🏊♀️🚴♀️🏃♀️
Let’s face it: this race was a baptism by fire. I did an olympic distance on a lake not far from where I live 3 years ago. It didn’t prepare me a single bit for this race. I finished Ironman 70.3 Gdynia, but not without learning a few things along the way. So here they are:
Borrowed and rented gear
They always say ‘don’t use new stuff during the race’ and they have a point. I had two items which were not mine. The first one was a tri watch. It was lovely! It had awesome functions. However, if you read my post about the race, you have read that during transition, I went totally dumb and couldn’t figure out how to change it over to bike mode. Not exactly a disaster, but it’s a good example of issues you may run into. Also: because I didn’t start the bike on it until much later, I had issues figuring out how far/ fast I went. Speaking of fast and far: it was in metric system, while I use miles in training. It caused some confusion and frustration to me along the way. On the bright side, it kept my mind busy, since I was trying to convert units.
I also had a rented bike. It was perfectly lovely and the gentleman who helped me was great. The bike was in top shape and even had tires that don’t go flat when you have a small hole. But… It wasn’t my bike. When I was working on renting a bike, I had to pick a size and it turned out that I was somewhere in between the two sizes and went with a smaller one. Sadly, it was a bit smaller than my regular bike and gave me sub-optimal position. It also felt just different. It led to me taking turns and such a bit differently. I don’t think I really lost much time on this, but I wished for comfort of my own bike.
As you can tell, none of my borrowed/ rented stuff was really bad. I just wished for comfort of my own ‘stuff’ during the stress of the race. It’s better to be able to rely on muscle memory.
Speaking of rented/ borrowed stuff: I believe that plenty of people rent wetsuits. Don’t! I don’t get to use mine much and it was a bit uncomfortable. When you rent, you have to tell them what your size is ahead of time. You also probably are not getting to practice wearing a wetsuit. That’s just asking for trouble. You will be uncomfortable. You may have a hard time breathing because it’s squeezing you. Or it may be too big and leaking water. Either way, it will make your race that much harder. As far as I know, open water swim is the hardest part mentally. I can attest to that… You don’t want to make it any harder on yourself than you absolutely have to.
I had one more borrowed item… the strap you hang your number on. They had them in the envelopes and when I was trying to put the number on it, I tugged on something and it fell apart 🤦♀️ . So I had a borrowed one. I don’t remember if I tried tightening it before checking in. Either way, when I put it on, it fell off. Lesson from this issue: try your gear on. Anything you won’t be putting on until the running part: make it tighter. You will burn through water and calories, which makes you leaner. Yes, I totally put the strap with the number on, got up and it fell off 😆
Checking in your gear
They will make you wear your helmet. Things will go faster if it’s already on your head. They will check your bags for your racing number – make sure they are easily accessible. Mine were nicely packed into my backpack and unloading was a bit embarrassing. It also wastes time. Line is already long enough. Make sure to have all of your stuff ready before you get to the check point. Also: be ready for them to take a picture of you with your stuff. So heads up to look presentable… This is not how I like my hair when wearing a helmet. It makes me think of Lady’s (from Disney’s Lady and the Tramp) ears 😅
Waiting to start the swim
It got pretty warm there and we waited for a long time to get in the water. Make sure you bring water or something to drink while waiting. Otherwise you will start dehydrated. For larger races, you may be waiting for a long time.
Turns during the swim
Freestyle may be the fastest and the most common stroke during the race, but breaststroke is helpful. It’s easier to see where you are going, especially when you are turning. During turns, people get closer to each other and things get messy. Breaststroke helps you navigate safely through it. Also: when something bad happens (like accidentally taking in water), breaststroke is helpful in regrouping and calming down.
T1 disorientation
I have nothing… I came out of water looking confused and stumbled around a bit. I could use some words of wisdom on how to do better on that. Just look at that confusion:
Ok, maybe it’s not that clear. But they did have to tell me to move off the stairs when I was coming out of the water. It’s a good thing I didn’t fall back in 😬
Preparing to get on the bike
Bring a towel. I had one and tried my feet before putting my socks and shoes on. It may not make much sense to you, but you will appreciate it when you start running. As a runner, I always make sure my feet are well taken care of. Running in damp socks is unpleasant and can lead to chafing, blisters and general misery. Wiping feet before you get dressed for the bike can go a long way to make you happier on the run.
Hydration before you start riding
One good idea: drink some water. You are probably already a bit dehydrated and it will take a few minutes for you to get going on the bike. For me, it felt really crowded in the beginning, so I needed my focus on the road for the first few miles.
Water and sport drinks along the bike route
Take one water bottle at most. There was plenty of stations with water and sport drinks along the way. Having one bottle cage available for those will be nice, so you can drink gradually. It also saves you the weight of unnecessary drinks.
Caution: during that olympic triathlon I did a long time ago, there was nothing on the bike route. Check on that before the race…
I don’t think I mentioned this before: I admire people hading stuff to cyclists during the race! People (not really me, but other people) were zooming through! It takes guts to stick your hand out towards a bike coming right at you!
Food while biking
Make sure it’s easily accessible. Mine was in the back pocket of my tri suit. It’s a tight, hard to reach spot. I had to give up on grabbing the candy a couple of times because side wind hit me. Or I hit turns. Or an area with bad potholes. I eventually got to them, but I had my doubts.
T2 (and general transition wisdom)
If you lose something, remember that it will most likely reappear in the transition zone at some point, possibly after the race. My helmet disappeared during T2. I am pretty sure I knocked it off the bench while changing and somebody moved it out of the way. I was stressing about it and wasted time. Stuff can’t leave transition zone without a competitor taking it. It’s unlikely that somebody will steal your gear.
There are literally 3 stickers with my number on it and they make people show their helmets when coming and going. Why did I ever worry about it???
Keep a reasonable pace while running
A few people tried telling me to run faster. Uhm… I’m first and foremost a marathon runner (rather than triathlete)… I know what I’m doing with running, thank you very much. I had a lot of satisfaction seeing those same people walking because they ran out of steam. I had exactly the amount of energy it took for me to maintain the same pace through the finish line. Moral of the story: know what your body can do on the running portion and do it. Pacing is important. You don’t want to bail that far into the whole deal!
It’s all in your head
I panicked in the water, but talked myself out of that.
I got demoralized on the bike when hundreds (literally) of people passed me, but I did my best and never gave up.
I was tired on the run and considered just walking to the finish line, but decided I’m too stubborn to do that.
Making sure your head is in the right place is probably one of the most important (if not THE most important) part of endurance sports. Before you show up at the starting line, learn how to deal with yourself. Maybe it’s cursing yourself out (worked on the swim…). Maybe reminding yourself that you are here for your own satisfaction and what others are doing doesn’t matter (worked on the bike…). Maybe it’s something completely different. You need your own arsenal for coping with problems. Come well armed! Here is one of my ‘weapons’:
How can I give up when this smile is waiting for me? Or even better, I hear her little voice telling me to keep running in here:
It’s supposed to be fun!
Before you take off, remember why you’re doing it. Unless you are competitive elite, you are probably out there to have fun. Enjoy it! And keep in mind that stakes are low. We all want to do our best and that’s to be applauded. But remember that bragging rights are probably the only thing you will be winning. So don’t stress yourself out too much. Otherwise you may end up like me: making somebody laugh. I know that your pride will be hurt if you don’t finish or do poorly. It’s not the end of the world. So just take a deep breath and have some fun!