I didn’t wear my watch this morning at the Tejas Triathlon in Sugarland — gasp! — so I had to wait until the official results were posted to see what all of my splits were.
Swim (800 meters) – 15:03
Transition 1 – 2:48
Bike (~10.5 miles) – 36:59
Transition 2 – 1:35
Run (3 miles) – 32:23
Total Time – 1:28:48
My biggest surprise was running sub-11:00 miles, even after biking, and even with 3-4 quick walk breaks per mile! I did not expect to be able to do that. With no watch, I had no idea how I was doing, so I just went as hard as I felt comfortable going. Perhaps I should go without a watch more often!
Also cool is that I finished 5th in my group, only 1:46 out of 3rd place and only 2:51 out of 2nd. This race offered an “Athena” category, where women must weigh more than 140 lbs, so that’s where I decided to compete. There were only 9 total women in the group, which indicates to me that there are plenty of women who chose to compete in their age group — I know at least one or two very fit women who weigh 140+ and find it very hard to imagine that there were only 9 of us in the entire race at that weight. Regardless, I hope more triathlons have this category; it’s fun for me to be in a group where I’m a bit more competitive. With a little training and some work on making my transitions faster, I could be on the podium in a similar race!
Also interesting to me are the averages, and how I compared. The first average listed below is for the entire field, more than half of which were men. Then I separated out just women.
Averages:
Swim – 16:26 (all), 17:02 (women)
Bike – 32:54 (all), 35:11 (women)
Run – 25:48 (all), 27:43 (women)
Total – 1:18:20 (all), 1:23:10 (women)
That pretty much confirms what I’ve always said — I’m an above average swimmer, an average biker (compared to females anyway), and a below average runner.
As for the “who I saw” report, well, I don’t know nearly as many triathletes as I do runners. I did see HRBer Steve and his daughter Taylor at the first water station on the run course (and after the race). I thought that Jill was planning to do the race as well, and I thought I even saw her this morning as I drove into the parking lot, but I never saw her during the race and I don’t see her name in the results. Jill, I hope everything is ok!
I love triathlons. I think I may like them better than just running (another gasp!). I definitely want to do a few more this summer, and as a step towards that goal, last night I signed up for On The Run’s triathlon training program. It’s very reasonably priced, and runs for 10 weeks starting on Tuesday! The goal race is the Cinco Ranch Tri on August 27, so for any HRBers out there wanting to try a tri, I’ll encourage you to do that one with me!
JoeC says
Impressive, same pace as Resurrection run after a swim & bike! I’ve been thinking of joining the OTR tri training, but (a) I need to get a bike and (b) I need to stop swimming like a brick before I tri and (c) I have to travel for work less. If you want to see where the local trail run is, Wednesday or Saturday morning works for anyone who is up for it.
JoeC says
Wednesday evening or Saturday morning.
Steve says
Congratulations! We enjoyed chatting with you today.
James says
Ironically, JR Spriggle did a sprint triatholon in California this weekend. He said it was 300m swim, 14K bike, 4K run, which seemed like odd preportions to me.
Christy says
Congrats on your Tri. I have been wanting to try a tri, but I too need a bike and some serious swimming lessons. Maybe after Chicago this fall…
Jill says
Locked my f***ing keys in the car!! Ticked me off royally!!
Great job for not training!! Heck, great job – period!!
Cassie says
yay Sarah- you did really great!!
Jon says
Congratulations Sarah. Duathlon in July? Yes. Triathlon in August? I’ll pass, but thanks. 🙂
What I liked best, though, was the statistical analysis on this post!
Jon says
Congrats too for being the first HRBer to complete a multi-sport event this year!