Training with the Trans

I swam 2kms and ran 6kms in Los Baños and felt happy and sad.

Why happy?

I get to train with a strong triathlon team, the Trantados. Though their name does connote a negative impression, the whole group is actually an inspiration to become stronger and faster. There are a lot of strong triathlons in the team. Just by swimming with them I get to realize how weak I am, what I can become and what I can surpass. I also noticed that not all of them had an athletic body, but seeing them pushing themselves further inspired me to push myself too. Slowly but surely, I don’t want the same accident on my first relay.

Why sad?

I was pretty confident with my swim since my last 2km swim before the simulation took me 43 minutes to finish, but I did 50+ minutes during the simulation! The realization of how ill prepared I am for Camarines Sur race this August 22 really made a mark. I was the third to the last swimmer who went out of the pool. I do not even know if the other two were also doing half ironman distance or doing sprint or fun triathlon distance.

I’ve though of four reasons to what actually happened during the swim that made me slower.

1. I waited too patiently for the other swimmers to give way, therefore slowing me down.
2. The going up and diving to the pool had added time to my swim.
3. I miscounted my 20 dives to the pool.
4. I am still not strong enough.

I choose the fourth reason to be the real reason because it has the most pressure among them. If I chose the first three reason, it would just make myself comfortable with my swim and not train anymore. I need pressure.

Some things I learned with the simulation

1. Be assertive. This is due to speculative reason number 1 above. If you have to go in between two swimmers, do it. It may mean not finishing before the cutoff if you just wait for the right moment to pass through them. When you do this avoid hurting other swimmers or pulling them.
2. Be ready for anything. I experienced someone pulling my ankle during the swim. My cousin, Enna, told me about this and many other things that the swim leg offers. Just be ready to get kicked, elbowed, pulled, pushed and sandwiched.
3. Do not dive head first when you do not know how to. I was pressured by the fact that many, if not all, of them knew how to dive head first. I tried and I usually fall chest first and the worst was when the force of the water pulled my goggles down, and when it was off the water was still forcing itself to my eye. This made me stop for a few seconds.

With what I learned there’s only one thing to do.

I will swim, I will train and I will finish the race.

Transition Area

My Budget
P107.25 РBus from Cubao to Los Ba̱os.
P7.00 – Jeep to University of the Philippines (UP)
P55.00 – Snack before the simulation
P150.00 – Contribution for the simulation and snacks
P32.00 – Snack during the race
P7.00 – Jeep to Olivarez
P107.25 РBus from Los Ba̱os to Cubao
——————-
P465.50 – TOTAL BUDGET

Thanks Team Trantados for letting me join your training. I learned a lot and enjoyed the experience. 🙂