January Indoor YMCA Triathlon Race Recap

Woo! First race of 2023 in the books.

Today I competed in my local YMCA's indoor triathlon for January. This race is 1 in a series of 3. I'll compete in another at the end of Feb, and again at the end of March.

My race went great!

This event was time-based. 15 min swim, 5 min transition, 15 min bike, 5 min transition, 15 min run. Participants got points based on their distances in each discipline which equated to an overall score.

I came in with no expectations since I have no comparables to an indoor/15-min tri, but did want to push it (per usual).

Swim
At the start of the swim the woman in the lane next to me was pacing slightly faster than I was comfortable with, and my competitive drive kicked in. I backed off slightly, correctly assuming I had more endurance from years of competitive swimming than she did, and ended up passing her and keeping a super strong pace. In 15 minutes I swam 42 lengths (1:26 /100 meters), which was good for 1st in my heat and 2nd overall women.

Bike
I didn't realize when I hopped on the stationary bike there was no organized start--as soon as you started peddling, your 15 min began. I wouldn't have gone warm up speed for the first 1-2 min had I known. Overall I was pleased with my bike performance. It's tough to know pace on a stationary bike, but I kept my spin bike pace around 13, bumping up to 14 for 30 sec periods halfway through. I finished at 4.7 miles, averaging 18.8 mph. That's faster than I'd bike outdoors but of course there was no incline/wind to deal with.

Run
I ran a strong, consistent race. I was pleased with how I was able to click into gear and not over extend myself. It certainly helped my little boys were stationed in a spot to give me consistent hi-5s as I passed. I ran 9.3 laps on the track, 1.8 miles, 8:20 pace. 

Overall I was 4th for all women, and 3rd in my 30-39 age group. YES! Great! I'm thrilled with that. To be competitive at this hobby at almost 36 is a thrill. I'd still enjoy this without placing so well because this truly is something I enjoy doing for myself. It's a cherry on top to know I'm good at this, too. 

My next race is the February YMCA indoor tri. Same 15 minute program, this time at the Downtown YMCA. Now I have some metrics to compare another race to. We'll see what I can do!

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