Well this summer has been pretty action packed seeing I have 3 kids to entertain with school being out. It has been one beautiful summer here in Northern Idaho. It is so nice to not to deal with humidity. There is nothing like a dry heat!
I few weeks ago I caught the Triathlon bug when watching the
Coeur d' Alene Ironman. The bike course went right by our house. My father-n-law's trainer was in it, so it was pretty cool to learn about the course from him and watch him race by on his bike twice during the event.
It is a 2.4 mile swim (the water was 55 degrees that day. brrrr!), 112 mile bike ride (we have some killer hills out here), and 26.2 mile run! How is this physically possible??? Congratulations Dave Dutro! He finished the whole race!
I had been tinkering with the idea of doing the 1/2 marathon in Coeur d' Alene next May and have been running for a few months now, but then I was at our local health food store Pilgrims and saw a sign posted for the
Hayden Triathlon on July 16. 1/2 mile swim, 12 mile bike ride, and 3.1 mile run. hmmm... I haven't swam in many years and I think the last time I really rode a bike was like 17 years ago, but I have been running about 5 miles up some crazy hills, I can do this...lol
So I started training that night with swimming and got the necessary wetsuit to brave the 58 degree water in Hayden Lake. I am naturally warm blooded so it wasn't that bad, still cold though.
My husband and father-n-law got me a bike for my Birthday (July 4... Yes, Yes... I am a firecracker baby) and I figured I better see if I can bike the 12 mile course first. I was able to do it in about 55 minutes, though my thighs and legs were like rubber pegs after.
In the meantime I have been trying to take a crash course on Triathlons via online. I didn't want to look like a complete amateur....lol
Things I have learned so far when preparing for your 1st Triathlon:
1) Get a Triathlon Tri Suit. This suit is just awesome. You wear it under your wetsuit and you then proceed to bike and run in it too. No changing which saves you time! It has a little padding on the bottom too for the biking part, but no too much to bother you for the running. Which is nice. We don't want to be running like a cowboy in the 3rd leg of the race. It sucks everything in too! So it doesn't look that bad on...lol
2) Make sure you do a few bricks before the big day. What the heck is this??? I learned this on day 5 of my training from another ironman and triathlon woman when getting out of lake after my swim. A brick is biking the course and then running after. They said this is the hardest part, so on Saturday day 7 of my training I proceeded to do my first brick. Holy Cow! My thighs and legs were definitely rubber pegs for about a mile into the run. I couldn't really feel my thighs. At one point during the first part of the run, I was thinking I probably could walk faster than I am running right now, but no I wasn't going to be "the walker" in the race even if I was jogging really slow! I was able to finish with the swim that day. So my next attempt on Day 9 was putting all 3 together in order.
3) Get a
Camelbak (Hydration Backpack essentially) for the bike ride. I am not an awesome biker that can take 2 hands off the bike and grab my water bottle for a drink. I literally have to stop to drink. This would add too much time to my bike course, so this solves the problem nicely. I used it for the first time last night and it worked well.
4) You need easy access to some food or calorie intake during this event. Powerbars are nice, but again to complicated when trying to bike for me. Gel paks it is. Boy are they sticky and way too sweet, but they work. I have been using the
Hammer Gel and I really like them. Very easy and quick to get down.
5) Make sure you are blowing bubbles when your face is in the water. I think we have a tendency to try to hold our breath when underwater. This is a no no! You must exhale and blow bubbles when your head is in the water otherwise carbon builds up in your system (which I think makes you crampy and feel sick). You should only be inhaling when your face is out of the water.
6) Don't put sunscreen on your face before the swim, because your goggles will not suction right.
7) It is a good idea to have a bucket of water at your station where you will transition, to quickly get the sand off your feet to put your shoes and socks on. Remember the transition time is your 4th leg of the race and it counts towards your total time! The faster the better.
8) This is a good hint I read online. Have a bright color ribbon or balloon on your bike so you can easily locate your station in the transition area.
9) If you are over 150 lbs or 200 lbs be sure to sign up in the Athena (150 lbs +) or Clydesdale (200 lbs +). I am 5'10" and certainly not petite. If you are a bigger person, make sure to sign up in the Athena or Clydesdale group and not your age group. It makes it more of a fair playing field, instead of competing with someone who is 5'3" and weighs 100 lbs...lol
10) And the most important thing not to forget.... Chafe Guard or you will be really walking like a cowboy! This needs to be put on before you put on your Tri Suit. Between your thighs, under arms, and on your thighs, legs, arms and the back of the neck where you will be taking off your wetsuit.
Well, day 9 of training was my first day I put all three legs together in order. Whew!!! It was hard, but I made it through it. I will do one more swim training day and one more complete run in order before the big day on Saturday. It should be fun:).
In Liberty,
Jennifer
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