Smith Mountain Lake Sprint Triathlon 2010

This blog post is a bit of bragging on my husband.  He did the sprint triathlon at Smith Mountain Lake this weekend and since it was his first OUTDOOR triathlon (yes, we've both done quite a few indoor ones) he was automatically classified into the "novice" category.  Being in the "novice" category turned out to be a great motivation because he ended up coming in FIRST in his class!  It was amazing!  I didn't do this race because I wanted to watch one before I participated so that I would know what to expect when I actually do compete.

For those who do not know much about triathlons, it is a 3 part race that is done back to back.  The first part of the race is the swim.  This particular race was done in Smith Mountain Lake (in Virginia).  It is a gorgeous, clear, clean lake.  Sometimes they're done in the ocean and it will be a cold day in hell before I will do that :)  And other times they are done in the pool (my preference).  Occasionally they are done in rivers too!

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This swim leg of this particular race was 750meters which Mike completed in 15:04

The second part of the triathlon is the bike portion.  

In this race the bike portion was 20K (about 12 miles).  Mike completed it in 41 min 25 sec.

The final portion of the race is the run.

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In this race the running part was a 5K (3.1 miles).  Mike did it in 25 min and 13 sec.  That might not seem very fast to those of you who run competitively, but get off a 20K bike ride and go into a run and tell me how you feel! Mike normally is almost 4-5 minutes faster in a 5K, that's how much is taken out of you when you do these races.  Crazy, huh!?!

His overall time was 1 hour 24 min 38 sec.  He only won his class by TWO seconds! TWO!!!  For those of you doing the math you might say, "Wendy, those times don't add up", you're right!  That's because there are these pesky little times called "transitions".  A transition is the portion of the race where you rip off your wetsuit, throw on your helmet, socks, and bike shoes and tear madly down the road to the bike start and then after the bike you tear off your bike shoes and helmet and furiously throw on your running socks/shoes.  And, yes, it is ALL timed!  Some of the super athletes get this down to an art, ie. no socks when biking and running and having bike shoes already clipped into the bike, etc.  Remember, Mike only won by 2 seconds!  

This was a great inspiration to me.  I am excited and hoping to do my first outdoor one soon.  Please don't expect me to have these kinds of times.  I am MUCH slower, but at the end of the day I am just proud of us for doing them at all and for setting a good example for our 5 year old (can't get use to that) little girl!

Here are some links if you're interested.  I've mentioned some before, but here there are again!

http://www.beginnertriathlete.com/
http://www.setupevents.com/index.cfm?
http://trisports.com/
http://www.caitsnow.com/