Yesterday I completed my first international distance triathalon, which is 1500 m swim (almost a mile), 24.9 mile bike, and 6.2 mile run.

It was fun, though the temperature was around 90 degrees.

I had no idea that I would be so beaten up in the open water swim. With so many people in the water, it is almost impossible not to get kicked, pushed, hit, and run over. And I was trying to stay in the back of the pack to avoid all of that. I'd hoped to finish in the middle of the pack, but after getting completely run over in the swim twice, I was more worried about survival.

Still, a fun race and worth all of the training. I think I'm going to do a sprint tri on Saturday.

Congratulations! How does the sprint tri work?

Congratulations! How does the sprint tri work?

Generally, a sprint triathalon is half the distance of the international. I'm sure the elite athletes do sprint the entire way (they seemed to be sprinting in the international), but to mortals like me, the word "sprint" seems more like a mocking joke.

I had no idea that I would be so beaten up in the open water swim. With so many people in the water, it is almost impossible not to get kicked, pushed, hit, and run over. And I was trying to stay in the back of the pack to avoid all of that. I'd hoped to be in the middle of the pack, but after getting completely run over in the swim twice, I was more worried about survival.




The open water swim is one of the things keeping me from doing triathlons. Ouch!

Congrats on your finish. Good luck in the sprint.

:wayne:

WAY TO GO!! :D

:nigel: Cheers!

that's awesome!

i like sprint distance best. it is fun.

i liked open water swimming, but i tend to try to stay to the left or right of the pack, so avoid the population density of the center.

Congrats!! and good luck on Saturday!

congratulations!

Wow, I thought veg*ns were too pale and weak and devoid of iron, protein and calcium to be able to participate in any physical activities! lol, good job :up:

Yay! Congrats!

(I agree with Mark about the open water swims :yes: )

A vegan couldn't possibly do that! Our plaguing anemia and overwhelming protein difficiency makes it an impossibility!
It was a nice story though.

(Seriously though, congrats!)

Thats so awesome. good job. I am training for a triathlong this july in valpraiso indiana but i never did one before and my friend was going to do it with me. Maybe you could give me some advice like what kind of bike do you need or will any bike do? :/ Well hope ya do well in your next one

Hey, that's pretty awesome. Congrats!

that's awesome! was it the deer creek triathlon, by chance? (i'm an ohioan and last year the upcoming tri was the SMAE DAY as my high school graduation.. and i trained uber hard for it, too)

Thats so awesome. good job. I am training for a triathlong this july in valpraiso indiana but i never did one before and my friend was going to do it with me. Maybe you could give me some advice like what kind of bike do you need or will any bike do? :/ Well hope ya do well in your next one

Most of the racers had racing style bikes with aero bars, but I just used my road bike (which is heavy and has fatty tires). There were a few guys using mountain bikes, but that must have been really torturous.

The advice I hear most often is, if it's your first race, don't spend money on a new bike. Just use whatever you've got and see if you enjoy it before you go investing serious money on equipment.

that's awesome! was it the deer creek triathlon, by chance? (i'm an ohioan and last year the upcoming tri was the SMAE DAY as my high school graduation.. and i trained uber hard for it, too)

Yes, it was the Deer Creek Triathalon. Very well run. I'd highly recommend it to anyone in the area.

Congrats. I applaud anyone who can swim and run in the same day. I'm neither a swimmer, nor runner. But I'll bike!


BTW, do you train all year, even in Ohio?

Congrats. I applaud anyone who can swim and run in the same day. I'm neither a swimmer, nor runner. But I'll bike!


BTW, do you train all year, even in Ohio?

In Ohio, winter is the BEST time for training runs. Snow and ice only stop me a few days of the year. It is way too hot and humid much of the summer for long runs here.

Obviously, swimming in the winter is easy (indoors), though biking stops (except for the hardiest--not me) for most of the winter.

That said, I didn't start training until January, and didn't start training hard until March.

you can get a sort of stand for your bike to ride indoors and stationary throughout the winter. lots of my friends here do that.

Woot! Congrats! I'm training for a tri in August, so maybe I'll join you in the vegans doing triathalon in Ohio club!