and racebelt. And then the moment I've been waiting for, seriously...magic marker on my body. "0525" on my shoulder, right quad, and "43" on my right calf (I'm 42 but USAT ages you by calendar year thru 12/31). I officially look like a triathlete! Now I have to earn it...
I go to my assigned bike rack where I'll place all of my things for transition. I've watched a YouTube video so I know what I'm doing: small towel, yank shoe tongues back, socks ready to roll on, helmet upside down on handlebars with open Oakleys inside, stay conscious of future adjacent bikes, Tri-bag off to the side. Now I wait. 1 1/2 hours to go. My buddy Josh is doing the sprint at 7:30 so he dons his full suit with moth-eaten armpits (I wish I took that pic). Twitter is my friend and I find Jonathan McCune (@guitarmansoxfan), pictured above. We've never met but we've been encouraging each other for the last month on Twitter and Daily Mile. One day we will be friendly competitors but I've got some catching up to do. McCune rented Zipps for the race. I decided that this race would be on my wheels just so I could see what it was like. I did buy and practice on my attachable aero bars and noticed a 1 mph speed increase instantly. That would suffice for my first race.
I leave McCune and go back to my bike. Double-check everything and see what those around me are doing. Do I have my energy boosters? Drink water. Remember, stay hydrated. I'm obsessed with staying hydrated through the run after a bad brick run where I couldn't handle an easy 4.5 mile run after an easy 20 mile bike ride (not enough water the night before or during the ride). The place is buzzing and everyone is in a great mood, except the guy at the end of my rack...he's got disc wheels and looks like he wants to win. Time to snap a picture. What's that? A big arrow on the ground? Ha ha ha ha! I've heard people tie things to their bike so they can find it easily. But this guy won the ingenuity award of the day...
Now comes the bathroom (remember the foreshadowing above?). I peed no less than 5 times before the race, all in the last 45 minutes. Did I really drink that much coffee and water? I'm not even going that much...why is it all pressuring me like it's urgent?! Lesson 2: 1/2 cup of coffee ONLY. I watch the beginning waves and snap the picture at the top of this website. Why do people look like they're treading water and not swimming? What's their problem? I would find out shortly. I finally suit up in my sleeveless suit and light blue cap (symbolizes my age wave). Goggles in place on my forehead and ear plugs in ears (I hate water in my ears and this pays off). It starts to sprinkle. What should I do about that....hmmmm... I cover my shoes and socks and sunglasses with the towel just in case and head back to the lake. Yeahhhh, I'm thinking of everything...this will be good. Time for my secret weapon. Gu Chomps before the swim. Gives me an energy boost in the pool so I'm using it 10 minutes before my race. One more pit stop...ugh.
My group is called and I decide that a left side start is better than a middle or right start, so I wait. Water feels warm enough to my feet. They said 65 degrees, but it feels like 68. You know how your feet get cold from the cold air and then you stick them in water and the water feels warmer than it actually is? Yeah, more foreshadowing...
5, 4, 3, 2, 1, tweeeeeet!!!
Part 2 is next. I forgot to mention that my son turned 13 and his party was the day before the race. Here he is at Laser Quest after winning Round 2. Such a handsome young man...
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