August 2, 2008 is when my adventure in this sport called Triathlon began. At the suggestion of my buddy Kelly, who was also racing, I signed up for a Sprint Triathlon. On just 7 weeks of training I struggled through my first Tri, the Tom Sawyer Triathlon. It was brutal. I had to swim side-stroke for most of the swim because my freestyle form was so horrible, I was completely exhausted. I did the bike on a road bike that I had only been on a few times. Then I was so worn out on the run (plus I was nursing a knee injury) that I had to implement a run/walk strategy just to finish the 5K. Despite all of this, I was hooked! I couldn't wait to sign up for another race and start to train properly.
Fast-forward four years and I will toe the line at Tom Sawyer State Park again this Saturday. With a solid four years of triathlon training and racing under my belt, I'm excited to see what I can do. I now consider myself a triathlete...I was not in 2008 (note all the unnecessary muscle in the pic to the right). This may or may not be my last tri of 2012...but I'm going to race like it is.
I also did this race in 2010. Here's a comparison of my previous results:
800m swim
2008 - 20:58 (2:37/100m)
2010 - 16:35 (2:04/100m)
T1
2008 - 3:15
2010 - 1:29
16 mile bike
2008 - 43:47 (21.9 mph)
2010 - 39:54 (24.1 mph)
T2
2008 - 1:13
2010 - 0:37
5K run
2008 - 31:07 (10:02 min/mile)
2010 - 21:52 (7:03 min/mile)
Total Time
2008 - 1:40:22
2010 - 1:20:39
My goals for Saturday are pretty simple...improve on my times from 2010 in each discipline and try to get a top 10 Overall finish and a podium spot in my Age Group.
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