Lifetime Fitness Indoor Triathlon 2011

Okay, so, I didn't do the local marathon. I didn't want to. I wanted to have fun, race hard, and get some experience in the tri game for the upcoming season. Luckily Dave and I were still able to sign up for the indoor triathlon held at our gym, Lifetime Fitness. We would be able to get up at a good hour (6:00), start at a normal time (8:00) and be home before lunch (10:00). That's the kind of race I like.

Body marking was done on our hands. That's my wave, 4, and my race number (36).

The format of the race was this: 10 minute swim, 10 minute transition, 30 minute bike (on spin bikes), 5 minute transition, 20 minute run (on treadmill). The race was scored based on the number of the people in the race. If you won the swim, swam the most number of laps, then you got the most points. So if there were 80 people and you won the swim, you got 80 points for the swim. Although there were no race awards or actual winners, the person with the most points technically wins.

Dave and I swim together all the time and almost always share a lane. So it was a no brainer who I wanted to share a lane with during the race. Dave's been doing almost all run training, while I've been tri training. I thought I might have an advantage on him in the pool. I have been swimming really well. The start whistle blew and we were off. Side by side. I started fast and intended to stay that way. After all, it was only a 10 minute swim. Surely I can go hard for 10 minutes. And I did. I swam until I thought I was going to puke. I checked my watch after 300 meters and I was under 5 minutes. My goal was 600 meters (~1:40/100m pace) so I was right on track. Shoot! Maybe I could even eek out 625 meters. Every time I pushed, Dave answered. We swam side by side the entire swim. When the final whistle blew we had both done 600 meters. I'm really happy with that. The swimming training is paying off.

See? Really excited about my swim.

Even though a 10 minute transition sounds like a long time, it is not. I got changed, grabbed my stuff, filled my water bottle, and only gave myself about 1 minute to get my bike set. Luckily whoever was helping me did a pretty good job of setting it up. The only thing I adjusted was my seat; I needed it a little higher. I have to admit, I am not a big fan of spinning bikes. My lady bits hurt right from the get-go! Nor am I a big fan of spinning. The way this was set up was you had to ride with high rpms to produce many miles. The faster you spun your legs, the further you went. It was ridiculous! I was averaging 43 mph and was barely breathing hard. I was holding conversations with the guy beside me, with the spin instructor, and Dave and I were taking pictures. In the end I (should have) biked 21.5 miles. Yeah, not even close to reality.

Another thumbs up!

Finally we were on to the run. There were 5 minutes between the bike and the run and by the time I got to the treadmill there were only three minutes to go. Problem was, I had to go to the bathroom. While I have no problem peeing on myself during most races (yeah, I just went there), I didn't think it was going to be socially acceptable in an indoor race. Our gym doesn't have a bathroom on the second floor, so I raced downstairs, peed as fast as I could, and made it upstairs as they were calling 3-2-1 start. I jumped on my treadmill only to realize that I didn't have my water bottle. It was behind me sitting on the floor. Crap! I jumped off the treadmill, grabbed it, and jumped right back on. I guess they could have disqualified me, but seriously, it was less than 5 seconds that I was off my treadmill. Dave and I were running a tight race between the two of us. It was all coming down to the run. We had joked beforehand that whoever turned up his/her speed on the treadmill, the other person would follow suit. And that's exactly how it went. One minute into the run and Dave was already turning up his treadmill to a 7:50 pace. I hit my button and did the same. Another minute in and we're down to 7:45 pace. And again down to 7:40 only 3 minutes into the race. Dave was pushing me and I was going to push back. Ten minutes into the race and I'm cranking somewhere in the 7:20-7:30 range. Dave reaches for his buttons and I thought, you have got to be kidding me. How fast are we going to go?! But, he backed off his pace and I asked him what was wrong. He had gotten a side stitch and he couldn't hold the pace anymore. I felt bad, but this is a race, and I was going to stick with my fast pace. In the last five minutes of the run I really cranked it up, pulling my pace down to a 6:58. I was on the threshold of crazy and puking. The final whistle blew and I had done 2.65 miles in the 20 minutes for a 7:32 overall pace.

Done. Sweaty and happy.

In the end, I got screwed in the results. I should have gone, at least, 21.5 miles on the bike, but they didn't reset my odometer, so they just guessed on my mileage. Instead of 21.5, they gave me 20 miles. My score for the bike should have been 45 points but instead I got 22 points. That's a BIG difference. I finished 5th overall female, but I should have been second. Sucks. Oh well. I think this was a positive experience and I feel good with the way my body and mind responded. I was the 3rd fastest swimmer (tie) and the 8th fastest runner and that's for both men and women. I have to admit I'm a little disappointed with the results, but I also know they mean nothing. There are real races on the horizon and I'm really excited for what's to come.