Cocoa Beach Triathlon: A Learning Experience

Last Sunday was the Cocoa Beach Triathlon.  I found out about it just a couple months ago.  Long after I committed to the Pineapple Man.  I didn't really have any interest in competing, but I wanted to go just to see how a triathlon operates.  I didn't want to be learning the ropes during my first competition.  So by some small miracle I convinced my roommate, Heidi, to tag along with me.  Getting up at 5:30 am on a Sunday to go watch a triathlon that you don't have any personal investment in is a true expression of friendship.  Once we got there we found out that our buddy Gabe was competing.  It was nice to know someone in the race.

Aero Helmet: Very Serious Looking

There were competitors there of every level.  Some people were obviously very serious.  They were riding bikes that cost as much as my car and had those wind speed looking helmets.  Others were just there for fun.  I saw one person competing on a beach cruiser with a basket on the front!  There were lots of people that fell somewhere in between like I will.

Although getting up early on a Sunday was painful, I'm glad I went.  I learned a lot about triathlons and took away a lot of things that will improve my experience in June.

I wasn't able to get a very good look at the swim start because there were people crowded around the start.  From what I could see it didn't look as savage as I expected.  I'm still sticking with the approach of starting on the side rear of the pack.

Transition Area

In the transition area everyone had their stations organized and laid out.  I need to think about the best approach for this.  You don't want to waste a bunch of time in the transition area changing clothes, looking for things, picking your nose.  I didn't notice many people changing clothes.  Most people wore what they swam in on the bike.  I still have to decide what I'm going to be wearing.  I can't bike without some type of padded shorts.   I'm not sure if I can wear tri shorts over my swimsuit.  I don't really want to buy a whole new outfit.  I've been thinking about changing out my bike saddle per Clyde's recommendation so I might make the decision after that depending on how padded my shorts need to be for comfort.  I noticed one woman with a bucket of water at her station to rinse her feet after running from the swim to the transition area.  Very smart.  I might do that.

A decent amount of people had their bike shoes already clipped into their pedals.  They ran out of the transition area in their bare feet and slipped into the shoes while they were on the bike.  While this sounded like a good idea in theory, I saw it backfire for a lot of people.  It pretty much guarantees a slow start while you are trying to get your shoes on.  I saw one guy's shoe fall off before he got his foot in it so he had to dismount and go pick it up.  Another guy was looking down trying to get his shoe on when the person in front of him stopped.  He didn't see her, clipped her bike and went tumbling over the handlebars.  I'm not going to kid myself and think I'm coordinated enough to pull off the shoes already in the clips.  I will be putting on the shoes separately.

I also noticed that the bike mounting area was a major cluster.  People were running into each other, fixing bike chains, starting off at all different speeds, and trying to get their shoes on.  Everyone just stopped right outside of the transition area.  Based on this observation, I'm going to walk my bike off to the side and then go.  I don't want to be the person being run into or the person causing the accident.

Many competitors did not wear socks for the race.  I can see the time advantage of not having to put on socks after the swim.  For me, however, I'd rather take an extra 15 seconds and be comfortable for the rest of the race than finish with blistered feet.  I want to be as efficient as possible in the transition area, but I'm not going to kill myself for a few seconds.

My favorite part of any race is watching the finish.  I love to see people really gunning it for the finish line.  Some people kept pace and just looked happy to finish.  Others gave it everything they had left and sprinted to the finish line.

Overall First Place: Ed Donner

Ed Donner 54:44

Female First Place: Nicole Brown 1:03:58

Gabe Sprints for the Finish

The Cocoa Beach Triathlon was a great race.  I learned a lot that I'll be able to use in the Pineapple Man.  Seeing other people racing really got me excited to participate.  I can't wait!