Brandon's 1st Tri Q&A

Posted by Brandon

I completed my first triathlon, so I’m entering the blog world.  Here are the questions I’ve most frequently heard, both leading up to and following the California Sprint Triathlon in Pleasanton yesterday…

Are you going to drown?  I’ve swum 6 times in open water, so somewhat surprisingly, I avoided drowning completely.  I finished the half-mile swim somewhere in the middle of the green-swimcapped pack of 30-39 year-olds that I started in, and I didn’t feel like I was going to die at any given point.  I got into a rhythm, and tried to forget that Shadow Cliffs Lake had E Coli levels that didn’t meet state standards earlier that week.  I’m counting this getting out alive as a big accomplishment, considering the “are you going to drown?” question was asked by my mother 3 separate times, based on her knowledge of my childhood swimming ability.   

That's me, on the left

Are you ready for the swim now?  I felt pretty ready heading into it.  I swam in Aquatic Park twice in the past week, and felt better with sighting.  My initial open water swim attempts involved turning 90 degrees in the span of about 4 strokes, and getting nauseous in the water.  While practicing, I grabbed a thermal cap and ear plugs (cured the nausea) and was told to only look out of the water by an inch or two (helped the sighting), so I ended up feeling pretty set.

Hey, Husky Man!  I’m husky too!!  Ok, this isn’t a question, but this is what the transition man yelled at the sight of this jersey: 

Visit Jakroo.com to make your own

I appreciate that Triathlons have a Clydesdale division, but “husky” is the label that has stuck since college to describe my particular physique.  A friend got these jerseys custom made a few weeks ago, so I’m sufficiently prepped for bike riding and Halloween in the near future. 

This is me starting out on the bike leg

How fast are you biking?  A friend asked me a week before, and I somewhat arbitrarily named 18 mph as a goal.  I ended up at 17.75, so I’m ok with this as my first competitive biking.  I didn’t exactly know how to pace myself over a short bike race, but felt pretty good about passing a handful of people that had swam faster than I.  Of course, a fair number of folks passed me, too.  The nice part about triathlons I didn’t know heading in: everyone gets marked with their age on their calf.  So it was nice to know the ages of everyone passing me….good job to the 60 year-old that flew past me at one point. 

How did the run go?  I got off the bike, and felt pretty good.  1.4 miles into the 5K, though, I slammed into a steep hill.  My pace plummeted at that point, but I kept it going and felt fine with my 9:20 average.  During the run, there were a lot more comments from other runners – “good job” and “keep it going” and “you f**king got this” – than I’m accustomed to during running races.  I liked this part of the tri and was happy to join in on the trend in between heavy breathing.

Me saying "woot" while passing Chen

Can I come watch?  I’m pretty sure my sister asked this to come see if I would pass out, but I appreciated it nonetheless.  She brought my nephew out to cheer, and was joined by Chen, Rachel and Sandi.  Thanks for coming.  All photos here are courtesy of Chen and facebook.