Of course, nothing ever happens the way it's supposed to. 3 days before the race, I come down with the flu. I get sent home from work early Thursday, spend all day in bed Friday with a 103 degree fever. Well, I figured that I'd already spent the $70 to register and I hadn't spent the last couple months training to let a virus beat me. I decided to emergen-c and orange juice the heck out of myself as much as I could Friday with rest and hydration. Saturday was a little better but I was still on the fence of whether or not to do the race. Finally, around 5pm, I started packing my gear for the next morning.

Woke up at 5am coughing up what had settled into my lungs over night. Not a pleasant feeling 3 hours before hitting the water. Had my morning nutrition, loaded up the car and headed down to Blue Lake.

The race went well even though I had felt physically done immediately after the swim. Good thing mental toughness always wins over the body. The bike leg came and I am seeing people returning on the other side of the road. I kept thinking, "the turn around should be coming up soon". Then, it turned into, "where in the *#$% is this mythical turn around?" After finally finishing the bike, I finally thought "thank goodness - it's almost over". Mashed through the run (more of a labored jog by this time). Crossing the finish line was such a relief!

I am now officially a triathlete!

169th out of 205
9th out of 11 in division

21:12 Swim Time 3:46 T1 Transition
40:06 Bike Time 2:14 T2 Transition
31:21 Run Time

1:38:40 Total Time

After all the training, I was extremely disappointed in my times. But, the good news is that it's a guarantee that I will see improvement on my next one!

Now, how did everyone else do? Can you share your experience and if you learned anything?

Don't be disappointed in your times. Consider what you went through just days before the race with the flu. Good job!!

Once you know the course, you won't have to rely on seeing the returning bikers to know where or how far the turnaround is. Wondering can really beat you up mentally, because there are some speedy folks out there. You also might not know where to really push because you don't know what you've got left. Computer mileage always helps too.

Congratulation on finishing your first triathlon. It's probably the one you will never forget.

Keep at it! They will always present a challenge, and you will most likely learn something new about yourself from each one.

Doug

Chosen One.

Congrats on your first triathalon. We both became "official" triathletes on the same weekend. My first tri ws the day before at the Luna triathlon at Blue Lake. Your times look great, especially considering you were SICK. What do you want from your body? Okay okay, I'm the last person who should be saying that. We put ourselves through a lot and always expect our bodies to perform for us. Most of the time, (as you have shown) mental toughness wins. You should be proud of yourself for completing your first triathlon. The big question is, did you have fun? The first ones (and all of them in my opinion) should be more focused on having fun than on your time (although a great time is a nice bonus! ).

Congrats again!

Marion

I would have to say that overall I had fun. It would've been a TON more fun if I weren't having mucus issues the entire race (ewww...). I kept with proper etiquette and managed to not let anyone behind me on the bike or run course find it out first hand.

So, since I'm posting on here after my first race definately says there is going to be another one. This last race was good experience, but in no way what I feel that I could've done based on the numbers I was hitting in training. I think it would've been helpful to me to have brought my Forerunner 305 on the race but didn't trust leaving it on my bike in transition.

Can't wait for the next one!!

- Eric

Congratulations! Sunday my wife and I both became Traithletes too. You and I must have passed one another a few times on the course; our finish times were extremely close and we were in the same start group. If you look at my transition time between the swim and the bike (8:10), you would think I stopped to take a nap. Just a small indication on the toll that the swim took on me. September 6th is the triathlon at Kline Line Pond, in Vancouver; hopefully you can make it.

It was an incredible experience that I am exctited to repeat!

Trevor

That's awesome! Congrats to you and your wife! I completely understand about the swim wearing you out. I took my time a bit more than I should have in T1 due to just plain exhaustion.

I am scheduled to work Sept 7 for the Vancouver triathlon, but I'm trying to get out of it. If I am unable to get out of it, I'm going to be at the Scoggins Valley Tri on Aug 30. But, I'd much rather do the Vancouver one since Klineline is my home swim area.