Tri-by-Knight Sprint Triathlon
When I bought my bike a couple years ago, I told the sales associate helping me that I'd like a bike that I could potentially use for a short-distance triathlon. Time went by, and I rode my bike, but I never signed up for that triathlon. This spring I had my eye on one particular sprint triathlon, Tri-by-Knight, at the neighboring town of Waverly. I liked the distances of this triathlon — 300-meter swim, 15-mile bike and 5K (3.1 mile) run. And I particularly liked that the swim was held in a pool. I hadn't swam in many, many years, and the thought of swimming outside, in open waters terrified me. If I was going to do a triathlon, I wanted to do one that didn't stress me out when it came to the swimming leg. So, I went ahead and signed up for it.
The training
I trained for the event for 10 weeks. I looked at a variety of training plans and found one I felt matched my skill level and gave me the rest I needed. On the first day of swimming, I was set to do 800 meters of swimming. I entered the swimming facility with my new sporty swimsuit, goggles and swim cap. I jumped into the pool and took off for the other side of the pool. About halfway through, I stopped, gasping for air. I caught my breath, continued on and reached the other side, only to hang on the edge, continuing to gasp for air. My heart was racing and so was my mind. How am I going to do 800 meters of swimming when I can't even get across the 25-meter pool?
I left for home, feeling utterly defeated. It was silly of me to think I'd be able to do this when I haven't swam in 15+ years. I can't do this. There's just no way. The only glimmer of hope I had on the drive home was knowing I'm not a natural athlete. Everything I've ever tried in my life, I've sucked at in the beginning. Softball pitching, yoga, kick-boxing, long-distance running ... it took me lots of time and effort to get better at each and every one of these activities. As long as swimming wasn't like basketball, I had hope that I could get better. I also felt better when I threw away that training plan. I was going to have to figure out my own plan, particularly for swimming, to succeed.
The training continued on, and I started to feel more and more comfortable on my bike. The hills were getting easier. I was able to ride at a higher gear. My running didn't need a lot of work as I was easily able to run 3 miles my first day out. The swimming? It continued to be my Achilles' Heel. I started watching videos to see what I was doing wrong. Turns out, there wasn't much I was doing right. I was holding my breath, I was looking forward (not down), I was taking my head completely out of the water when breathing. Each time in the pool, I'd really focus on one of those things, trying to correct my wrongs. When feeling especially desperate, I had Ryan come and watch me. He gave me a few pointers and told me I didn't look as bad as I made myself out to be. However, I still wasn't able to swim more than 50 meters continuously. That was a problem.
At the halfway point of my training, I was still unable to swim without stopping so I had decided I was likely going to have to stop at the edge of the pool on race day. I was hoping to build up enough endurance to only stop a couple times. I pushed forward; more laps in the pool to try and build my stamina. A couple weeks passed, and I was about two and half weeks away from the race. I went to the pool, pulled my swim cap all the way over my ears, and took off. I swam 2 laps, then another 2 laps, then another. Soon enough, I was halfway to 300 meters so I decided to press on. Press on I did ... and ended up swimming the whole 300 meters!!! I stood at the end of the pool, in shock. How did I do it? And, looking back today, I'm still not sure what happened. Perhaps my endurance had built up. Maybe adjusting my swim cap to drown out the sounds of others in the pool helped. Perhaps my mind had been weaker than my body all along? Either way, I was on cloud nine leaving the pool that day. I was ready for the race!
Training for this race was actually fun. I know I've said running is fun. But, there's a period of burnout, no matter how much you like one particular sport. Luckily, I was focused on three so I never felt that way. I did, however, feel a lot of pressure to fit in training for all three and often felt like I wasn't doing enough. There are only so many days in the week, and all the activities required time, effort and mental energy.
I came to a realization when training for this race ... A competition or a race really holds you accountable for your training. You have a goal set and only you can work towards accomplishing that goal. Although it can be tough, it is so rewarding. You do the work, you get the reward. And the reward is that awesome feeling of accomplishment you get when you are done. You did it!
Reflection on the race
Today, while competing, I got that awesome feeling of accomplishment three times. I felt great after getting done with my swim. I felt accomplished after biking those hilly, windy 15 miles. I felt happy after crossing that final finish line with the run. It was a challenging yet enjoyable experience. I was happy with my results and happy that I pushed myself in ways I haven't done in quite awhile. I definitely got my reward.
Results: Swim: 7:31 | Bike: 56:57 | Run: 26:25 | Overall: 1:34:13
Beyond that feeling of accomplishment, I have to add the other reasons (which came to me today) why I seek out competitions like this triathlon.
I can rope friends into doing it with me. The best part is then seeing them excel at it. I recruited my friend Dawn to do this with me. I've done a lot of races alone and can tell you it is so much better doing it with a friend. Dawn rocked the race, and we had a great time together.
I'm reminded of how supportive my family and friends are. They encourage me throughout my training. The pre-race flowers, good luck cards and texts are also really appreciated. They really support the crazy things I do and want me to succeed.
I continue to be moved by the sheer ability of the human body. I saw a 72-year old today, competing in this sprint-tri. It was near the end of my race, and I was probably a little spent, but it made me slightly emotional. How awesome is it this guy is doing this at his age? And is swimming, biking and running alongside people a quarter of his age? I doubt I'll have it in me then but am definitely pushing this body while I still can.
The only thing left to say is ... wonder what I can do next?!
