Yesterday I did my first multi-sport event, the “Tri My Way.” The concept is fun — you do a triathlon in any order you choose, or a duathlon (you still do three legs, but you repeat one discipline.)
Since I’ve been running (nothing crazy — just a 5K once or twice a week) for about a year or so now, I thought their “aquaman,” or swim-run-swim, would be a fun, new challenge for me, as well as a low-key introduction to the multi-sport arena.
Thanks to the Big Kahuna’s sage advice years ago before my first open water race, I know that when stepping out of your box for the first time, setting basic goals really is enough. So, I decided to repeat the two original goals he shared with me back then:
1) Finish
2) Enjoy it enough to want to do another one
This time though, I added a third goal to honor the work I’ve been doing with Coach Mark this summer:
3) Maintain new free technique 100%
Luckily, “blending in” was not on my goal list, because I don’t think I did so well in this area. In fact, I spent much of the time feeling like an alien from Planet Swim. Just two of the more telling clues? 1) Pre-race, I was chomping down on groates and soymilk while everyone else was gel-ing, and 2) I wore a tankini (a wild, Marcia-Brady-esque pattern/color scheme), not a wetsuit.
I thought that wearing an ankle chip would bug me, but honestly, once I put it on, I forgot all about it until volunteers asked for it at the finish line. And, thanks to a story the Math Savant shared with me a day or so before the race (perma-scar from getting clobbered right in the chip during a mass-swim phase) I prudently remembered to twist the strap so the chip part was on the inside of my leg before approaching the start line.
Certainly, I couldn’t have asked for a better first event-experience. The weather was perfect (70-degree water temp, air mid-70s with breeze.) The event organization was fantastic — beautiful site, plenty of parking, well-marked course, plentiful supplies — and the volunteers were all so kind and helpful.
Getting cow-belled was a weird but fun new experience (yes, it did take me awhile to associate hearing people call out my number with cow-belling whenever I zizzed by a crowd. I am used to being in quiet-aquatic zone and not being marked quite so much — legs, arms, bib.)
As a visiting Planet Swim inhabitant, I learned that clearly all sponsorship money is in trialthons. I have never received so much swag in my life — two types of cererals, three kinds of bars, electrolytes, a handful of assorted lotions, energy tablets, dried fruit, meal coupons, music downloads for my iPod, my race cap, a snazzy running shirt, and a catered lunch with more iced drinks than I could choose from post-race.
Returning to my original goals, I think I succeed in all three areas. All I thought about during the two swim legs (750m each) was swimming relaxed, reaching and doing my finger-tip drag to ensure a nice high-elbow recovery. I had a lot of fun, enough to want to do another one (Although, not as many to require wearing wearing a pound of tape on my body to be mobile. Seriously, I have never seen so many banged-up athletes at one gathering.)
And, I finished (second in my division — passed during the last transition. Totally vexing! My best friend, who is married to a triathlete consoled me with “It was your first time. Transitions are a practiced skill. You’ll get better the more you do them.”) Heck, working to improve on something for “next time” has always been a huge motivational factor for me!
Until next time,
Rebecca, swim evangelist