Our triathlon

Last year at this time, I did my first triathlon. This time, Dave joined me! Here we are trying on our caps the night before. I don't think Dave has ever worn a swim cap in his life. This time, they had different cap colors to indicate what our start time for the swim. I debated if I should get the black cap (fastest group) or the blue cap (second fastest). I went with blue, but kind of regretted that once the race started. 

Dave doesn't really do much cardio training, focusing more on weights, but had to change his training plan a little to be ready for this race. It was pretty cool that he started swimming! He has not done much lap swimming, so watched some You Tube videos on proper form, and he was all ready to race.

It was a beautiful morning!

We may not have the fancy race bikes like most others around us did, but they have two wheels, a seat and some gears, so that's good enough for now.

We filed into the pool area and lined up according to our swim cap color. I was talking to a few guys around me before we started, and I realized that I probably should have picked the black cap (400 meters in 6:00 or less). The one guy said "I have no idea how fast I'll swim this, it's probably pushing it to think I'll swim it in under 7 minutes," while he was wearing the black cap. I was telling another guy that I was on the borderline between the two caps, and he said "most of the people in front of you are lying about their time, you should probably move up." I didn't want to go cutting in front of people, so I stayed where I was. Sure enough, about 15 yards into the first lap, I was already passing someone. I think I passed at least 7-8 people during the 400 meter race, and still could have swam a little faster.

I transitioned quickly to the bike (my least favorite of the 3), and made it through the 12 mile route. I definitely didn't do enough training on my bike for this race, and lost a huge chunk of time that I had going in to the ride after my quick swim. I doubt my bike makes much of a difference (I don't have a racing bike), but it's easier to blame the equipment rather than myself. I know I need to ride more if I'm going to get faster in these races, but biking is my least favorite and I don't make myself do it enough.

I also could have run faster, but I did ok. My times in all of the events were pretty much the same as they were last year, so I can't complain too much. I definitely didn't train very hard for this race, but that's kind of what I like about this distance. I can do the race without too much training since the distances are all pretty short (400 meter swim, 12 mile bike, 3 mile run).

I know I only wrote about my own race here, but that's because I'm the one writing this blog. I'm sure Dave would have plenty to say about his own race, but bottom line is he did great for his first time! I know he could be good at these races if he put the time into training. It would be pretty cool if this ends up being something we do together regularly. I love that we can do these things together. Not only is it fun for us, we are teaching our children the importance of living healthy lifestyles, working towards a goal, and having fun while we do it. I am so glad Dave did this race with me, and I'm super proud of him.

Not to brag or anything, but I did beat him by 9 minutes. Funnily enough, I only beat my time from last year by 10 seconds! Last year, my time was 1:18:21. This year, it was 1:18:11. I was a little bummed when I saw where I placed among women my age, but then I realized they changed the age groups. Last year, I was in a the 35-39 age group (and ended up in third place) and this year it was ages 30-39 making for a much larger (and younger!) pool of athletes. Again, I really didn't train much for this though, so can't complain. It was still an improvement, even if it was only 10 seconds faster. 

Here are Dave's times. Our bike and run times were pretty close, but my swimming experience helped me out quite a bit.

We have room to improve for next year!