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You are here: Home / Fitness / Weird Distances, Uncertainty & My First Real Triathlon

Weird Distances, Uncertainty & My First Real Triathlon

July 16, 2010 By Joel Runyon 9 Comments

Tomorrow’s a big day.

I’ll be running my first official triathlon in Valparaiso, Indiana. It’s a fairly short-distance race. I only have to do a:

  • 1/4 mile swim
  • 12.4 mile bike
  • 3.1 mile run

That’s pretty doable, right?

Sprint vs. Novice Technicalities

Over the past few weeks, I’ve been referring this triathlon as a “sprint” triathlon”, but after doing some more research, I realized it really should be classified as a novice distance. The distances are actually very similar, with the only differences between the two distances is 400m swimming and the novice is apparently a European distance race [according to wikipedia]. I think somebody needs to inform Valparaiso of the face they’re holding a European race in Indiana, but they don’t seem to care about the rules of geography. Either way, I’ll still be updating the impossible list to reflect the fact I’m now running a novice triathlon, even though I’m still planning on running a sprint triathlon at some point [gotta get that extra 400m in].

Expectations & Uncertainty

As for the race itself, I feel like I’m pretty prepared physically, but honestly I have no idea what to think. I’ve done some races before and I know how to compete but I have no idea:

  • How swimming with dozens of other people in open water will go.
  • How the biking portion will go [now that I have my awesome mountain bike].
  • If I’ll have enough in the tank at the end of the biking to run a decent 5k.

My goal: I’d like to finish in under 1 hour 15 minutes.

I figure I can do the swim in under 10 minutes, and the run under 26 minutes. As for the biking portion, like I said, I have no idea what to expect, but I’m hoping I can do it in under 36 minutes, which would be clipping along at about 20mph. I’m not sure if I can do that on a mountain bike, but I’m sure as heck gonna try. If I allow 90 seconds per transition [cutting it close], I should be able to finish right at 75 minutes.

I know it’s not that long of a race, but it’s very surreal talking about my first triathlon [this one didn’t count]. I’ve been working out and blogging for about this for three months and I’m pretty confident, but I could just go out tomorrow and completely bomb it.  Who knows?

There’s going to be a lot of new experiences tomorrow and I’m not sure on a lot of the details of them, but I do know one thing:

I’m going to finish.

And I’m going to have a heck of a time doing so.

What are you doing this weekend?

[Photo Credit]

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Filed Under: Fitness Tagged With: Biking, Cycling, Indiana, Novice Triathlon, Running, Sprint Triathlon, Swimming, Triathlon, Valparaiso, Valpo, Valpo Tri

About Joel Runyon

I started IMPOSSIBLE to push myself to try to live a life worth writing about by pushing my limits, living an adventure & telling a great story by doing the impossible. You can get free updates in your inbox via your new favorite newsletter and see all my businesses at Impossible X and our philanthropic efforts at Impossible.org

Comments

  1. Jess says

    July 16, 2010 at 4:03 pm

    Wohoo! I’m glad it’s here.

    I thought you were swimming a 750m but yeah, 400m is definitely not too bad 🙂 You’ve got this!

    What people have suggested for swim portion is to start closer to the outside rather than right aligned with the buoy. Everyone will end up smooshing in anyway. If you’re wearing a swim cap, put your goggle straps UNDER cap in case you get kicked in the face.

    AND, if you’re drafting, draft on the SIDE, not directly behind 🙂 Trust me on this one.

    Have so much fun and can’t wait to hear recap! (I want to hear about transitions).

    Reply
  2. Joel Runyon says

    July 16, 2010 at 4:10 pm

    I thought I was swimming a 750m too! My buddy surprised me when we talked and let me know it was just 400m. I should be golden, after all, I’ve been training for 800+

    I’ll definitely try out those tips. Thanks Jess! I’m excited to see how things go!

    Reply
  3. Haidn Foster says

    July 16, 2010 at 5:43 pm

    Interesting that the only difference between “novice” and “sprint” is 400m of swimming… Seems a little arbitrary to me.

    Anyway, congratulations on getting an item crossed off the list! Good luck on the timing, and let us know how it goes.

    Best,
    Haidn

    Reply
    • Joel Runyon says

      July 18, 2010 at 3:34 pm

      I know, seems a little odd to me too! Thanks for the encouragement Haidn…working on a writeup now 🙂

      Reply

Trackbacks

  1. Who’s Got 2 Thumbs And Just Did A Triathlon? – Valpo Tri 2010 | Blog Of Impossible Things says:
    July 19, 2010 at 8:30 am

    […] 50m in a little under a minute in the pool, so I expected to finish right around 8 minutes.  While making my goals the other day, I gave myself 10 minutes, since it was a new environment [open water] with lots of other people […]

    Reply
  2. Last Minute Impossible Plans | Blog Of Impossible Things says:
    July 30, 2010 at 5:22 pm

    […] Here are my goals for this race. Now that I have one tri under my belt, hopefully these goals will be a little more accurate & attainable than the last ones I set . […]

    Reply
  3. How To Sign Up For Your First Triathlon - Blog Of Impossible Things | Blog Of Impossible Things says:
    March 29, 2011 at 10:49 am

    […] put off running my first triathlon for so many reasons, but mostly because I didn’t think I was “ready.” […]

    Reply
  4. How To Sign Up For Your First Triathlon | Blog Of Impossible Things says:
    April 25, 2012 at 7:30 pm

    […] put off running my first triathlon for so many reasons, but mostly because I didn’t think I was “ready.” […]

    Reply
  5. Last Minute Impossible Plans | IMPOSSIBLE says:
    October 18, 2013 at 2:16 pm

    […] Here are my goals for this race. Now that I have one tri under my belt, hopefully these goals will be a little more accurate & attainable than the last ones I set . […]

    Reply

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