The Little Chemist That Could: Race Report: Clemson Triathlon

Yesterday I completed my first triathlon in over a decade! The last one I did was the REV3 South Carolina Olympic triathlon in 2014. I did the Clemson Tri twice (2013 & 2014) and had ideas of making it my "go-to" standard race every year. Then a child came along and all my tri goals took a hiatus.

So this year, I said THIS IS THE YEAR.

Training has been pretty good - nothing excessive, but certainly knew I could cover all the race distances with a decent effort. Swimming was pretty consistent (1-2 swims per week) and biking was probably the one I least prepared for... really relied on my running capabilities to get me through the bike. I think more bike miles on something other than a flat trail will be necessary to make significant improvements in future races.

Pre-race evening and early morning felt good - made myself a good dinner, got to bed early, and my Garmin was telling me all things were in good shape!

Chicken, baked potato, salad

P E A K I N G ⭐

Race morning went... not so smoothly. First off, the race started at 7am and had an hour drive for me to get there. I'd planned to leave my place at 4:15, ended up leaving closer to 4:30, and 10 minutes into the drive I realized I'd forgotten to pack swim goggles. HOW I realized that, I don't know... I had thought about it as I was packing the night before and just happened to have the realization as I was mentally walking through each sport as I drove. Turned around, got the goggles, back on the road... still had an ETA of close to 5:30am which was right on target. I'm never early for anything but for that reason I always plan to be WAY early for races. Next complication en route... my critical morning schedule 💩 had not gone to plan, and with about 30 minutes left in the drive, my body decided IT WAS TIME. Nope, not stopping, already late... but thankfully got to the race site in time and found the port-a-potties. Business accomplished. ✅

Pretty sunrise though!

Eventually got checked in, got all my gear set up in transition, and was ready for the race.

I started getting nervous once they had us all step down to the beach into the water. Gazing out at the buoys marking the course, they seemed SO FAR AWAY. Thankfully the water was warm (85F) so there wasn't a shock of getting into the water. Actually wanted to stay in because it was so much warmer than the air temps (67F). Eventually they counted us down and 3-2-1 we were off! I made sure to stay to the edge of the wave of people, knowing I would be much slower. Started off and immediately panic set in... I couldn't get my breathing right, my goggles were leaking/fogging up, I couldn't imagine having the stamina to reach one buoy much less the next 2 and then get back to shore! I had to side-stroke for a bit so I could breathe and calm my heart rate. Unnerving to say the least, but eventually I got to the first buoy and was able to actually start swimming somewhat normally. Felt ok after that but sheesh, I have to figure out how to do that better!

1000 m swim: 28:03

Finally got up on the sandy beach and ran to transition - not a far distance but UGH the sand! That took the most time getting sand off my feet enough that I felt OK putting socks on. Gross. Going to need to bring a squirt bottle for rinsing at future events with sand.

T1 time: 3:34

I was so thankful to be on dry land, and I felt like I could be pretty strong on the bike. It was a 2-loop course and through the first loop I could tell it was going to be hilly. There were a couple of ~200ft climbs through the 10 mile loop, so I would call it "rolling" - nothing insane but definitely NOT flat! Managed to keep a 16.2 mph average (maxed out just over 30 mph down one hill, wheeee) and felt pretty good that I passed a bunch of people, especially on climbs. 😎 Also one of the benefits of being so slow on the swim 😂

21 mile bike: 1h 17m

Back into transition, quickly got changed, and was out onto the run in just over a minute. Official timing has be closer to 45s, but I clocked the transition at the bike dismount instead of actually entering the transition zone.

T2 time: 1:17

And finally, running! The thing I'm with which comfortable and confident. Obviously worked through the initial jello legs feeling after getting off the bike, and tried to keep a steady but not overly pushed pace on the out-and-back course. It was fun seeing other participants and cheering on folks as I passed them! The sun had really come out at this point and it started to get warm. Plus the one VERY steep hill in the middle of mile 2 was a real gut punch. Didn't walk though! Somehow managed to keep a 8:19/mi pace for the run which was much better than I had expected.

6k run: 32:10