My First Triathlon

In my First Triathlon I ever competed in (2001), I only entered because my friend and I thought that 3 sports in 1 day sounded pretty fun. I’d done some Marathons and Half Marathons and went into this challenge with a little bit of swagger.  Knew I could run, and had been practicing swimming and biking on a bike I had bought at a garage sale for $75, needless to say… you get what you pay for. I swear this bike weighed 30 pounds; a literal Mack Truck compared to my 15 pound all carbon bike I ride today (worth more than $75).

The evening before and the morning of the race, I treated the sprint distance triathlon like I would a Marathon. I carb-loaded on pasta and bread and rice the evening before and stuffed my face with more carbs like Danishes, cereal, bagels and more Danishes at the continental breakfast the morning of. I probably consumed 2000 calories that morning for a race that might burn 500.

The swim was 400 meters, the bike was 15 miles and the run was 3 miles. I survived the swim and the bike ok and now it was time to run, I could show these grasshoppers what an 18 minute 5K looked like. I took off out of transition looking like a champ, passing 70 year old women and 12 year old boys like they were standing still. Yes, they were beating me up until that point, but triathlon is won on the run, right? That’s when I began to feel the twinge in my legs, calves, hips and butt.

I was no stranger to the cramping that my body can deliver on a long run, but I figured this was a shorter distance and I should have been just fine. But soon my right leg wouldn’t bend and I was running straight legged until my butt muscles stopped working and I came to a standing halt. I couldn’t move. I was standing in the middle of the race course and couldn’t lift my legs to step forward, backwards or to the side. I was stuck. That’s when 70 year old women and 12 year old boys starting passing me like I was standing still.

Finally a volunteer boy scout in his red kerchief came over to see if I was okay, and I used his shoulder to get a move on again, and I was able to hobble straight legged for the last mile of the race to the finish line. After that I continued to cramp in such prestigious races as the New York Marathon, California Half Ironman, Arizona Marathon, Nashville Triathlon and other such notable events.

I have since become a smarter runner, triathlete and Coach. One of the ways was using Sport Nutritionist Mari-Etta Parrish who has all but rid me of such issues and my training has dramatically improved. Not only did she give me the wisdom and knowledge to help me train and complete my first Full Ironman cramp free and nail my goal time, but was I eating 5000 calories a day to prepare and still lost 14 pounds in the process. (I thought I didn’t have much more to lose).  Nutrition is the master key to unlock our human potential.