NicoleWell, I finally did a triathlon in 2019! I’ve been on tri-hiatus since 2018 Age Group Nationals, but I couldn’t stay completely out. I saw an advertisement for the USATri60 event in the bathroom stall on the UCCS campus a couple weeks ago so why not?
Before we get to the report, let me get you caught up as a bit has changed since my last post. I left my job with the National MS Society to go back to school! I’m now in a Master’s degree program at the University of Colorado Colorado Springs for Health Promotion. Classes started at the end of August, and it’s been keeping me quite busy in addition to coaching and other life activities.
I’m taking a class on Health Behavior Change & Theory, which has been fascinating because it is putting scientific theory behind things I’ve experienced myself or seen in others in all my years in the fitness industry. Another class is Social Marketing, which is all about how to put together a marketing plan for changing a behavior for the overall benefit of society. Think “5 A Day the Color Way” or “Scoop the Poop” or even “Click It or Ticket campaigns. They are much, much more than a catchy slogan. The other class keeping me busy is Research Design and Statistical Methods. Ahhh, yep, stats. But I like it.
Now you know why I was on the UCCS campus to see an advertisement for the event. Last weekend I signed up, got my butt to the pool a couple times to make sure I remembered how to swim. My bike training has been my 9 mile round-trip to class, and I’ve been running fairly consistently for a while now, so it was time for some triathlon!
The USATri60 format is a 10 minute swim, 30 minute bike, and 20 minute run. There were 10 minute transition periods between each. The total distance is how the winner is determined (with a weighting formula – swim x3, bike x1, run x2, I believe.)
The Gallogly Recreation and Wellness Center is a beautiful facility catering to many fitness and wellness interests. The views are wonderful as well. I got there about an hour before my start time to get better aquainted with the facility. My wave started at 8:30am and off I went.
Swim – 500 yards. I was expecting closer to 450, so I’ll take the 500, especially as I can count the number of times I’ve been in the pool this past year on both hands. Overall I swam a fairly steady pace. I wore the Garmin swim-compatible heart rate monitor for the first time, and it’s telling me I have work to do to get in swim shape. 🙂
Bike – 11.6 miles. This was on a spin bike, and we all know how comfortable they can be. I *think* distance was based more on cadence than resistance+cadence, but regardless, I got it done with a respectable distance overall and a good but not kill myself 7/10 effort with an average HR of 160bpm.
Run – 2.44 miles according to the treadmill, with my Stryd measuring 2.41. My run has been reasonably strong, and while I probably could have gone a little faster, this was solid and just a tad better than my last indoor tri in January of 2017.
The participants were mostly women of all ages – from college ages to likely retirees, and from experienced triathletes (one I talked to went to Worlds in Lausanne) to beginners to those who just did it for fun.
So get yourself to a Rec Center indoor tri! There are still a few more left of the USATri60 brand before the end of the year… https://www.teamusa.org/usa-triathlon/membership-services/usatri60, but check your local gym for their version.
Nicole
