Race Report – TrySports Asheville Triathlon – Part 2 – Pre-Race

We got there early enough that HilWoo could claim a spot on the end of her transition rack, and I got the first spot on my transition rack.

The first thing we did before setting up our transition areas was head to body-marking. I didn’t want to wait in line. The funny thing about triathlons is how many places you wear your number. Obviously we have the race bib number, the helmet sticky number, and the bike number. But that’s not enough, because there’s the swim, so we also got our numbers written on both arms and both thighs. I guess that’s good in case we get lost in the pool they can tell who we are and why we’re stupid.

HilWoo showing her guns:


Also, we both got a giant “N” on one of our calves to let everyone know we were novices. I think this is to make sure someone stops to help us if we’re stopped on the side of the road – everyone should understand our idiocy at this point.


We then set up our transition areas.


My transition towel is the black-and-white striped towel I got at an officiating camp. Perfect for identifying my spot!



If you don’t know about the transition area, it’s the place where you come after the swim to get your bike and everything you need for the bike race. Then, it’s also the place you return with your bike, take off your bike stuff and grab your run stuff and run from.

Mine had:

-My bike, obviously
-My helmet was on my aerobars on my bike. It had my sunglasses and my Headsweats bandana in it. It was the first thing I put on – glasses, headsweat, helmet.
-The towel, which marked my spot and provided me something to wipe my feet with after the swim.
-My bike shoes
-My race belt
-My running hat
-My running shoes
-Bottle of “just in case” Gatorade
-Pair of “just in case” socks

After getting set up, we visited with some people around us. We met some really great people including Carrie, a student at Clemson who was next to me in the rack, and Tracey and Carolyn who both work at Clemson. The five of us formed a formidable friend group. We were ready to dominate the novices. We all also felt a little out of our element, I think!

At that point it was just time to attempt to relax, use the restroom (twice!), and get ready. At about 5 minutes until 7:00, we took our sweats off and grabbed our goggles and headed for the pool deck to wait for our starting time. My start was at 7:30:30, while HilWoo started at 7:31:20.

Good luck to us!