Share stories of your first triathlon!

[timmissoula]

Well the best laid plans......just did my first sprint open water tri today. Only 500 meters....to a buoy and back. I thought since is was such a short distance there was no need for open water practice sessions The only reason I didn't have to be rescued is because I am stubborn (having made it through my fair share of ugly marathons). It was in the Arabian Gulf and I could not go straight to save my life.....not even for 10meters. I was way off course after 5 minutes and had to finish with the breast stroke so I could at least get back to the beach. Moral of the story is you need a lot practice sighting before you attempt even a short distance....back to the drawing board for me!

[Alex-SG]

My Daughter entered her first KIDS TRIATHLON in Singapore when she was 8yrs old. 200m swim, 5km bike, 1km run. She was so nervous and anxious a few minutes before the start... so worried of being last.

Well, she did finish last (our of 42kids) but it was not her fault. In the swim section she headed towards the adult Buoy (instead of turning at the kids buoy) and in the bike leg her chain fell making her lose 10minutes.

We promised ourselves that the following year the outcome would be different.

The following year she made it to the podium, in 3rd position, and received the medal from no less than the Minister of Youth and Sports of Singapore.

You can imagine how this "turning a negative into a positive" experience has boosted her confidence in life. She is now 12 and loves to compete....

ALEX

[CoachRosita]

Alex-SG what a great story. I am going to look around for some competitions that the children in my life might be interested in accomplishing.

Since my first triathlon and last, despite the good experience, was about 22 years ago, my recollections are not that fresh. One of my main memories is about another triathlete going out and running the last mile of the 10k run with me. He was wearing flip flops! He was the husband of a childhood friend that I had not seen in 12 years. They were both an inspiration to me that day. They were worried about me and wanted to be sure first that I was OK and second that I would finish if possible. I did finish and was either last or second to last plus two people or so quit. I think it is important to trust those who care about you to help evaluate whether you should continue and then ofcourse your own best judgement. My friend's husband first helped me evaluate whether I should continue before I finished. I am reading "Swimming To Antarctica" by Lynne Cox and she did at times quit for the safety of herself and or the crew helping her. At the age of 15 she set the record at that time for swimming the English Channel. I guess these thoughts are very much on my mind with the death of Fran Crippen.

CoachRosita

[neilde]

some 30 years ago or so, i did my first triathlon with a buddy of mine in keene, new hampshire (half mile swim/20 bike/10K run). the bike and run were uneventful, but the swim, let's just say that it helps to know the course.

the swim started and after a few strokes, we noticed that people were running by us. surely this must be illegal i thought. nope, we were swimming along the shore in a small lake and the first hundred yards or so were shallow enough that you could 'run' faster than you could swim. it was every man for himself.

a couple hundred yards into the swim, i take a breath on my right side and i see the guy next to me swim right into the raft that was on the lake. we looked at each other and i recognized it was my buddy.

"didn't you see that?" i asked.

"nope" was his answer.

the truth is that i didn't see the raft either. so much for sighting and knowing the course. how little we both knew about swimming back then.

to this day, we still have a good laugh about that swim!

neilsen

[kenstovitz]

I just finished my first tri. I am 54 and participated in a sprint. I probably did many things wrong, but because of Total Immersion Triathlon Swimming Made Easy(I bought and read most of the book two days before the event!)I finsihed the swim way faster than any of my training times. In training, I consistently did a 2 minute and ten second to two minute and twenty second 100 meters - didnt matter distance - mile, 1/2 mile, etc. So like a total rookie I read the book right before the event and go out and visualize it and swim under two minutes for every 100m!- notwithstanding all the pushing and jockeying, kicking from other swimmers, etc. I was so convinced I was going to be the slowest guy in the pool and, well, it just didnt turn out that way. I have never written a post on any site before but I am a total believer. I just ordered dvd's.

