I. Cannot. Believe. This. By a very small accident of sorts I ended up with my race season starting in just two days. Less than 36 hours until my first race. I’m trying to do my best at keeping calm and just running my head through what I have to do tomorrow to make sure that I have everything I need and that everything will go OK. You see, I only found out about this race about 2 weeks before it and registered just a day or so after I learned of it at our Tri Club meeting. I originally was going to make the NJ State Triathlon in July my first race, but it was so far off that I couldn’t wait any more. I feel like I’m ready and I’ve been itching to compete.
I’ve been visualizing my transition area setup and trying to imagine myself in T1 and T2 since I haven’t done any transition practice – I’ve been focusing solely on doing the actual training. I think I’ll be fine though. I’ve done a lot of video watching and reading the past several months up until today where I’m still finding some great last minute pointers. For example:
Use your right hand to hold the left zipper track and pull the left arm out of the sleeve while leaving the goggles and cap secured in the sleeve.
Why didn’t I think of that?!
I’m going to do a little partying tonight but not go crazy so I don’t feel like crap tomorrow. Packet pickup is in the afternoon so I don’t want to sleep in. Hopefully I’ll learn where the transition ins-and-outs are for each leg so I can get a more accurate picture (or video) in my mind on what I’m going to do. That said, as confident as I may seem, I know I’m going to freak out when the race starts and probably have a brain fart in T1. Let’s just hope I don’t end up mistaking my Body Glide for deodorant!
I got my cleats on my shoes last night, bought a race belt so I don’t have to deal with pins on my tri suit, had the bike tuned up a week or so ago, and I’m pretty much at the point where I just need to take it easy and make sure I have all my knowledge and belongings together for race day. I had a solo open water swim experience at the beach a few weeks ago so all I have yet to experience is doing it with a bunch of other people.
When I got the running belt from a local running store, I found this really cool magnet that I’m going to put on my truck too. I know it’s kind of a cliche in the triathlon world but it’s funny and I wanted it!
I’ll write a race report after the race and get a Results page put up as a sub-item under the About link on the menu so I can keep a record through the year. This is it – the birth of a new triathlete.
Quoted Source
1: http://www.rei.com/learn/expert-advice/triathlon-race-day-tips.html
For discussion: What was your first race like? Did you freak out or were you calm? Any tips for keeping calm in your first race event? Share in the comments below!
