We Completed Our First Triathlon !

Our First Triathlon Experience...June 21st, 2008
As narrated by Marvin

We did it! We completed our first triathlon (Swim 1/4 mile, Bike 11 miles, Run 3.1 miles).

Being that this was the first time for us to do a triathlon, Jo and I were extra diligent in ensuring that we trained as much as possible. In a period of about 10 weeks, we slowly built up our endurance and distances in each sport(swim, bike, run), and over that time we got to a point where we were comfortable with our bodies' abilities to take whatever we threw at them.



Most importantly, we remembered that the goal was to finish...but to have fun along the way!



And we did have a blast, learning more about each other, about working together, about our strengths, our areas of improvement, and about how to be the best supporters of each other as a husband and wife.
For those that know us, Jo and I do almost everything as a team, as marriage is a team sport! Having had the practice of working together over the past 12 years....the training for this event moved like clockwork leading up to the race.

Well, the big day finally came...and boy was it big. Even though it was the "Tri for Fun", the buildup to the event came replete with the typical sleepless night before, race day butterflies, and of course the feelings of nervous anticipation and uncertainty. There was one thing that was certain though...nothing but God would stop us from finishing this event. Despite tossing and turning the night before, I felt very awake and energized for this day. I guess you call this the adrenaline rush of excitement that always seems to power the human body to do superhuman things.

We arrived at Shadow Cliffs Park shortly after 5AM, and as always, Mom and Dad beat us to the punch and saved us a parking spot (the red carpet treatment, as I like to call it). Thanks Mom and Dad! Alex and Ida arrived shortly after we did, and thanks to them(and other friends and family), we have pictures to go with this story. Thanks everyone!

The sun was just starting to rise, and the park had a calm and reassuring quietness to it. This would not last for long, however, as the deluge of 1000 race participants along with their requisite supporting casts was about to overrun the place!









About 5:30AM, Jo and I proceeded to check-in to receive our race bib #'s, and then went on to prepare our equipment in the transition area.




A quick summary:

Bike - check
Bike shoes - check
Helmet - check
Energy gels - check
Towel - check
Rinse bottle - check
Sunglasses - check
Running shoes - check
Socks - check

This was just a small fraction of what we had to prepare for that day. I have not even covered wetsuits, swimcaps, sunblock, and other odds and ends that are crucial to a race like this. Needless to say, it helps to have a mild case of OCD(Obsessive Compulsive Disorder) when preparing for one of these endeavors...and luckily(this is a good thing?) , both Jo and I do exhibit some of those characteristics. :-)

6:00AM...by now, the park area was a madhouse. Every 5 minutes the MCs were constantly blaring out reminders on the PA system. "Be sure to check-in and sign the waiver form!" "Rack your bike before you register!" "We're gonna have a great race today!" "Don't forget your souvenir t-shirts at the booth!" "After you're done with setting up your transition, make sure you go get your body marked!" These were all very helpful announcements....but before long, Jo and I settled into a mental groove where there was nothing but us and the park. The din of hundreds of voices going on around us seemed to just blend into a soft buzz, like when you have your radio tuned in to a non-station...























Next on the agenda was the body-marking, woohoo! Another trademark of a triathlete, the bodymarking is a standard triathlon practice of writing your bib # in large, legible numbers with a permanent marker on your arms and legs. The morbid joke is that this is for them to identify you if you succumbed to the ravages of the swim. Great, that makes us feel good about getting into the water. :-)


Bodymarking out of the way, we barely had about 10 minutes to take a break, slather on some sunscreen and start getting ready for the swim. Before getting into the water, we had to don our wetsuits. Well, "had to" is a relative term. For most people, the purpose of a wetsuit is to insulate your body from frigid water to prevent hypothermia over long periods of exposure. In triathlon terms, however, it almost seems a requirement. Why? Because the wetsuit serves the added advantage of giving the triathlete added buoyancy during the swim. This makes it easier to focus on swim stroke, and not waste as much energy keeping one's body level in the water.


It took us about 10 minutes to get the suits on, and thanks to plastic grocery bags and the help of Sandy and Jenny, we were able to get them on in a jiffy!




