TRIATHLON

Clermont Cool Sommer Mornings Triathlon

Sprint Triathlon

Not a half marathon and not a new state.  I thought I would try something new.  My friend Tommy Medlin who has run multiple triathlons, including Ironman 140.6 and Ironman 70.3 amongst others has been "badgering" me to "Come to the dark side" and race a triathlon with him.  He was kind enough to share his hotel room with me and drive me to Clermont and show me around and help me with set up and the logistics of racing a tri.  There are a lot of particulars.  It is definitely not as simple as putting on a pair of shoes and some shorts and just going for a run.  One must manage an innumerable amount of "things".

A triathlon is a multisport race with three continuous and sequential endurance races - literally translated from the Greek- three competition.  The most common form of a triathlon is Swimming, Cycling, Running.  There are different lengths and different brand names.  A full or an Ultra distance triathlon is 140.6 miles.  2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike, and 26.2 mile run,  The Ironman has one such race and it is likely the most famous and desired race... but there are several brand names with multiple distances, like the "half" which is 70.3 miles and the olympic distance (~32 miles) and the sprint distance (~14 miles).  Not all of the distances are exactly the same as others, which is why I gave approximate distances.  

This race was a sprint triathlon, and the distances were 0.25mile swim, 11 mile bike, 3.1mile run.  MUCH shorter than 140 miles, but having just finished this race, I will tell you that it was quite difficult none the less.

My friend Tommy Medlin filled me in on all of the things that I would need to have ready and offered multiple tips that I would not likely have thought of on my own.   

We woke some time around 4:30am.  I decided against any breakfast as I was feeling a little bloated from the day prior.  The race did not start until 7:23am, but there was a potential parking issue with all of the construction happening at Lake Minneola, and we wanted to get our transition area all set up and ready.  Getting there early helps to ensure a "prime spot".    As you can see it was still dark out.  Tommy helped me get all set up and to have everything in the right spot... even took some pictures for me.  Thanks Tommy.   

The sun finally came up and we were ready to go.   This is the before photo.  We have our triathlon suits on and our number markings all over our bodies and our chip timers secured around our ankles.  At this point we just need to put on our swim caps and goggles and get to the starting line.

The race started right on time.  First the elite men and then the orange capped group 3 minutes later.  I was in the orange cap group, Tommy was in the blue cap wave.  The waves were set up by age group.  The gun sounded and into the water I went.  I walked into the water.  I did not want to get trampled and beat up by all of the other orange capped swimmers.  So, I took my time and only began to swim when I felt there was enough room for me to do so.  Little did I know, it did not matter.  There was inadvertent punching and kicking and scratching and pulling.  While swimming to the first buoy, someone grabbed my leg and pulled me under water, maybe five times.  I was "bumped" from every angle.  At the first turn, I had to stop completely as everyone was trying to cut the corner and make the turn.  The next straight was no better, and the turn back to the beach was the same.  I could not go any faster as there were people in front of me preventing my increasing my speed, and slowing down did not seem a great option as I feared I would be swam over.  I finished the swim and exited the water.  From there we had to run to the transition area to get our shoes and helmet and bike, etc.  A quick re-lube and run with the bike to the start of the bike portion.  

After crossing the line, and only after crossing the line, we hoped on our bikes and began to ride - uphill.  Who knew there were so many hills and such steep hills in Florida.  Well, there are.  They are no joke either.  At one point I was traveling in slow motion in my slowest gear.  Then, a bit later, I was screaming down a hill at near 40mph.  I would tell you exactly how fast I was traveling, but I did not have my bike computer on and I did not punch all of the buttons properly on my watch, so my watch thought I was still swimming.  My watch thinks I am a super fast swimmer. (0:15 /100yd) LOL.

My intent was to grab a bit of a rest on the bike and be ready for the run, but with all of the hills and my competitive spirit, I road fairly hard.  Then, after 11 miles or so, before crossing the line, one must dismount the bike and run to the transition area again.   The guy just in front of me had a bit of difficulty controlling his bike while he was running and crashed his bike into the rails a few times, which was sad for him, but he was holding me up, and the guy behind me was getting impatient and bumping me thinking I was holding him up.  Then another quick change, store the bike and start to "run"... out of the transition area and onto the run course.  I put run in quotations because I was about dead already and my "run" was more of a limp/walk/jog.  My legs seemed OK, but my lungs were heavy and full and my heart was pounding.  I was out of breath and out of energy.  I walked a bit... twice, then decided to slow down and just keep moving.  The run was an out and back 5k.  

Mile 1 was a slow 10:28 pace and mile 2 was still slow at 9:14, then 8:53 through mile 3.  I was able to see Tommy after I made the turn and we both mustered enough to wave and say Hi!.  I was quite happy to see the finish line.  I wish I had run better, but some days are better than others.

I was really trying to smile in the below photo, but this is the best I could do.

It was good to see Tommy come in... remember he started several minutes after me.  He finished strong and we both completed the event.  Here is the after photo.  The smiles -- at least mine -- is more about the relief than the celebration.

In all, it was a good experience.  Official time One hour seventeen minutes.   I definitely did not place in my age group or any other group.  But, I finished.

Tommy and I will be running the same course again in August.  Noble will be racing his first triathlon with us at that event in August.  Should be interesting.  I hope, now that I have had some experience that I race better next time.  I'll update you then.  Thanks again Tommy for taking care of me.