Tuesday, 4/28/09 at 6:19 PM
by Kelli Poindexter
by Kelli Poindexter
One Tri Down, Many More to be Conquered!
I did it! I have successfully completed my first triathlon. It was so much fun. I feel good about my results. I finished in the middle of the pack (54th out of 84 women total and 19th out of 30 in my age group) with a sprint finish.
The swim was the worst part. Thank goodness it was the first leg of the race. It was my first swim wearing a wet suit and in open water (San Francisco Bay). An entirely different environment than my training in a local heated community pool and the shock of it was evident. The water was salty and very cold. I never got use to the buoyancy of the wet suit and couldn’t find a rhythm. Keeping track of my line was difficult and women were swimming into each other constantly. It was the longest 14 minutes and 29 seconds of my life. Definitely the segment of triathlon I need to practice most. I simply just survived it.
The bike, ahh, the bike. This was my favorite part of the race. I finished the 12 miles in 40 minutes on my Giant Avail Advanced 1. The bike performed perfectly and my legs felt good, although my feet were still frozen from the swim. I could probably improve my results with a smoother transition from the swim and pushing a bit harder. I wasn’t sure how much to reserve for the run so I just found a nice pace in my big ring and completed the three loops. I forgot my sunglasses in transition and that was a bummer.
Transition from the bike to the run went pretty well. I switched into my running shoes and headed out to the course. My legs were a little wobbly but fell into place about a half mile into the run. At the first mile, I found a comfortable pace. The course was an out and back design and at the turn around point I kicked up my pace. I was focused on a woman who had passed me early in the run, but whom I always kept in my sight. I was able to pass her about 900 meters before the finish and at 700 meters I picked up my pace again. I was feeling pretty good, but ready to be done. I had the finish in my sights when I heard a spectator yell, “ooh sprint finish.” This was followed immediately by foot steps behind me and I knew I had to put it all out there to the finish. I did it! I just edged her out and won the sprint. I found that competitive spirit that I was wondering if I had in me. The 5K run took me 30 minutes with a total race time of one hour and thirty one minutes. I felt good finishing only 12 minutes behind my experienced tri friend on my first try. There’s room to improve and I plan to do just that over the next ten weeks of training until my next sprint triathlon.
Kelli Poindexter
The swim was the worst part. Thank goodness it was the first leg of the race. It was my first swim wearing a wet suit and in open water (San Francisco Bay). An entirely different environment than my training in a local heated community pool and the shock of it was evident. The water was salty and very cold. I never got use to the buoyancy of the wet suit and couldn’t find a rhythm. Keeping track of my line was difficult and women were swimming into each other constantly. It was the longest 14 minutes and 29 seconds of my life. Definitely the segment of triathlon I need to practice most. I simply just survived it.
The bike, ahh, the bike. This was my favorite part of the race. I finished the 12 miles in 40 minutes on my Giant Avail Advanced 1. The bike performed perfectly and my legs felt good, although my feet were still frozen from the swim. I could probably improve my results with a smoother transition from the swim and pushing a bit harder. I wasn’t sure how much to reserve for the run so I just found a nice pace in my big ring and completed the three loops. I forgot my sunglasses in transition and that was a bummer.
Transition from the bike to the run went pretty well. I switched into my running shoes and headed out to the course. My legs were a little wobbly but fell into place about a half mile into the run. At the first mile, I found a comfortable pace. The course was an out and back design and at the turn around point I kicked up my pace. I was focused on a woman who had passed me early in the run, but whom I always kept in my sight. I was able to pass her about 900 meters before the finish and at 700 meters I picked up my pace again. I was feeling pretty good, but ready to be done. I had the finish in my sights when I heard a spectator yell, “ooh sprint finish.” This was followed immediately by foot steps behind me and I knew I had to put it all out there to the finish. I did it! I just edged her out and won the sprint. I found that competitive spirit that I was wondering if I had in me. The 5K run took me 30 minutes with a total race time of one hour and thirty one minutes. I felt good finishing only 12 minutes behind my experienced tri friend on my first try. There’s room to improve and I plan to do just that over the next ten weeks of training until my next sprint triathlon.
Kelli Poindexter
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