What NOT To Do: Lessons Learned From My 1st Triathlon

Six years ago, in 2010 I participated in my first triathlon.  It was a great experience—well, at least good enough to keep me coming back for more ;)  The goal was to finish, and with a time of 3:15 for the Olympic distance, I had succeeded.   BUT things did not go perfectly.  Unfortunately some things in this sport are just trial and error, but here are some of the things I did well and “not so well” during my first race.

DON'T FORGET TO PRACTICE TRANSITIONS

Transitions will not come natural-no other sport has these weird gear changes.  I just put all my things in a pile…in the WRONG spot.  Sooo I ended up having the longest transition time all day because I could not find my bike.  Funny now but then-not so much!  I should have tried to take my surroundings in and look around for where the “bike in” and “bike out” would be located.  You should not even have to think about these things during the race.  It should all be right at the front of your memory. 

DON'T JUST DO BIKE OR RUN ONLY WORKOUTS, DO "BRICK" SESSIONS
Getting off the bike and running for the FIRST time should NOT be in a race!  Running after biking is a super weird feeling if you have never experienced it before.  I was caught off guard when I could not feel my legs for the first few miles even though I was running. 

DON’T AVOID YOUR WEAKEST LEG

I was SO guilty of this.  My weakest leg is the bike, and I usually go into each ride a little whiny.  I barely did any biking for the race, and I just figured I could kind of get through it.   Well, I got through it, but it felt sooooo long.  And getting passed by a 71 year old is always encouraging, right?!  Triathlon has 3 legs, and you need to accept all 3 as part of the sport.  Don’t be discouraged if you struggle in one of them-work hard, stay positive, and do what it takes to improve.

DON'T BE SILENT, ENCOURAGE THOSE AROUND YOU

Triathletes form a unique community, and the sport is made up of individual athletes that compete together.  During the bike leg of my first race, I got a lot of sympathy “Good job, girl” cheers…now I don’t get quite so many now that I can hold my own with the super-focused crowd. I remember during one of my recent races I decided that I was going to cheer on all those that were coming back from the turn-around (I was still on my was to the turn-around).  As much as it is nice to hear a little encouragement when you’re “out in the boonies,” it’s also nice to spread a little positivity to fellow athletes.  We all get it-it’s tough and it hurts, but having support makes it slightly less miserable ;)

By doing these things, I have become a much stronger athlete, and my time has improved about 45 minutes since then (basically a 10k run!).  I also enjoy it a LOT more!