Things I learned watching a Triathlon

On Sunday I went to the Syracuse Ironman 70.3 to watch my first triathlon.  (Like how I commit to doing a tri before I ever see it done??  I did the same thing with rowing...)

The 70.3 indicates it is a half Ironman.  (Ironman being the series and distance, I guess.  Very confusing if you ask me.)

First I should clarify that there were men and women participating in the Ironman.  (one of the gals in my office was confused.  She thought it was a men-only event.)  In the event you do not know, a triathlon consists of swimming, biking and running.  Usually in that order.  (although there are a few exceptions.  A race out in Boulder being one of them.) 

Below are the distances (as best as I can gather from Internet research):

Ironman:

Swim - 2.4 miles

Bike - 112 miles

Run - 26.2 miles (which, is also the marathon distance)

Half Ironman (70.3):

Swim - 1.2 miles
Bike - 56 miles
Run - 13.1

Sprint Tri:
Swim - 800m
Bike - 14 miles
Run - 5K

Did I lose anyone with the back and forth of metric and conventional measurements??

I am going to tri my hand at a sprint distance.  However, this half Ironman was interesting to watch!!

Things I learned from watching the 70.3:

• People who do this are crazy.  That's just my own thought - not prompted by any actual observed behavior...
• 1800 people participating in a tri constitutes a LOT of bikes and equipment! (this is the first transition area between swimming and biking)

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  People are VERY HARD to see in the water.  Which makes me nervous as I do not want to drown while participating...

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  It must frickin' freezing, even in a wetsuit, to come out of 60 degree water into 40+ degree air.  Not something I'm looking forward to....

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  They have "wetsuit strippers" for you to utilize!!  OMG!  Who knew??  What's funnier is hearing the announcement on the PA system before seeing what was actually going on...  I had a mental image of someone pole dancing while slowly stripping out of a wetsuit.  As you can see that isn't exactly what happens:

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  You have to run barefoot from the water to the bike transition area.  Might not be a big deal to you but to someone like me with VERY flat feet...  this will be an issue.

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  I'm mad at TIT.  She told me to prepare to see naked people at the transition area.  (some prefer to not bike in wet clothes and hence completely change.)  However, I did NOT see any naked people and therefore I want my money back.  (oh wait - it was free to spectate...)  Once suited up to bike you have to walk/ run your bike through this area before allowed to mount.

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  Finally at the red line can you mount your bike and head off.  Some people ran up the hill barefoot so as not to get grass and dirt in their shoe clips.  The really ingenious ones had their shoes already clipped into the pedals while they ran up barefoot.

I did not stay to watch the transition from bike to run otherwise I would have been out there all day.  As you can see it was a cool, drizzly day.  And watching all those people exert themselves so much really made me tired.  I had to go home and take a nap.

My takeaways from the event:

• No matter what, somebody is going to see me half naked when I do my tri.  I'm not sure how I feel about this.  (regardless of the fact I continually spent the ages of 16 - 27 clothed in what constituted as less than half naked...)
• I will have to run barefoot at some point.  (When you hear the "thwap, thwap, thwap" know it's me coming out of the water...)
• If I do a tri that requires a wetsuit I might get to take advantage of the strippers.  And I think that's just funny to tell someone about after the fact.
• I will be riding and running completely soaked.  (refer to first bullet - and therefore will not completely swap out clothes)  Most likely drenched in my own sweat, not lake water or rain....

All of the above is contingent on me not drowning during the swim.  To ensure that doesn't happen I have my first session with my tri coach tomorrow night in the pool.  Wish me luck.