When someone asked me, “so, why would you do a triathlon?” just yesterday, the answer I tried to convey was “because few races really stretch your body out like a triathlon does. Oh sure, there are plenty of endurance races out there, but so few put you through your paces like triathlons do.”

Today’s race definitely put me through my paces, to a degree that makes me question my sanity. This morning when I was packing the car at 4:45 AM, I noticed there was a thick fog. In Kansas our fog comes in “cold” and “humid”, and this was definitely of the “cold” variety. When l I started my car the thermometer informed me that it was 42 degrees outside – ten degrees above freezing! I knew it would warm up once the sun was up, but the race began at 7:30 AM; how much warmer could it really get?

It wasn’t any warmer by the time I arrived at Heritage Park. The fog was so thick you couldn’t see the orange buoys on the lake that define the swim course, and the announcer repeated over (and over) that the water temperature was 52 degrees(!).  It was still possible for triathletes to switch to the duathalon (a duathalon is a run, bike run – no swimming involved) but should I do it?

Thankfully, last year I was able to buy a triathlon wetsuit for $400 off regular price (yes, I am proud of my savings. Why do you ask?). Triathlon wetsuits are different from waterskiing wetsuits in that they’re designed to be skin tight but allow maximum flexibility in the arms, allowing the wearer to still execute proper swim strokes. Usually the hassle of getting in and out would be a dealbreaker, but in 52 degree weather it made a huge difference.

Funny enough, because at race time the air temperature was around the water temperature, actually getting into the water was not nearly as traumatic as I expected. In fact, swimming all winter really paid off, because I shaved a minute and a half off my swim time, despite wearing the wetsuit and swimming in the cold weather! Sadly, swimming all winter really cost me on my biking and running times. When I began my bike ride, my long sleeve shirt was wet and cold from being under the wetsuit and my left hamstring was really sore. When I finished the bike ride I noticed my feet were numb – augh! Usually I am able to make up some time on the run, but my hamstring was still giving me problems so I tried to strike a balance between pushing ahead and not pulling my major leg muscle.

In the end, I finished 4 minutes slower than I did in 2007, when I last did this race. While it’s good to know that my swim time has improved, I now know that I’m going to have to work on my biking and running to make up the difference.

Things I learned:

• I think I over-trained a bit this week. I think in the future I will just not lift weights at all the week of a race.
• <TMI Alert>Peeing in your wetsuit is a great way to stay warm</TMI Alert>
• I see more bike practice in my future. At this point I’d be happy to keep my swim time.

Tags: fitnick

This entry was posted on Sunday, May 17th, 2009 at 11:33 pm and is filed under fitnick. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.