Paul Morris XTERRA Vashon Race Report

Thoughts on my First Tri

(XTERRA Vashon July 12, 2009)

Well, I made it and finished. So that in and of itself is an accomplishment. But not a real big surprise considering the time, effort, training, and practice that I have put in since I decided to participate in a triathlon last fall. All in all, I was happy with my individual split times and the overall time. My swim time was better than I was anticipating by several minutes. This was a big achievement since I hadn’t swum in approximately 18 years and never competitively. I still had issues getting out of the water – the going from horizontal to vertical thing wasn’t working too well. I probably lost a minute trying to gain my equilibrium so I could stumble like a drunk into transition. Then transition took too long as I was still coming out of my stupor. Off on the bike to hit that first hill. Wow! What a climb it was. Not only did we get to ride or walk up it once, but three times! On the tight, single track that was a challenge. I had not anticipated walking very much with my bike, but that long (maybe ½ mile or so) staggered hill required too much energy to ride and I figured that it was better to run/walk up it. Once up the hill, the tight twisty single track was fun to ride. I had to try to remember that I was in a race and not just out for an enjoyable mountain bike ride. I had hoped for a faster bike time. However, after I finished the first of three loops in around 35 minutes, I knew that wasn’t going to be the case. Coming in for the bike transition, I was caught off guard when another rider was right behind me as I was trying to dismount and run into the transition area. For most of the bike ride I was riding alone except for occasionally passing by someone or being passed. I got through T2 in acceptable time, but as always could improve here as well. Just as I was heading out of transition, it started to rain. Starting out on the run going up another hill, I noticed the biker that had been right behind me coming into transition was now running ahead of me. I could see that he was struggling, so I reeled him in as we ran up the hill and headed into the forest. The 2 loop trail run through the forest was enjoyable. I tried to find my pace and felt like I ran fairly comfortably. However, like the bike section, I didn’t know the course or the terrain. So I was at a disadvantage and could have pushed a little harder during the run. Then I ended up back where I started, crossing the finish line 2 hours and 33 minutes later. Not too bad for my first triathlon.