June 17, 2000 My First Triathlon, the Muskoka Sprint Triathlon, in Huntsville, Ontario. Sunny, warm, and windy. I arrived in Huntsville just before 3pm, plenty of time to get myself all ready before 5pm start time. Following the instructions from the Trisport Web site, I immediately went to the transition area, and found a place for my bike. Clearly marked was "Men 30 - 35", so I chose a spot about 1/2 way down the rack, and, after a bit of fiddling, I was able to hook my bike over the bar, and a dumped my knapsack of stuff. I then went into the Centre and did all my registration stuff. It was quick and easy. My race number is #1006. I then went to the Sportstats booth, and, because I had not registered with my ChampionChip, I had to get one of their's. I forgot to get marked when I was there, but I saw other people with their number marked on them, so I easily went back and get my self "marked" - 'F' on my left leg (category letter), and my race number on my left arm. Very cool. Then I returned to my bike and laid out all my stuff. I saw a couple of other mountain bikes there, with the studded tires on them, so I did not feel so intimidated. I got water from the lake for my wash basin, and I checked out the swim transistion: we were going to have an about 400m run on pavement/gravel after the swim to get to the transistion. This would be interesting. It was just after 4pm now, so I went and limbered up, ate my FastTrak bar, and then, armed with a spray can of Pam, I found some shade and set to work getting the wetsuite on. The practice last night, and the can of Pam, made this easier, and I was able to get the suite on to my satisfaction in about 10min. I then got my swimming stuff (goggles, swim cap) and started walking to the start line (about 1km up the road). I found I was walking with a lady named Joanne, and we talked lightly on the walk up. I then ran into Irene and Cary Moretti from XSNRG Running Club (Irene was sans-wetsuit, and was worried about the water temperature), and we all reassured ourselves in the minutes leading up to race time. I was in the first wave for the swim, so I made my way to the edge of the water. I walked out a bit, and floated, to get a feel for the wetsuit. It sure made me buoyant!! And I could barely feel the water temperature! I positioned myself at the back of the pack, a ways from the official starting line, so when the horn went off, I did not get run over. I started out alright, but did not get into my normal swimming form until I had rounded the first buoy: I was nervous about running into other swimmers, and the glare of the sun on the water made it hard to see forwards. I got comfortable, and I kept breathing on the left side because the sun was on my right. A few times swimmers came up and passed me, bumping me in the process. And a couple of times I breathed in water from a wave, and had to stop to recover. Then the wetsuit made it easy to just float and get my breath back. During those occasions, I saw that I was not the last in my wave (blue swim caps), although people from later starting waves were already passing me. Eventually I saw the swim finish line. But it took forever to arrive! Finally I got to the shallow water, and once my hands felt the bottom, I stood up and tried to run up onto the beach. With my ears full of water, I was light-headed and had no sense of balance, but I managed to keep myself from falling. I pressed the lap-button on my watch - 22min for the swim, right what I had expected - Good!. I ran under the arch and up the tunnel of people who were LOUDLY cheering us on! That was a boost! Christianne Moretti saw me as I passed, and she gave me a big encouraging "Go Andrew!". I stripped the wetsuit down to my waste as I ran along the road, so that I was bare-chested (except for the tape over my nipples - I did not feel self-conscience about this, even though I normally do). The run along the road wasn't too bad on the feet. I did, however, belch a couple of times, and spectators laughed as I jokingly apologized! I made it into the transition area, and found my bike. I thought to myself: "ok, do everything right, and don't rush it. skipping something now to save 30sec will cost me minutes later on, so do it right!". I saw that I was not the last bike in my rack, so I wasn't the slowest swim in my category - that was a boost. I sat down, and got the wetsuit off fairly easily - praise the Lord for the Pam. Then I got my gear on: feet in wash-bucket; dried off, socks; shoes - double tied; shirt; sun glasses; bike gloves: helmet - fasten chin strap; and grab bike and