Compete to Complete: UWF Reverse Triathlon

A couple weeks ago I competed in my first triathlon...however, there was a catch. It was a "reverse" order triathlon. Typically, the correct order is swim, bike, run. The UWF Reverse Triathlon was a run, bike, swim race. Ending on a swim (after biking and running) is a bit of a challenge...All you want to do is breathe which is nearly impossible when your face is under water. Either way, I knew it was going to be a great time and I was pumped.

I knew this would be a great practice race for me as I gear up for my 70.3 (half Ironman distance) race in mid May. Although the sequence was flip-flopped, I could still practice transitioning from one sport to the other.

The race began with a nice 5K loop through the University of West Florida campus. It was a rather hilly route, as much of UWF is full of hills. Needless to say, I held a solid and quick pace and wrapped up my 5K time in a little over 20 minutes. I had a quick transition to the bike and came out of T1 in 30 seconds.

As I mounted the bike and took off for the bike route, it took a few minutes to adjust and find my groove. It was a short 15K loop (a little over 9 miles) that was FULL of hills and steep climbs. The course wound its way to the back of the campus where the steep climbs were awaiting the screaming quads of determined cyclists. Even though it was a short route, it was a challening one at best. I wrapped up the bike leg in 0:33:19 and came out of T2 in under 1 minute.

As I grabbed my goggles and ran to the pool, I stopped for a quick second before jumping in to take a deep breath. I knew once I jumped in and began swimming, it was going to be difficult to maintain my normal breathing pattern. It didn't make a difference. My first lap felt like an eternity. The course was set up as a "snake" pattern through the width of the pool--so you swam 1 length (25 yards), crossed over into the other lane and swam back 1 length. We repeated this pattern for 16 lengths of the pool (or 8 laps = 400 yds). By ending on the swim leg, it allowed staggering between the swimmers rather than have everyone start off in the pool at once.

After a lap or 2, I was able to settle in and begin cranking through the water. I finished the swim in 0:08:05.

This put me at a finishing time of 1:03:08.

Congrats to my racing partner, Matt Harrison, who came in a minute or two ahead of me--it was a solid day all around. Big 'Thank You' to our supporting spectators: Leah, Max, Angie, my mom and Jenn. It means a lot to have people there cheering you on and telling you that you're an "ATHLETE."