41. Pewaukee Triathlon (aka My first time swimming this year)

Pewaukee Triathlon 1/4 mile swim  15 mile bike  5k run

  I completed my first triathlon in Pewaukee this weekend.  I've been putting a ton of time into running lately (San Francisco Marathon's less than 2 weeks away!) but my biking and swimming training has been kind of lacking.  More specifically, I've been on my road bike once this year and I didn't go swimming at all!  I didn't set myself up for success, especially since I'm not a particularly strong swimmer.  I was super-nervous going into this event so unprepared.  When I went to pick up my race packet the day before the event, my stomach sank when I saw the swim course marked with buoys and how far it looked.  A smarter person would've just dropped out but that's not how I roll =)

  Here I am modeling how ridiculous I look in the mandatory swim cap.  The swim went fine.  I knew I was going to be one of the slowest out there, so I hung on the far outside to stay out of everybody's way.  I never learned how to efficiently breathe while doing the crawl stroke so I alternated between backstroke and doggy-paddling.  A lot of fat people passed me.  I finished without any assistance from the lifeguards and ran up the beach to the transition area to get ready for the bike ride.

Here's my transition area.

 66% of the best cheering section a guy could ask for!  I did really well on the 15 mile bike ride.  It was a hilly course and I was so happy that, even with no training, my biking legs showed up.  I averaged 18.8 mph on the hilly course and I took the lead back from most of the fat people that passed me on the swim.

Here I am coming out of the transition after the bike.  Off to start the 1/3 of the race that I actually prepared for!

Coming into the finish line.  I was so happy to have Gretchen and the kids there to cheer me on.

What a rush!  I was so nervous going into this event but I ended up having a great time.  Here are my splits:

1/4 mile swim - 15:37 (just happy to finish!)

transition from swim to bike- 2:47

15 mile bike - 49:42 (18.8 mph)

transition from bike to run - 2:37

5k run - 26:06 (8:25 min avg)

Total time - 1:36:51  Top 1/2 of the field!

Note to self: Next time, Train!

Things I hadn't anticipated going into this:

          1. Having to use the porta-potty bare foot beforehand

          2. How much seaweed grows in Pewaukee Lake

          3. How many swimmers had to hang on to buoys or have "noodles" thrown to them from the lifeguards

          4. How many bikers paid multiple thousands of dollars for their triathlon bikes.

          5. How hard it is to transition from biking to running

          6. How many people walked the 5k

          7. The winner would finish in under 1 hour!