The race is about to start, and Jo and I are taking one last moment to warm ourselves up before the swim,









and we wish each other good luck the way husbands and wives have done since the dawn of time. :)















We start in separate waves, based on gender and age group, and I was the first to head out to fulfill my destiny, followed by Jo who was just as prepared.
Wow, it didn't seem that far during swim training! Hmmm....those two buoys are pretty far out there. Well, as they say in the islands....no worries! We can do this......and so we're off!


























1/4 mile swim(365m) Have you ever seen Titanic? There is one part of the movie when all the passengers have been forced to jump overboard and are now just bobbing around in the water flailing their arms. Seeing a wave start looks a lot like that scene. And if it looks chaotic watching it, you're absolutely right...it's a chaotic scene to be in. I had people slapping my feet, bumping my sides, and splashing water into my face. I'm sure I was also guilty of said crimes...it's almost unavoidable when you're jockeying for position to get around those buoys. Luckily, I did not take a kick in the face(it's been known to happen). Swimming along....left, right....breathe....right, left....breathe... It's kind of like a song, where the beats are consistent, and you just follow along to it, until....yup, I had to stop and catch my breath. No problem, just turn on my back and do a simple backstroke. This was my strategy in order to maintain forward motion while getting my heart-rate down enough so I could switch back to freestyle. 12 minutes later....woohoo! I'm high-stepping it out of the water and off to the transition!

Time to get out of the wetsuit and onto the bike. There's a system to this: 1) Rip velcro collar back, 2) Yank ripcord to lower zipper, 3) Arms out, 4) Cap/Goggles, 5) Legs out. Steps 1-4 are done while running, so it takes a bit of coordination to do this. And don't forget that all the while you're posing for the camera like Jo here. :)




11-mile bike(18Km) OK, put my shoes on, sunglasses, helmet, grab my bike. Make sure the helmet is securely strapped before exiting or they won't let me out! And I'm off! It's a slow and gradual ascent to exit the park and onto the main road. I choose this opportune time to rip off my energy gel and snarf it down along with some gatorade. The body is grateful for this fuel, and rewards me in kind with a renewed energy on the pedals. Even though I'm getting passed up by some elite road bikes, I still feel on pace with the time I've been making during my training. And then I hit the big downhill, and I make up a bunch of time flying down it at over 30MPH ! So 40 minutes later...it's time to hop off the bike and transition into the run.

















Jump off the bike, and run into the transition area with it! Have to hoist the bike back on onto the rack before doing anything else, and I was so proud of Jo...look at her muscle that thing onto the rack. Go Jo! Helmet off, running shoes on, and one last gulp of gatorade before getting onto the running trail! Oops....I forgot to take off my cycling gloves! LOL. I ended up stuffing them into one of my pouches that I had attached to my waist for the run. Good thing I had those.

3.1 mile run(5Km) So the run was the last leg of the course, and I was none too weary to attack this final test of my mettle. Steady as she goes, I stayed true to my training pace, never running too fast nor too slow. The hills, of which there were several, did present a dilemma. I mostly trained on the flats, and could easily keep my heart-rate below 155. This day, it was nearly impossible to stay under 175 as by the time I would get it down, another hill would come up. Oh well, suck it up...it's only a 5K anyway....so what else am I saving my beats for?


The highlight of my run was when I was running on the final switchback and lo and behold, my beautiful wife and I were crossing paths at a junction on the course! We did not plan for this fortuitous event in training, so rather than a running kiss, we decided not to risk a head-on collision and opted for a high-five instead! LOL.



There were 4 water stops along the run course, but I think seeing each other on the run gave us a boost that no other energy drink could do. I looked at my watch, and I had 8 minutes to spare before I would fall behind my target goal of 90 minutes. So I kept the pace up, and at the last 200 meters I pressed the gas pedal all the way down on a sprint to my destiny, ending with a deluge of high-fives as our friends, family, parents, and even complete strangers congratulated and cheered for a job well done that day.











As this was the Tri for Fun, timing chips were not used(just a universal clock), so based on my trusty Timex Ironman 30lap chronograph, my overall time was 86min, 52secs, and Jo's was 117min, 36secs. Not too shabby for a couple of old farts, eh?


You know what? With just a tiny bit more training,
we may be ready to do one of these:

We hope you enjoyed our little story. We wish to thank those who contributed to this photo collection:

Alex and Ida Paras
Dave Tong and Dawn Darvin
Eugene and Jenny Gomez

To view the complete(and downloadable) photo journal of our day from this event, please click below: