Triathlon Times: The Good and The Bad

As I previously posted, I completed my first triathlon this past Sunday. They finally posted the splits, and I was overall pleased with what I saw. However, seeing the splits laid out made me see in black-and-white what I need to work on: the bike.

My overall time was over 1:51. I am comparing myself to other people in my wave (women aged 40-44). I was one of the slowest in my wave, which I expected, because I am a slowpoke and always in the back-of-the-pack during my half marathons.

Swim: about 14 minutes. I am very pleased with this. I thought I was MUCH slower in the water. As I wrote in my recap, I thought the swim would never end. In looking at the other people in my wave, my time seems about average, or even slightly faster than average. Go me!

Transition 1 (T1): about 3 minutes. Quick and easy. On par with others in my wave.

Bike: over 50 minutes. This is where I obviously need help. It should not take me that long to ride 9-10 miles on a flat terrain! I had a lot of lactic acid burn, and think I am pedalling wrong (just pushing, instead of also pulling). Eventually I'd like to get a road bike, which should help considerably, but that's not in the cards just yet.

Transition 2 (T2): about 2 minutes. Again, quick and easy, and totally on par with everyone else in my wave.

Run: about 38 minutes. I am a slow runner at ANY race, and usually my 5K time would be about 36-37 minutes, so 38 minutes after the swim and bike thrill me. Actually, I was faster than this, because in the middle of the run I ducked into a bathroom for a quick potty break, which easily added a minute or more to my time. I'm thrilled with my time here, doing my usual pace on sore legs and a tired mind and body.

So, the lesson learned here is to keep up my training for the run and swim, but I need to amp up my training on the bike. The bike is now my nemesis, and I will conquer it yet!