Triathlon Evolution - Finishing to Racing

Triathlon is a very fast growing sport. It attracts a wide range of folks, but typically starts off in a very similar fashion. Namely people want to answer the question, "Can I do that?" "That" usually takes the form of a shorter race, be it a sprint or olympic or some slightly off middle ground of the two.

That first triathlon is the scariest. What to expect? We look to friends who've done one or know somebody who's done one, to offer us some mentoring or pointers. How much should I train? We underestimate the swim. Maybe we borrow a bike or use our mountain bike, cruiser bike, hybrid to get ready for the bike. Did anybody do a brick workout for their first triathlon? We go online and find a freebie program or buy the current month's Triathlete Magazine and see if we can't make sense of what should work.

Race day arrives that first time way too fast and way too early, getting up before sunrise to head to the venue. Everything is strange, getting bodymarked with those smelly black magic markers. Getting your timing chip (does this really stay on when I pull my wetsuit off). Setting up transition, hmmm where do I put everything? Oh that guy looks like he know what he's doing. She doesn't look nervous at all. How much am I supposed to eat?

Then the race starts to line up for the start. God this wetsuit feels tight. I should have swam in this before today, ugh. Everybody's in the water. Are we really going to all swim at once? My heart is pounding. BOOM! Start, chaos, madness. Oh this wetsuit is too tight. Why is this person hitting my feet? Ouch, my goggles are around my neck. I can't breathe. PANIC. Oh why I am doing this? RELAX. BREATHE, stroke, stroke, better breathe again not like the pool. Ok I am getting this now. Cool. Just keep it up. Hey almost done here is the bouy, oh man people are all over me. Ok just take it home.

You crawl out of the water weary yet relieved. Ok where is my bike? Ouch my feet hurt on these rocks. Ok helmet first. Shoes, no wait I have to take off this stupid wetsuit. Where is the zipper cord? Ahhhhhhh damn it. Ok all ready to go on the bike.

Fast forward a little while on the bike. Man my legs are sore. I am hungry. Oh I should eat a gel I guess. Oh man when is this gonna be done. My legs are aching. I am slow. Wow how is that lady passing me? Does it say 62 on her calf? This sucks. Oh almost done 3 more miles. My head hurts, my legs are sooooo tired. How on earth am I gonna run? Oh there's transition.

Ok rack the bike. Get the running shoes. I guess I'll have another gel. Ready to roll, half way out of transition. SH!T! My helmet is still on. Run back and grab my hat. Oh my God my legs hurt. This is so stupid. Ok just put one foot in front of the other. Ok this isn't so bad. Ahhhhh side cramp. Ok that's gone. Just a mile to go. Man I am so tired, why I am I doing this? Oh there it is the finish line. Just run strong baby. Head high. You're the man. Oh this is SWEET. Done!!! Panting...I...can...definitely...do...better.

So there we are one triathlon done. It's finished. We know we can finish better but we are still in a finish mentality. Maybe we'll move up from Sprint to Olympic and finish that. Then we progress maybe try to do a half Ironman. Sometimes we stick around and do a few of the shorter distances. Almost inevitably we aim for the Granddaddy of them all. The Full Ironman, 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike, 26.2 mile (aka a marathon) run. To which friends and family are equally likely to respond, "All in one day?" or "What's wrong with you?" Any of these endeavors it approached initially with the finishers mentality.

We want to know what we need to do to "get through it." In many ways the finisher has a tougher goal than a racer. As my aunt was insightful enough to point out at my first Ironman, all of the fittest and best triathletes spent the least amount of time out on the course. Relatively speaking we all compete in an aerobic zone. Granted a pro puts out a lot more power in their aerobic zone than a first time finisher. But who has the harder day (relatively speaking in terms of self pain of course), the pro going for 8 to 9 hours as hard as they can or the first timer going as hard as they can for 14, 15, 16 or even 17 hours?

Anyway, at some point the switch is flipped and we start looking to do more than finish. How did I do overall? How about in my age group? What were my splits? How were my transitions? Now we delve deeper into the data, the theory, the training and strategy. Maybe we hire a coach or find a little more robust pay program on the web. There are endless choices for coaches. Now the focus is on training, nutrition, active recovery, heart rate, anaerobic threshold, power output. All the buzzwords start to mean something. We join the local tri club. Maybe we chat on message boards looking for pointers. Our significant other wonders why we are obsessed. We will improve! Once the switch is flipped there is no turning back. The ideal cannot be reached, but we devote enormous time, energy and resources into moving along that path toward that goal. The closer we get the better we become.

My wife bought me a T-shirt that says: "TRIATHLON If you have to ask why you will never understand." She says she doesn't get it but she sees the positives it creates for me. The why is difficult to put into words. But every triathlete has it in their mind's eye whether they are an elite racer or a first time finisher. Happy training!