KODA: My First Triathlon

It is true. I, Kristen Oda, have finally finished my first sprint triathlon. If you didn't know, this is my third summer training for one, but this is the first I actually competed in. (I'm a pretty dedicated person). It was quite an experience, and I plan on explaining the whole process to you. Don't worry, there will be pictures.

I participated in the Findley Triathlon, which is in Wellington, Ohio. It's only 30 minutes from home and it was on a Saturday, so it was the perfect option. Well, I thought it was the perfect race.

The order of the events in a triathlon are swim, bike, run. Like a serious racer, I didn't warm up or even stretch before the race. I didn't have the slightest idea what the course was like either. (I was hoping everything would be well marked).

I had heard that the lake we would be swimming in was pretty dirty, but I didn't think much of it. I'd only be swimming in it for 400m, so I could deal with it. Let me tell you. That water was disgusting. While we walked out to the starting line, I sank down to my knees in goop filled with who knows what. Actually I do know what it was. Poop. Lots and lots of goose poop. I could feel all the floaters when I moved my arms through the water, and my goggles did nothing for my vision underwater.

I'm not a swimmer, so my goal was to swim the whole thing without drowning or swallowing any of that poopy water. I was successful in those two goals, but I didn't swim fast enough. I had to catch up a lot of time on my bike.

The biking was definitely my best part of the race. The course was pretty flat except for one huge hill at the end. I biked the 16 miles in 55 minutes, but it still wasn't fast enough to catch up with any of the real competition I had lagged behind during the swim.

Then the 5k. That was not fun. At all. In any way. Have you ever biked aggressively for an hour and then tried to run immediately after? Me either. It was very unpleasant. This triathlon was special because it was a trail run. When I signed up, that sounded awesome. I thought it would be better than running on some hot black asphalt, but basically the shade was the only good thing about that run. The trail twisted everywhere and there were random steep dips and hills that I had to climb. Anyway, it took me 34 minutes to finish the run. 34 MINUTES. I have never ran that slow in my life. And this time I was racing.

Oh well. It was my first triathlon and I came in first for my age group. Of course there were only two of us, and the girl I beat finished 45 minutes after me.

I might do another this summer. I'm not sure. But I do know that next time I'll skip the poopy lake and trail run.