First Triathlon Ever!

So, this weekend was, as everyone knows from my oft-updated blog, my first race, Joe's Team Triathlon in support of the Princess Margret Hospital Foundation.  

First off, I want to thank absolutely everyone who supported me, whether through donations, helping me out, listening to me talk their ear off about triathlons or giving me words of encouragement and advice.  I managed to raise over $2600, surpassing my goal of $2500 and joining "Joe's Dream Team".  So thanks again.

Now, here's the exciting stuff!  My official results were found today (thanks, Brad!), and they are after the jump:

Place:           16    

Bib:             32 

Total Time:      1:15:29 

Age Group:       TM25-29   

Age Group Rank:  6/28

Swim Rank:       39   

Total Swim Time: 13:56

Pace/100m:       1:52   

T1:              1:45     

Bike Rank:       9

Total Bike Time: 33:49  

Bike Speed:      35.5 km/h  

T2:              0:42    

Run Rank:        63   

Total Run Time:  25:19  

Min/km:          5:04          

So that is a lot of information to take in.  What does it all mean?  Well, let's start from the top.  16TH OVERALL!!! I can't put into words how happy I am about that.  It is way better than I could have ever imagined.  I am amazed by this, and unquestionably ecstatic.  Enough about that.

Time:  1:15:29.  I was hoping for 1:30:00.  Again, I can't explain how big of a motivation this is.  I will keep working at it, and maybe I can find some time somewhere (the run) to reduce that to a range where I can contend?  We'll see.  I will definitely work towards that.  

Swim was way faster than I had planned.  I was expecting a 17-18 minute swim, so to have beaten that by over 3 minutes is unbelievable.  Also, I swam this time after swimming WAY off course, so I could probably have gotten a good 10-15 seconds quicker.  Next time, swimming on course will be a huge advantage.

Bike, unbelievable.  I don't know if it was having properly inflated tires, adrenaline or what, but I was going fast.  This is the fastest I have ever averaged over a whole 20k TT.  The hills just seemed to fly by, I passed a bunch of people, and I felt great the whole way through.  No complaints about the bike.

The run was tough.  It was an easy course, flat and straight, but I struggled.  I may have been a little overzealous on the bike, but I still feel I performed well.  I now know that I have to work on sustaining more speed over longer distances.  Easier said than done, but I will be working on it over the next weeks/months.

Transitions went really well overall, with no major problems.  Can't really comment on them, as there were no issues, everything went as well as hoped.  

So that is how my first race went.  Over the next few days, I will definitely be making a few comments on how things could have gone better, worse, etc.  As time comes, I will remember certain things, and I will be sure to post them.

On to the next one!  August 7th in Bracebridge.  Anyone want to come watch?

I'll be back sooner than it took to post this one, that's for sure!  Keep checking in.

Your Armchair Ironman