I’m happy to report that I finished my first sprint triathlon this morning! I feel tired but really great. Here’s a report (was just posted on my training blog but thought you guys might be interested):
Background: I’m a runner but a complete novice in cycling and swimming (just started a month ago). So my goal for this first sprint tri was just to finish and have a good time. I wasn’t worried about my place or my time — I can work on improving later.
The Course: Set in the beautiful little village of Piti, Guam, the sprint triathlon was a 750-meter ocean swim in warm water (in the 80s) (two laps of a triangular course around three buoys) … followed by a 20K bike (3 out-and-back laps on a flat course near the ocean, strong tailwind going out, strong headwind coming back) … and finally a 5K run, along the same flat but windy course. It started at 7 a.m., which might not mean much in colder climates but on Guam, it gets pretty hot by 7 a.m. It was probably in the 90s by the time I was on the run.
The Swim: I’m not a strong swimmer at all, and in fact have never swam 750m without stopping. So I started on the outside, to the back, hoping to avoid the tangle of swimmers at the start. That worked out pretty well, although I was stuck behind a slower swimmer to start with. I think that was a good thing, as it helped me conserve energy and I really didn’t have to do the breaststroke for resting as I’d anticipated. My form was really horrible, but I didn’t care. I expected to be the last out of the water but surprised myself and finished somewhere in the middle (well, the back of the middle, but still not one of the last). I don’t have my split times for any of the legs. I felt pretty decent coming out of the swim, which I was happy with.
The Bike: I ride an old mountain bike, and I think it really hurt me in this race. And as I said, I’ve only been cycling for a month, so I’m pretty slow. I just wanted to be able to finish the 20K bike leg, which I was pretty sure I could do. I did it pretty slow, though, and a lot of people passed me (many of them were actually ahead of me but on their 2nd or 3rd laps, but a few started the bike after me and still passed me). I have to admit the bike was a bit of a struggle, especially in the hot sun, and I finished near last place (maybe 3-4 people behind me).
The Run: My legs felt dead coming off the bike, but I started out pretty fast. Too fast, actually, and soon I was breathing heavy and knew I had to cut back. I was pretty tired by now, but tried to keep a decent pace. I don’t know what my pace was but I’m guessing around 8:00 miles. It was very very hot. I passed a few people around halfway through the run. One of them stuck with me and pushed me for the rest of the run, but I pulled away from him in the end with a strong finish.
Overall: My overall time was 1:39:48, which many experienced triathletes would probably laugh at, but again, I just wanted to finish and have fun. I accomplished my goals, so I’m happy! I had a great time, and look forward to my next sprint tri in June.
Improvement areas: I can obviously get better in the swim, with a little more endurance and better form. I bought the book “Total Immersion” to help me with my form, and I think it could make a bit of difference in the next tri. My bike needs a lot of improvement. I think I need to buy a road bike, first of all, because my bike was squeaking and I was struggling with it. I think the front tire was a little flat too. I also need to build up speed and endurance, but that will come with time. I really enjoy cycling, even if I’m slow, and I think I’ll only get better. The run was fine, about as good as I could do considering my legs were dead — I think it’ll get faster if I can get better endurance in the bike and swim. Transitions were fairly smooth, although I think I could have skipped the socks. I think I’ll get better overall as I continue to train — I’ve only been doing this for a month, so I have nowhere to go but up. :)
译文:
圆满完成第一次的急速短跑三项全能！(比赛汇报)
我很高兴来汇报今早完成的第一次急速短跑三项全能运动！很累，但感觉真得很棒。下面是一个汇报(只是贴在我训练博客上的文章，但我想大家也许会感兴趣)：
个人资料：我是个跑步者，但在游泳和骑自行车上完全还是个新手（一个月前才开始进行）。所以我对这第一次的急速短跑全能三项立下的目标就是坚持完成且有不错的时间。我并不担心自己所处的位置或完成时间——因为我可以在以后慢慢改进。
课程：急速短跑全能三项这个运动发源于关岛Piti市的一个美丽小村庄，它包括，在温暖的大海中进行的750米游泳（在80年代）（绕着三个浮标进行两次的曲线游）…骑20公里的自行车（在大海附近的平坦道路上来回骑三圈，必须顺风骑出去，逆风骑回来）… 和最后在相同平坦但要多风的道路上的5公里跑步。我在早上7点开始进行这个运动，这个时候对于在比较寒冷的气候里也许没什么，但在关岛那就已经相当热了。也许在90年代，这个时候我已经在进行跑步了。
游泳：我对游泳一点儿也不在行，甚至从来没有连续游过750米。所以在室外的游泳开始后，我跟在最后，希望可以避开一开始大家混乱出发的场面。虽然我只是紧紧跟在一位游得比较慢的人后面，但很管用。我觉得这样不错，因为这让我保存了体力，也不用按照预想的去游蛙泳。但我的游泳计划实在不怎么样，不过我不管。我猜我应该是最后一个上岸的人，但让人惊喜的是我处于中间（好吧，是最后的中间，但反正不是最后一个）。我没法给两只脚合理分配划动时间。当我结束这段乐在其中的游泳上岸时，感觉相当好。
自行车：我骑着一辆旧的山地车，我想这样的车确实在比赛中拖累到我了。还有我说过，我只骑过一个月的车，所以那速度真得很慢。我想完成20公里自行车程的一段就好，也确信自己能完成。可我骑得实在慢，好多人都超过我了（他们中的一部分人是在自己第二和第三圈中超过我的，但是少部分人比我开始得慢却还是骑在我前头）。我不得不表扬下下我的车，它还真有点儿拼搏精神，特别是在那么热的阳光下。最后我终于在接近终点时完成了骑车（也许我后面还有3、4个人）。
跑步：骑完车后，我那脚简直要断了，但我还是很快开始了跑步。很快我就气喘吁吁了，然后还连忙转向。那个时候，我真是累死了，但还是尽力保持正常的跑步步子。我其实不清楚我的脚步到底怎么样，但我猜有跑800米左右。真得是非常非常热。在我跑了大概一半路程的时候超过了一些人。他们中的一个紧紧跟着我，还拼命拉我休息，但最后我以不懈的坚持甩远了他。
综合情况：我耗时共1小时39分48秒，或许很多该运动的参与者都要嘲笑这个成绩吧，但重申下，我只是想完成这个运动并从中得到快乐。我实现了目标，所以很开心！我有很多时间，期待明年六月我的第二次急速短跑全能三项。
可上升空间：只要多点耐力和一个更好的计划，我肯定可以游得更好。我买了《全浸式游泳教学》的书以便改进我的安排策略，我想它应该可以对下一次的比赛中提供点帮助。还有我的车需要大大的改进。我觉得我该买辆公路车，因为最主要的是它叽叽嘎嘎作响，让我一直和它较劲。车的前轮还有点不平。当然，我也要提高自己的速度和耐力，但这需要时间。即使我骑得很慢，我还是很享受骑得过程,我想我只会变得更好。至于跑步，还不错，不错到我还能想着自己的腿是不是断了—我觉得如果在自行车和游泳上能有更好的耐力的话，我可以跑得更快。虽然我觉得当时该穿上袜子，但之间的过渡还是挺顺利的。如果坚持训练，我觉得自己会有个更好的成绩—我持续训练只有一个月，所以我别无他路，只有不断努力。：）