Julie's Sprint Triathlon Race Report

Well I did it. After some serious convincing from Lowell and Get Your Geek On Triathlon Podcast, I raced in my first (of many according to Lowell) triathlon. It was the ITU World Cup triathlon at Hawrelak Park in Edmonton, Alberta on July 9, 2006.

Weeks before race day, my nerves began mounting and my IBS was out of control. At some points, I would get rushes of…. excitement, but for the most part, I was one big ball of nerves. On the Friday before Sunday’s race, there was a pasta party. I was surprised to see people with “Team USA” and “Team China” outfits and accents flying all over the place. Well, if I wasn’t intimidated before, I sure was now. There were real live Olympians there, and people trying to qualify for the next Olympics. Elite triathletes is what they call them. And believe you me, these people are TANNED and RIPPED. It was like a whole different culture. A culture of tanned and ripped people with shaved everything. (I have none of these things thanks to SPF 45, lack of weight lifting, and lack of caring).

Saturday was the day to check in our bikes, do a run-through of the course, and get our bodies marked with permanent marker. Personally, I feel as though the body markings are a huge perk to this whole triathlon business, and I have no intention of helping them wear off any sooner than they naturally would. This was a good day as we made ourselves familiar with the course (thank you Steve!), and could begin mentally preparing ourselves.

So Sunday arrives, and although I didn’t break out into hives, I was sure nervous. First came the swim. We gathered as a group of competitors and were walked down to a pen with the escort of a bag pipe player. It felt very somber and kind of like we were at a funeral. After we were corralled like animals, we waited until we were told to line up on the shore. Now this, folks, was the most nerve racking part of all. I don’t even remember what they did to get us to jump in the water (was it a whistle?), but all of a sudden, everyone was running in. I didn’t really want to get killed, so I toddled in a little slower than most, but I didn’t want to start out dead last either because that would mean I would probably stay that way. Lowell had tried to teach me a new, more efficient stroke just the day before, but unfortunately that didn’t fly so well, so I resorted to my good old elementary, inefficient front crawl. Now I’d like to sum up my feelings for you while I was in the water: “Holy man this sucks.” I was not impressed. And that’s all I’ll say about the 750m swim because at long last, thank heavens, the end did come.

Next came the bike ride. The transition was smooth, so no complaints there. I got on my 95 dollar, 1960s, 10 speed, squeaky-brakes-bike and began the 20km ride. I felt vintage being surrounded by bikes worth anywhere between 1 and 5 thousand dollars, but good ol’ faithful did brilliantly for me. A few of the Olympic distance men passed me on the way up or down hills, but other than that, me and my little bike enjoyed cruising past others- men and women in both the Sprint and Olympic distances. At the end of the bike, right before the transition area, you’re required to dismount before a marked line, then run your bike into the transition zone. I’d like you to imagine all these experienced triathletes with their amazing bikes as they, in a very natural and sleek manner, remove their bike shoes while on the bike, coast with both legs on one side of the bike, and then dismount very gracefully EXACTLY at the line, and then keep running. There is no actual stopping involved for them. Now let’s picture me. I SCREECH my brakes (very literally) and come to a complete halt right before the line, then awkwardly swing my foot (laden with big heavy shoe) over my bike, and THEN begin to run to transition. I’m pretty sure I heard the volunteers snicker after me.

The transition to the run went just as smoothly as the transition to the bike. I started out at a good pace and managed to keep it up most of the way. It tapered off a little at the end, but nothing significant. At one point as I passed a man, he said, “That’s a great pace. I wish I could do that!” I assured him that I thought he could, then I ran on. I also had a little cheering section during the run part that encouraged me. Lyndsay (videographer and photographer #1), Nancy (videographer #2), Nial (photographer #2), Kendra, Brad, and my cousin Ben’s friend Greg. As I passed them they cheered me on very loudly. Just after I passed them on the second loop of the 5km run, I was passing a lady and she said,

“You must be Julie. A lot of people love you.”

“Well, I have some friends here” I replied ever so humbly.

And she said, “You take advantage of that.” Such wisdom. I am very happy that my friends could come and witness my first triathlon and cheer me on so excitedly.

Back to the race: I was getting very excited as I neared the finish line, but I couldn’t quite make my legs move faster. Lowell thinks this is because I didn’t eat or drink anything during the whole race. You may think it was silly of me not to eat or drink anything, but I KNEW if I did I’d either have to go to the bathroom or be bloated. Neither of these things were very appealing to me, so I opted to skip the hydration/nutrition thing all together. At 1 hour and 22 minutes, I crossed the finish line 8 minutes before my goal time (even though I really had no clue what to expect).

So here’s the skinny of it all. I placed 3^rd in my category (ages 20-29), and 4^th overall (out of all the Sprint Women). I came in 12^th after the swim (hehe), third after the bike, and I was first for running time. All in all it was a great race, and it was fun to be part of such a crazy atmosphere. After working on the swim portion, and perhaps shaving my legs, I look forward to future triathlons!

Click to view Full Female Sprint Race Results

Pictures!
(click to view larger images)

750m Swim: 17:39 - 12/17

20k Bike: 41:58 - 3/17

5k Run: 23:02 - 1/17

Notice Julie's Feet? Now I know how she got first in the run, SHE FLEW!
Cheater.