go.. I ran out of the transition area and across the line the race guides pointed me to, then mounted my bike and punched the lap button on my watch - 6:58 for my transition time - Good, under the 7min I was shooting for. Then I had an argument with the PowerGel that I had taped to my handlebars - with one hand, i couldn't rip it open properly, and peddle at the same time. I went up the hill onto the road, and, in trying to open the PowerGel, I knocked off my bike computer, and it rolled across the road and under a parked car. "Oh no!". Avoiding cyclists coming up behind me I crossed the road, stopped, found my computer, put it back on, and got going again. Later I realized that I had "crossed the yellow line of the road", and, if caught, could have been disqualified. Ooooh boy! So, after ditching the PowerGel (I got a little of it out), I got going. Lots of people passed me, and I only managed to pass a couple of ladies. This is a hilly course, and I could feel the toughness fairly early on. I stayed positive, and tried to keep an even pace. Eventually I started wondering where the 10km turnaround was, as my computer approached 10km. I finally found it, at the end of a long straight stretch, with my computer saying 10.2km. And then, heading back, I felt the wind. Oh boy! This was going to be tough. It was! My legs started to die and hurt, and I knew I had a long way to go. I saw the wheelchair athlete coming the other way - he must of had a long/slow/difficult swim, and was now motoring along. I was not seeing many other people now, as I knew I was near the back of the pack. The 15km mark seemed to take forever to come, and finally I knew I was getting close to the end. I tried to hold myself back abit, as I wanted to keep something for the run. I turned down the hill into the transition area and started the exercises that Cary told me to do: spin the legs, stand on the pedals and flex the legs and stretch ankles, calves, and quads. Cary saw me and yelled "Way to go!". I responded with a pained "Aaaarrrggghhh" and a grin/grimace. I got into the transition area and punched my watch: 54:28 bike. Not too bad (I was hoping for closer to 50min), but good considering the course and wind. I quickly parked my bike (ontop of my gear cuz there was no room), and traded my bike gloves and helmet for my XSNRG hat and water belt and bottle. I was out of the transition area in 50sec (fast cuz I cycled in my running shoes!). I started my run, and did not have the knee hesitations and leg jelliness that I had in training, and normally have after a long bike ride. Within a few minutes I knew I was feeling good and running well, and I was passing people! The course was twisty, with many little ups and downs. It was a 2 loop course, but I didn't really know that until I was nearly done the first loop and knew that that wasn't the 5km distance. I saw Christianne, and she told me that "its two loops". I was glad of that, cuz I was feeling very good, and now knew what I had to do to finish. The second loop was a bit of a blur as I focussed on staying strong (and I felt VERY STRONG!). The wheelchair athlete caught up to me (he got to do the run portion in his chair) - he could blast down the hills, but I caught him on the uphills - and he eventually left me behind. Good for him! Coming into the finish area was great - the cheers, and hearing over the PA "Andrew Weston, of Kanata Ontario; this is his first triathlon" (I had registered with my soon-to-be Kanata address). I crossed the line in 1:49:30 - a 25:31 run! I KICKED ASS on the run! Wow! And I got under 1:50:00!!! Ho! What an experience! I enjoyed the experience for what it was, even though I really wasn't enjoying myself until the run. The swim, with the wetsuite and all, was a hassle, and the bike was tough, because of the hilly course and the wind. I really needed to have a better bike to do it properly. I did see some other mountain bikes, with studded tires on, and one person on one passed me. I need to work on becoming a stronger cyclist. I am not sure I want to do more triathlons. It will require a large investment of $, not to mention time to really improve my swim, and particularly improve my cycling. And you are more dependent on your equipment than when you just run - there are all sorts of bicycle problems that can force you from the race even if you are feeling good. But I am very glad I did this one, so that I can always say "I did a triathlon", and I have a better idea of what the experience is like, and what I would need to do to do more triathlon's a little more seriously. Andrew Weston