My first triathlon! Iron Girl Columbia recap (long!)

[reginaphalange72]

Love it!

And I totally agree - I hate swimming laps in a pool. OWS? Love it.

And WTF with your bike shop calling you dumb?? Time to find a new LBS.

Awesome job on each of the legs! When's the next one?

[Susie]

Way to go out there and do what is difficult for you. I love seeing people do that and really rise to the occasion. I am so glad it went well for you and was a positive experience.

And yes, triathlon running is different from regular running, the time of day that it happens (since it is last) is a big part of it. My tri coach is a big proponent of reminding us, even the runners, that in a triathlon training cycle you have to forget you're a runner, and run like a triathlete, not like a runner. That means running at crappy times of the day, off the bike, and for long course racing it means doing walk/run intervals to practice walking through aid stations and picking back up to a run smoothly and quickly, even if the runner in you is impatient with the idea of walking at all.

So what do you think, gonna do one again?

[shorewife]

What an awesome recap! Really great race too. And I hate to say this but it sounds like you had a really good time

[CallingAllAngels]

Yay! Triathlons are so fun. I am glad you had a great race.

[gt7301b]

AWESOME RECAP!!!

[trigal]

Woohoo!!!!!! Another triathlete!!!!

And yeah. The run sucks.

Reminds me of the pre-race dinner at Ironman one year. Mike Reilly (the announcer and emcee) had the youngest competitor on stage (18 years old). Mike asked the kid what triathlon leg is his strongest and the kid replied that he is best on the run. Every IM vet kind of chuckled as Mike responded "not on Sunday!" So very true!

Great job!!!!

[reginaphalange72]

Aug 20, 2014 14:49:37 GMT -5 @vtcupcake said:

Aug 20, 2014 14:41:25 GMT -5 Susie said:

So what do you think, gonna do one again?

I am definitely going to look for more/better plans for the next one.

Oh wait, did I just say next one out loud? Oops
(I don't know when or where it'll be, but definitely next year, post-graduation and moving. Heck, I'll even do this one again to compare my times).

[thom]

This is wonderful. Great job!! I love that you just decided to go for it, and you stuck with it all the way through a challenging summer. I also have a hybrid type bike, so this gives me some hope I could successfully use it for a tri someday.

Proud & happy for you. Congrats!

On another note; how much swimming must one do to "survive" a sprint tri? Also paging @mn06 al320 niq and other new triathletes.

[sadlebred]

Awesome!!

Are you hooked??? More tris?

[mrs.jacinthe]

Great recap! Love it, and congrats!!!

[kams]

Awesome!!!!

And yes: running =/= triathlon running. The brutal reality.

[labbie]

Love your recaps! Cheers, irongirl!
Great job!
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[al320]

Aug 20, 2014 15:25:41 GMT -5 thom said:

This is wonderful. Great job!! I love that you just decided to go for it, and you stuck with it all the way through a challenging summer. I also have a hybrid type bike, so this gives me some hope I could successfully use it for a tri someday.

Proud & happy for you. Congrats!

On another note; how much swimming must one do to "survive" a sprint tri? Also paging @mn06 al320 niq and other new triathletes.

Well, i swim way more than i have to to just survive the swim lol i swim like 5-6 times a week because i love it. Most of the triathletes i swim with seem to be at the pool 2-4 days a week.

[orangeblossom]

That's awesome. My sister did it, and if was also her first tri.

She'd thought about not doing it for multip reasons, but in the end did it. I'm so proud of her.

She, too, had a ton of issues signing up. I'm lD she get through.

[niq]

Aug 20, 2014 15:25:41 GMT -5 thom said:

This is wonderful. Great job!! I love that you just decided to go for it, and you stuck with it all the way through a challenging summer. I also have a hybrid type bike, so this gives me some hope I could successfully use it for a tri someday.

Proud & happy for you. Congrats!

On another note; how much swimming must one do to "survive" a sprint tri? Also paging @mn06 al320 niq and other new triathletes.

I'm no help because I was a swimmer through high school. I did two .9 mile OWS swims and one .5 mile swim before the race. Before that I had done 4-5 pool workouts.

For me survival was the bike. I did two 12 mile bikes, one 30 mile bike, and then a 7 mile race preview, plus about 5-6 spin classes. But I was not starting from "can't pedal 400 yards" the way some new swimmers start from "can't get across the pool".

[niq]

Also congratulations @vtcupcake! I'm always impressed by people who are new to swimming or race swimming when they do a triathlon. It seems so much harder to get started!

[cole]

Awesome recap, @vtcupcake. Congrats on being a triathlete!!

[shellfish26]

I love this recap so much and...well, you're awesome. This was especially fun to read since I was there for the entire thing.

Just wondering, your friend at the swim start- it wasn't a guy, L.S., was it? Because he was there and is a running buddy of mine.


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[libbygrl109]

Love your recap! Congrats, triathlete!

[Wines Not Whines]

Congratulations! I'm so impressed! I spectated at that race and it was very inspirational.

[emilyj]

I love this. Congratulations!!

[trigal]

Aug 20, 2014 15:25:41 GMT -5 thom said:

This is wonderful. Great job!! I love that you just decided to go for it, and you stuck with it all the way through a challenging summer. I also have a hybrid type bike, so this gives me some hope I could successfully use it for a tri someday.

Proud & happy for you. Congrats!

On another note; how much swimming must one do to "survive" a sprint tri? Also paging @mn06 al320 niq and other new triathletes.

You want to be able to swim well enough that you aren't just trying to "survive." You should be able to swim more than the race distance, and swim it comfortably. Poor swimmers are a major safety issue in triathlons, so do what vtcupcake did: get some lessons and practice some open water swims!

[thom]

Thanks much al320 niq and @mn06!

I can swim and used to enjoy swimming laps for fun/fitness (I'll bet it was very short & slow, ha!) in college when I had pool access. I suspect my stroke isn't good, and I know mostly zero about open water sighting, current, etc. I think maybe next summer I need to see what resources I can find for OWS help. It's rural here, but there are a lot of small (and larger) summer triathlons at area lakes, so I can't be the only one who would like help. I don't think they have adult swim lessons close to me, but maybe....

Then I think about how much simpler & cheaper it is to just run. Dang you all for making me think I might need to try this. It might be on the 5 year plan, but I think I will eventually. In the meantime it's fun to hear about everyone's success and experiences!

Congrats again VT!!

ETA: trigal -- this is a good point. I meant that more tongue in cheek, but I do understand I'd want to be strong/comfortable enough to safely do the swim.

[awick14]

Congrats! Very inspirational.

[bostonmichelle]

Congrats!! I always love your recaps.

[coconutbug]

Awesome job! Great recap!

[woowoo]

Great recap. Congrats! Iron Girl (in WI) was my first too, and I agree - it's a great first Triathlon to do!

[shauni27]

I HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR THIS RECAP SINCE SUNDAY! congratulations, I am SO proud of you! Very inspirational--I really really REALLY want to do an irongirl tri as my fist tri, but they do not come up north at all, it looks like Jersey is as close as it gets. I am so glad you enjoyed it, thanks for the great recap!

[al320]

thom is there a Y nearby? They almost always have adult swim lessons of some kind.

[autumnfire]

Holy crap was that well written. Felt like I was right there next to you. (in the comfort of my seat of course )

What an amazing accomplishment!! Congrats!