After a long winter layoff, my first full triathlon season came roaring to life this last weekend in Orlando, Florida at the 6th Annual Wildman Triathlon Festival, sponsored by Epic Sports Marketing. The festival consists of multiple races, spanning Saturday and Sunday. Saturday featured the sprint triathlon, sprint duathlon, aquabike, and "My first triathlon", with the olympic duathlon, aquabike, and triathlon on Sunday. Below is a report on the race overall and my performance individually.Saturday morning, 6 AM in mid-March was mighty cold, even for Orlando. Temperatures started in the 50s. Fortunately, the race was very organize and prerace setup went off without a hitch. I wished I had picked up my packet earlier, as bike racking in the transition zone was first come first serve. Nonetheless, I found a good spot next to some great guys. This was their first triathlon, so it was interesting to seem them buzzing around as I had been only a few months ago. I quietly put on my wetsuit as I watched them fumble with this or that. One guy was putting on his brand new upper body swim skin. He'd never worn it before, but freaked out when he saw the weather this week and bought it last minute. That's a big no-no in competitive racing, so I've been told. Never try anything new on raceday. After the race, he would prove me right. He said the skin was too tight and he couldn't lift his arms above his shoulders. He had to lay on his back and kick with his legs. He was last out of the water but ended up in the middle 1/3 of his age group.
The walk from the transition zone to the start sucked. It was a good 400 yards. Would we really have to run this back to our bikes after swimming half a mile?!? Unfortunately, yes. But first, we all gathered together on the beach and waited a good while for the fog to clear so we could see the buoys. The air was still pretty cold, but fortunately, the water was warm. Most of us swam around to "loosen up," but mostly we just tried to stay warm. After what seemed like an eternity, we finally started.
Swims for me (at least in my first three triathlons) seem to have two phases. The first phase consists of anger and regret. I am angry that the mass start does not resembled my pristine, quiet training pool. I also immediately regret investing so much time and money in triathlons. Why in the
Sure enough, the run from the lake to the transition zone was still about 400 yards. Dizzy and disoriented, I jogged it as I pulled down the top half of my sleeveless wetsuit and remove my goggles and cap. I make it to my bike, gather my gear, and take off. The bike route is FLAT. However, there were a few places where the road was covered in sand. On one turn, I nearly spun out and slid. Somehow I managed to steady myself. But I was disappointed throughout the whole ride. Despite my off-season training, my speed hadn't improved much at all over last fall. Or at least I thought. According to the official time, my pace had improved from 18 mph to 21 mph. Apparently my computer is off. Time to switch fully to the garmin...
The run after the bike was fantastic. It was on a road traveling through a campground, so there were lots of on lookers and plenty of shade. I was a little upset the run was only 2.8 miles instead of a full 5k. Otherwise, I had no complaints. My goal for the season was an 8:00 min/mile pace on the run, so my 7:20 pace pleasantly surprised me.
After the race, the festival offered free massages and all you could eat bagels and fruit, along with sports drink and water. Very nice set up. Overall, the Wildman Triathlon Festival is a great way to start the triathlon season. I highly recommend it for anyone in and around the Orlando (or Valley, AL) area.
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