Tri'ing it Out

Tri’ing it Out

Many of you are new to Team RWB. Some of you are new to triathlon all together. Welcome to the sport! The following will be more of a pep talk and not so much of a how-to. You already know you need to do some swimming, cycling, and running, and put it all together on race day. Your first race will be very exciting, but it also may be kinda scary.

You have an idea in your head about how you will set up your transition, maybe you even set it up at home to see how it looks. Once you get to the race site, stand in line to get body marked, and enter  transition, you will find yourself looking at everyone else’s transition. You ask yourself if you should change your plan, if you should set up your transition more like the other athletes' transitions. That is a decision you can only make for yourself. You are the one doing the race. Set it up once and go with it, your first instinct is usually the best.

You look around at all the other athletes. Wow, they look fit. You may ask yourself “what am I doing  here?” No matter what, always know that you belong there just as much as any other athlete who is present.

More often than not, swimming is the sport new triathletes typically struggle with when they are starting out. At this point you have trained enough to get through the swim portion, have confidence in that. The swim will be over before you know it and you will be rolling out of T1.

In transition 1, you will go through the routine you have been through in your head 100 times, only now it is for real. During this short period of time you will probably triple check to make sure you have everything. You will still be dripping wet from the swim. This is the point too you might be regretting the way you set up transition, its okay, you will fix it in the next race.

On the bike you will be tempted to start out fast. If you want to start out fast go ahead. Have fun with it. If you are concerned you might not have enough left in the tank for the run go ahead and slow down. Don’t forget to take a few sips from your bike bottle, the race is very exciting, and for this reason it is very easy to forget to drink. Always pass on the left. 

Transition 2 can be exciting. It’s the last time you will be in transition, and only one more segment separates you and the title of triathlete. You may have had a plan to put on socks, but now you are abandoning that plan, it’s okay, your feet won’t fall off. Most people get caught up in the excitement of the race. Maybe you are too; this is one of the really fun aspects of triathlon. Leave transition with a smile on your face, only a few miles and you will be a triathlete.

Maybe you started out as a runner, many triathletes do. Maybe running comes natural to you, maybe it doesn’t. No matter at this point, all the other athletes, just like you, want to get through this run and get to the finish line, some faster than others. If you need you pace yourself, go ahead and pace yourself. If you can run the first few miles easy and gut it out in the last mile that’s good too. Whatever method gets you to the finish line, use it. You see the finish line, pick up the pace for your final hard effort, you are almost finished! Cross the finish line with a smile and sense of achievement, you did it!

After the race, don’t immediately pack up and go home. You probably can’t anyway since transition will most likely not be open. Grab some post race food, and start chatting it up with your fellow triathletes. You can make some new friends, and pick up some tips. Stay for the awards so you can hear the times of the people in your age group who finished top 3, so you have a time goal to work toward.

Whether you go home with an award or not, remember, you are now officially a triathlete, and nobody can take that away from you. You have earned this title. Talk up triathlon to your friends, see if you can get them to try one out, they might just like it. If not, it’s okay, this sport isn’t for everyone.  As for you, after you get home and celebrate your achievement, you will be looking for your next race!

Happy Tri’ing!