[terry]

Ken
Congratulations and welcome to the TI site. Please share what idea, emphasis or specific focal point you took from your reading and applied to your swim. And how that changed both your thinking and your physical swimming experience from previously.
Thanks,
Terry

[HydraFx]

So at 51 years young I did my first tri. I hadn't fully recovered from a slight teary in my calf so I knew that the running part was going to involve a humorous mind over matter approach. I managed to finish and would have placed very respectably in the swim if to wasn't for the fact that I had to swim back down the course to clear a buoy I missed. I can't wait to do it again.

[vripley]

I did my first tri in August 2010. It was only a mini-sprint (super sprint?), but it kicked my butt, considering I didn't really train. My story along with photos can be found on my blog:
http://hivlongevity.com/2010/09/01/my-first-triathlon

[KenInCa]

Well after my father died, I really didn't much as in exercising, but got a new dog and new that I should at least take him for a walk. My brother-in-law persuaded me to try a tri, so I did and here is my eventful tri:

Swim: I read many posts that you should try staying on the outside of the pack so that you have clean water and don't have to worry about the pack. I did that and was swimming with another person and well he turned quickly and kicked me square between the eyes. I really didn't like that, so I REALLY went wide. Wife asked me as I came out of the water... "why did you swim way outside like that. You probably doubled your distance." pssst, you get kicked in the head and see if you like swimming with feet at your face! was my answer.

Bike: off rode for 12 miles with several killer hills to climb. At the first major hill, by chain breaks! I'm still shaking with adrenaline and can't get my tool to work. Woman's group pass me, Senior group passes me. UGH! After about 15-20 minutes later I fix the stupid thing. I go all out trying to make up any dignity I have left, passing people, but around a corner, I come on this person a little too fast and I so a panic break, which tosses my over my bars, bike almost hitting this woman. Luckily nothing broken on the bike (or me) I keep going. I find my brother in law with his chain broken, LOL. Fix his quickly and then keep going. Later he tells me that he got a flat and he didn't have a pump. He waited forever till someone stops with a pump.

Run: Luckily nothing happens there except the fact that I CAN'T run very well and there was a killer hill near the end. Shesh.

All in all I had fun and plan to compete against myself this year and now with TI, will swim a LOT easier and better

[chaimsmom]

I just did my first tri on Sunday and it was awesome. The swimming was "only" 400 yards, but when I was standing in the water the finish line looked very far away. The water was really choppy and I could see the swimmers that started ahead of me getting pushed to the side because the waves were coming at us perpendicular to the course. The water was also extrememly muddy - I couldn't see my hands underwater. I started in the back of my wave and didn't have any trouble getting elbowed, etc. When I was about 100 yards from the finish I heard this voice shouting "keep going ma'am, you're almost there." It was the lifeguard. Since I was the last swimmer in the water I had my own personal lifeguard for the finish, which was really nice. I just wish he hadn't kept calling me ma'am. When I finished I wasn't particularly tired or out of breath, but I felt very unsteady from the waves crashing into me. That was the biggest surprise of the triathlon for me. It took me over two minutes to make the transition to cycling.

Because I was the last swimmer out of the water I had a police escort for the cycling portion (19 miles) which was kind of cool. Also, the cycling was an out and back course, so I could see the other cyclers coming in. Almost all of them waved at me, which was really nice. A friend of mine says "you never get as much support as when you are last" and I think it's true.

I'm a runner, so I wasn't worried about the running segment (3.1 miles). I was able to make up some time running and even passed a few people. In fact, I was surprised to see so many people while I was running. I was so slow swimming and cycling that I had visions of everyone being gone by the time I made it back to the transition area. But people were still out on the course and a lot of participants hung around to cheer on the 'back of the packers.' The highlight of the whole event was when I tripped over my own two feet 500 yards from the finish line. A bunch of finishers started yelling "Get up, you're almost there." I had no intention of not finishing, even if I had to crawl to the end, but it was still nice.

Since this was my first triathlon, I don't know if my experience with the other participants is typical. But based on this one experience I must say that triathletes are really nice. I've run dozens of marathons and half-marathons and never gotten this kind of support.