Monday, April 7, 2008

My Birthday Triathlon

My birthday has added a new challenge to my life. My schedule showed that I had the day off, but I changed this because I wanted to do the B-Fit B-Day Triathlon Challenge. I am going for Gold!!
In order to get the Gold, you must do all 3 events within 24 hours.

The Swim
I left my house to the pool around 8:30. When I got there the lanes were open for lap swim. I set all my clothes, shoes, socks, helmet and other stuff out nicely for a smooth transition. I was preparing for a cold bike and run so I had several layers. I put my wetsuit on an instantly felt like a superstar. I wanted to wear the wetsuit because it would be good training. I started swimming right at 9am.

I swam almost the whole way through. I stopped for a few brief moments to grab some water. I ended up drinking almost 16oz of water.

My first mile was awesome. I started slowing down towards the end. I was struggling and kept thinking of Martin Strel's journey with the Amazon Swim. I just kept swimming. I may have slowed down because of the consumed water?? It wasn't too bad...

The Bike
I had my plan all set out. Out 14 miles and back 14 miles. The transition from pool to home made it a little tricky because I had to stop by the bike store before the ride. I purchased some extra tubes in case I got a flat. I had no spares so I needed to be prepared. I did not want to be stuck with no support on my birthday.
When I got home I was nearly ready to go. I put my fluids on the bike, grabbed a few other things, made a quick video and off I went. I was a little nervous about the weather because the sun went away and the clouds looks fierce.

Fierce indeed. It started snowing about 6 miles into my ride. The ground was warm enough that the snow wasn't sticking, but man it felt like a blizzard. It was coming down hard and I was cruzin' along. The wind was pretty strong too. The snow managed to stop and the road was pretty dry. No crashing today!!

I rode just a little over 28 miles. It was 28.12, but close enough. I had one gel just before the ride, one during, and one just after. This seemed to work pretty well. I consumed almost 32oz of fluid. I mixed my Hornet Juice with the Gatorade. This made an interesting mix. Not too bad!

The Run
I made a quick transition and made another quick video. I could tell that I was cold. My face was all droopy, and I could barely talk. I grabbed my race bib (I wanted to be official), a few other things and I was off. I had one gel just before the run and one at 45min. I started to get cramps around 45min and they went away...for the most part.

The miles went by pretty quick. It was still cold, but I felt that I was pretty well prepared. My goal was to finish 8 miles in an hour. I missed it by just a minute or two. The run wasn't too exciting, and nothing big to share. Not too many people were out. I got stopped by a few stop lights. The uphill was tough, but I managed. I was slowing down towards the end. I walked for 30 seconds after every mile. I like this method.

When I finished, I walked a little. I decided to go back home and grab my dog. Pazu and I went around the complex for a easy cool down. We walked almost .5 miles, but it was pretty slow. My watch timer is set to pause at 20:00/mile pace and I think it stopped a few times.

Here are my results:

Swim
: 2 miles - 59:52
Mile 1: 28:48, Mile 2: 31:03
200 splits: 3:30.31, 3:52.58, 3:48.73, 3:54.67, 3:52.28, 3:56.36, 3:55.45, 4:06.64, 3:59.19,
4:06.10, 4:11.34, 4:07.77, 4:22.69, 4:02.14, 4:04.15
Avg 200m: 3:59.45

Bike: 28 miles, Avg: 18.2mph - 1:32:21

Run: 8 miles, 7:44/mile pace - 1:01:49


Total Time: 3:34:02
(38 miles)

7 comments:

SWTrigal said...

That is very cool indeed!Happy BDay! Geez, I guess that really pushes us "older" peeps..

Mike said...

GO ERIC!!! :)

Marci said...

You can so break that record! Happy Birthday!

Dan Seifring aka "OBRATS" said...

Another reason turning 40 this year sucks 4 MILE swim.

ShirleyPerly said...

Great job Eric! That challenge really sucks for older folks who aren't big on swimming. I like to look forward to my birthdays so I'll probably never do it :-)

Iron Eric said...

I agree. The younger the better, but the biggest challenge when you get older is the swim.

Spokane Al said...

Congratulations and happy birthday. You really rocked with some solid times in all three disciplines.