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)