Toby's Ironman-In-Training Blog

Elizabeth and I just got back from the 2010 Hoosierman in Bloomington, Indiana, where I ran my first triathlon and she ran the duathlon (run, bike, run, without the swimming). I ended up running the “sprint triathlon”, which was a 500 meter swim, 10 mile bike, and 5k run. I had actually signed up for the “olympic” triathlon, which was a 1.5k swim, 26 mile bike, and 10k run. But the day before the event, I was loading our bikes onto the back of the car and pulled a muscle in my back as I lifted Elizabeth’s bike. I’m so used to my racing bike (which I can lift with one hand) that I wasn’t prepared for her much heavier road bike.

As disappointed and frustrated as I was with the injury the day before my first triathlon, I think I learned some good lessons. First off, avoid any strenuous activity at all the week of a big race! Earlier that day I had taken our three dogs for a run (which mostly involves them pulling me along while I try to keep them at a reasonable speed) which likely set me up for the injury. Secondly, I need to stretch way more often. I’m going to try to make it a habit to stretch every morning when I get up. And finally, I still have a ways to go before being able to swim 2.4 miles in the Ironman! More on that later…

So as we arrived in Bloomington and picked up our packets, my back was still hurting quite a bit and I wasn’t sure I’d be able to compete at all. We turned in early and when I woke up on race morning I could tell that my back was better but I wasn’t sure I should push myself that far. As we showed up to the race site, I asked about switching to the shorter race which they said was fine. Although still frustrated, I was also relieved about the much shorter swim since I wasn’t sure my back would hold out.

As we picked our spots out on the bike rack in the transition area, it became obvious who the veteran triathletes were. They had all of their gear neatly arranged on a towel by their bike and seemed very organized. I immediately realized my first mistake: I was wearing tri shorts (like bike shorts but a bit shorter and with very little padding) and a tri top (a close-fitting, sleeveless top) which I planned to wear for all three events but that meant I couldn’t pin my bib number to myself until after the swim. It suddenly dawned on me why so many triathletes pin their bib to a “race belt” which they just throw on after the swim. Luckily, I was able to use my MacGyver-like resourcefulness to repurpose the strap from my duffel bag for this purpose!

We were allowed to swim around a bit in the lake beforehand so I decided to get in to see how my back would hold up. To my delight, my swim stroke didn’t cause any pull at all on my injured muscle. It was also my first time wearing a swim cap and even though my hair is rather short I noticed a definite reduction in drag as I moved through the water.

Soon it was time to line up; the swim waves were started in age group order and mine was second. I felt pretty good as I entered the water and stayed with the pack pretty well as we swam out to the buoy. I concentrated on using good form and keeping a slow, steady pace. But when I looked up after a minute or so, I realized I was swimming perpendicular to the swim course, away from the buoy! Lesson #2: sight my swim path more often in open water, and learn to breathe from both sides to avoid swimming in circles!

I corrected my course but quickly found myself drifting to the right again. Even though I knew it was happening, it was very difficult to keep swimming in a straight line, and I began having difficulty getting my bearings. In turn, my form suffered, I got tired, and had to begin using backstroke and a bit of sidestroke to keep moving. A couple people in the wave after me caught up to me. All in all, it wasn’t a terrible experience, but I definitely learned that I need to work a lot more on my open-water swimming.

Moving into the transition area, I felt pretty good but a bit winded. I put on my race belt and bib, dried my feet, smeared on some BodyGlide to avoid blisters on my damp skin, threw on my socks, bike shoes, gloves, and helmet, and took off. I’d been doing a lot of cycling lately so 10 miles was pretty easy for me, although my heart rate stayed rather elevated from the swim and the rising heat. There were however a couple very challenging hills and one very steep downhill portion where I hit 38 MPH.

As I entered the transition area again for the run, I think I made pretty good time switching from bike shoes to running shoes. Bike shoes are very difficult to move quickly in due to the cleats for the clipless pedals; maybe I should have run barefoot instead. But I was still able to get into and out of the transition pretty quickly.

About the only thing I can say about the run is that it really sucked. It started with a very steep hill out of the transition area and the first mile was on a wooded trail. The trail was very slippery due to rains the previous night and very steep in places. I’m rather surprised I didn’t twist an ankle. If they still have the trail portion of the race next year, I doubt I’ll participate.

As the temperature continued to rise, the humidity got very thick and I slowed down quite a bit. I tried to keep my pace in the 9:30 range but I had to slow down for a while. Definitely need to keep working on the hot weather training.

I’m not even sure at this point what my final time was but overall I’m pretty happy with my effort considering the shape my back was in. Unfortunately I think I’m gonna have to take a few days off training altogether in order to get better. But, like the mini marathon earlier this year, I feel like I’m still learning some important race-day tips that will pay dividends come Ironman day, and I’m looking forward to the next race, which may be the Muncie Endurathon…