Granted...it was an indoor "mini" triathlon...but the Ice Breaker Triathlon at the Walnut Creek YMCA was an eye opening experience!
The triathlon consisted of the following (my times in [ ] )
- 300 yard swim [5:29]
- 7 mile bike [18:13]
- 3 mile run [28:36]
Swim: Man it was hard to control the heart rate after about a lap. I found myself gasping for a breath each stroke. Adrenaline I guess. I tried to relax but really just couldn't. I knocked it out but was unusually winded for the short length of the swim. I MUST work on swimming.
Bike: My legs are still recovering from a lower body workout that I should not have done. The swim didn't deplete them so much as they were sore to begin with. I kept my RPM's at about 90 or slightly above and for the last 1/2 mile I pushed to over 100.
Run: Typically my weakest area (so I thought) I started at 6.5 MPH and began the run. Shortly into it, I got tired of the miles clicking by slowly but was starting to feel the cumulative effects of my activity. I had to back down for a while to 5.5MPH. At the two mile mark, I began to enter "the zone" and pushed up to 6.5 again...then 7.5...then 8.0...and the last half mile I was at full stride doing 8.5MPH. I was approaching that point where you start talking to yourself, heart rate is near 100% of max, etc.
The net result is that I wasn't last in my age group (I was next to last). Apparently 36-40 has some amazing athletes. My teammate, who I beat was first in his age group 31-35.
All in all, I'm proud to have a competitive triathlon under my belt. Now the serious work begins toward June 22. Yikes.
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