KET Fitness

Hi,
Thought I would drop you a final on my first tri.

Unfortunately, while setting up my spot, I bent over and put my back out. Wasn’t crippling and I had an hour to try and walk it off which I was able to do to a point. Got it loosened enough to at least give it a try. (had my fears because if it went again while in deep water I would have been in big trouble. If you never had your back go, it can be very crippling)

Ultimately it survived. Did the swim in the 12 minute that I hoped. T1 though due to stiffness and limited movement was a laughable 3:20. Bike ride was also hampered by my back. Couldn’t get up out of the saddle on climbs due to pain. That came in at almost 38min which was 3-4 minutes slower than I hoped for. T2 wasn’t a whole lot better than T1. Back was VERY stiff after being on the bike. Just getting off was ugly. That transition took 2:13.

When I started to run the back was again in the way. Had to walk the first couple of hundred yds before it loosened enough to allow me to at least jog.  Running came in at almost 19min. which was again 2-3 minutes slower than I had hoped for. But… I did it. Glad I didn’t drop out before even trying as I had considered doing.

My final time was 1:14:16.

Not only that, I came in 161 out of 300. 3rd in my age group out of 5 people. Who would have thunk.

Now I have the bug. Maybe if my back hadn’t gotten in the way I could have knocked 7-8 minutes off that time and gotten 2nd.:) 1st was out of reach, that guy broke 1 hour.
Thanks for your suggestions. I used them all. Deb tells me that when I left T1 others in my area used the bucket too. Really is a good thing.

Richard