I realise I am woefully behind on triathlon updates. This was my first season dabbling in the art of multi-sport competition and I did a super sprint (Meudon), and then 2 sprints: Versailles and Dijon. Not bad for a first season, I think.
I already mentioned the Meudon Super Sprint. You swam 300 meters in a pool, cycled 7K on a stationary bike next to the pool and then ran 2,5K. After Meudon, the distances got longer and goodbye, swimming pool; hello, green pond!
For a sprint triathlon, you swim 750 meters in open water (which usually means a gross pond or lake), cycle between 20 and 24K (it's supposed to be 20K, but the cycling distance seems to vary) and you run 5K.
Versailles was my first 'real' tri, meaning swimming in open water and not cycling on a stationary bike!
I didn't really know what to expect, had only practiced putting on and taking off a wetsuit like the day before and had never been swimming in open water before. We had to swim in a green pond on the Versailles grounds-- you could see the castle in the distance but we were well out of the path of tourists.
This is what the lake looks like-- despite the tiny pic, you can see it looking ominously big and hard to swim across in the distance behind the garden. It was not exactly picturesque tranquility, but cold and murky!
The fact that you can't see anything underwater when you swim in open water is really terrifying, I somehow wasn't expecting this, and the wetsuit felt weird and awkward. Something else I didn't know about wetsuits is that a little bit of water gets in it when you first get into the water and shocks you because it's so cold.
When the gun went off and we had to start swimming, I panicked a little and didn't think I could do it. I couldn't bring myself to put my head in the water, I wasn't strong enough to do the front crawl with my head up out of the water (I ended up sinking a little despite the wetsuit when I tried), and I felt too inefficient at breast-stroking, so flipped over on my back and improvised a back stroke of sorts, although this had the additional challenge of not being able to see where I was going and swimming in a strange seemingly drunken zig zag...
I honestly thought there was no way I was going to make the swim cut-off time, so figured that this swim was my workout for the day and I might as well enjoy it. On my back, I didn't have to deal with the green pond and could see the blue sky, it was like being on vacation. Floating on your back is very comforting, sometimes when I train at the pool, I'll make deals with myself like 200 more meters of the crawl and then you can do a backstroke lap.
Triathlon? What triathlon? I'm just admiring the clouds...
I was one of the last ones out of the water, but I somehow made the cut-off time. I expected to be stopped, but instead I was helped out of the water and sent on my way. Taking a wetsuit off is an art that I have not mastered, so slow transition onto the bike, but then I was on my way. I was mainly worried about clipping in and out without falling and there was a hill right at the start which made me nervous about the clipping in, but it was ok. I don't really like non-triathlon cycling-- didn't particularly enjoy Liège or Vélostar, the only real bike races I've done, but I do like short distances on the bike when you have something else to do afterwards.
I enjoyed the cycling part the best. It was nice weather and a nice enough course-- 2 loops and a sharp little u-turn at one point, but it was well marked, and a steep little hill to do twice. I'm not a particularly strong cyclist-- I got on a road bike for the first time in February and am not great about training on the bike, but I was surprised to see that there were people who got off their bikes and walked them up the hill! They must have been in the wrong gear, poor things, because if I could cycle up it, it clearly doesn't require you to be the fittest person in the world!
The bike to run transition was faster then swim to bike, since you don't have to deal with the dreaded wetsuit. In this, my first real triathlon, I was suprised at how hard it as to run. The run was tough, I hadn't really done any bricks (doing 1 sport than another, like biking then running). Running 5K sounds easy, but it's challenging after swimming and cycling. It was also a trail around the lake where we'd swum and since I'm more used to road running, ran it kind of gingerly, trying to avoid spraining an ankle. It was also near a shooting range, so you kept hearing gunshots during the run, which made me wonder if they were starting guns for other races!
I was the last one on my team to finish (but not the last one in the competition. It works both ways-- there are always people in front of you, but there are also always people behind you!) but I was just pleased to have done it. My time of about 2 hours was not competitive at all, but I had also run the Paris marathon about a month before and was still in a bit of a post marathon recovery/overindulgence state of not really running or exercising that much but eating dessert WAY too much... I definitely felt like I'd looked a little sleeker in my none too attractive trisuit at the super sprint in Meudon in March than in Versailles in May!
Despite not being particlarly good at it, I thought it was a lot of fun and a good challenge. The first time I do anything athletic, it is usually slow and has lots and lots of room for improvement (like my marathon!) so I immediately set my main and fairly modest goal for my next sprint: to put my head in the water and do the front crawl the whole way!
Before the swim: how do you get a wetsuit on again? (Notice that I am the only one not suited up at this point...) I look slightly delirious because I clearly must have been crazy to sign up for this!
Post-triathlon: we did it! No more wetsuits and now we can drink champagne!
All in all, it was a good experience. Something nice about Versailles is the women and unlicenced men (meaning they don't have triathlon licences so are probably beginners) compete earlier than the licenced men, so the boys got to cheer for us and vice versa. I was glad our race finished first, though, so I could relax watching the men of ExpaTRIés show us how it's done.
It was a nice day with friends, great weather and a lovely picnic with celebratory champagne that Roger the Bike Guru and his Lovely Assistant Shannon had carried on their bikes out to Versailles for us! Big thank you to teammates who cheered for me, lent me a wetsuit and helped me set up the transition area, to the other racing ladies, les belles sirènes de Versailles, who calmed each other's nerves pre-swim and to our fabulous picnic A-Team!
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