Riverwood Triathlon Race Report

Here’s how my first tri went yesterday. It was the 2005 Riverwood Triathlon in Clayton, NC.

Here are my official times:

Swim 300 yd: 6:48
Bike 20k: 56:53
Run 5k: 43:10
Overall: 1:46:50

The temperature at 8am was 40 degrees with 10-20 mph winds…brrr!
by the time I started, it was 53 degrees, but still windy.

My goal for the race was to finish the race in under 2 hours, which was the cutoff time, so I am happy with my results. I had planned on going at my normal training pace for the swim. For the bike, I was planning to try to go a little faster than my training pace. For the run, I was planning to go a little faster than my training pace the first 2 miles, and then as fast as I could in the last mile.

Here’s how the day actually went:

The first particpant started at 8:06am. My start time was 9:29am, so I had to wait around for quite a while, in my bathing suit, in the cold! I was extremely nervous before the race and also extremely cold. I didn’t really talk to anybody and went to the bathroom about 5 times! I was really glad I had bought a 2 piece tri suit.

When they lined me up for the swim, I was in the middle of a pack of 30 year old buff looking guys. Being a chubby 42 year old chick, I felt strange and out of place while waiting in that line up. But, once I got in the water and they were counting down for me to start, I felt great. And, once I started swimming all my anxiety dissappeared, and I knew I could do it!

I was really glad I had submitted a good swim time (and that those guys around me did, too). It made the swimming very easy and enjoyable as we all had the same pace, and no need to worry about passing. When I got to the end, I passed the ladder to touch the wall, then went back to the ladder to get out. From my swim team days, I knew not touching the wall would be a DQ, so I didn’t want to take a chance. When I got out, I walked to the transition area, because I didn’t want to run on cement with bare feet…I’m sure that adversely affected my swim time. (The guy in front of me in the swim lineup got a 5:46 swim time, and I had kept up with him during the swim.)

During T1, I put on a long sleeve shirt. I put on my socks and running shoes (I don’t have bike shoes, since I don’t have a real bike yet!). I decided to skip the fleece pullover, since the weather had warmed up, and I knew I would just get hot in it after a mile of peddling.

The bike ride was on rural roads that were classified as rolling hills. To me it seemed flat because it is alot more hilly in my hometown. I was glad for that! The route was well marked, and they had police officers at every intersection stopping traffic for us. It was wonderful to be able to sail through and intersection without having to stop and wait for cars!

I went as fast as I could on the bike without lettting my thigh muscles burn. I also watched my AVS to try and keep that up to at least 14mph. From training, I knew I could do that without being totally wiped out after the ride. During my ride, I downed all my water bottle, which had 20 oz of water and 10 oz of gatorade.

During T2, I pulled off my long sleeve shirt. I drank 8 oz of water. I decided to skip eating the banana I had laid out on my towel…a move I later regretted. I also took a pit stop (my bladder just isn’t that big!). I grabbed a water bottle to carry with me, and started out on the run.

I had planned on going ‘fast’ on the run to get an 11 or 12 minute mile instead of my usual 13 or 14. I started out running at a good pace. I got winded, and I decided I was running too fast, so I slowed down. I figured that I should just focus on finishing the race. I stopped and walked for a minute to catch my breath. I also re-did the barettes in my hair, because the wind was blowing it in my face (I hate having my hair in my face!)

As I was approching the aid station at the 1 mile mark I was eager to grab some gator ade. They only had water…so I really wished I had eaten that banana. I had my water bottle, so didn’t stop there. At the 2 mile mark my water bottle was empty, so I ditched that and downed two cups of water. I stopped to walk for another minute.

The last mile, I was following a woman who kept alternating running and walking. She looked like she was really beat. Even with her running and walking bit, our actual pace was about the same, so I never passed her, tho I did slowly gain on her. At the very end, I considered sprinting past her. I decided not to because I figured it would very likely make her feel bad, and wouldn’t really do much good for my time. I wish I remembered her race number so I could look up her race time.

Mistakes:
My only real mistake was not eating enough on race morning. I am not a big breakfast person. I had eaten alot for dinner the night before, so I wasn’t really hungry that morning. I ate a whey smoothie (made with milk) at 5am. Then I ate a blueberry muffin at 7am.
I also wished I had some type of kleenex during the run for wiping my nose. For some reason, my nose always runs when I run. I’ve seen runners with a rag tucked into the back of their shorts…I’ll have to look into that. Or, maybe a writst band that I could tuck a few kleenexes into.

Race Comments: The Riverwood Triathlon took place in Clayton, NC. It’s part of the Endurance Development Series of races that are especially for beginners. The race was extremely well organized, with plenty of volunteers to help the newbie have a great day. My only complaint is that when I crossed the finish line, there was a guy who immediately put his hand up for me to stop. He wanted to make sure he got the Champion Chip from me before I walked away. It would have been nicer if he had congratulated me with a handshake, and then asked me for the chip.