Morgan Hill Sprint Triathlon - Triathlon

Like I mentioned in HR, the OWS was more challenging than I expected. I did everything I could to prepare and I think that I just need more experience. My HR was way too high for at least the first 200m. It was still pretty high coming out of the water and all the way through T1. Also, I was having trouble navigating. The first 600m or so, I noticed a drift to the right (probably because I usually breathe on my R side). On the second half of the swim, I was drifting noticeably left. That was frustrating. Still, I'd say OVERALL I felt pretty good about my first OWS in 3 years.

Even though it was a deep water start, I wish I had gotten in the water a little sooner. As it was, I had JUST enough time to get in and side-stroke up to the start buoy before my wave started.

T1 took a lot longer than I was expecting. My goal (and what I expected based on transition practice at home) was 1:30 or less. Some limiting factors at this race were: extremely high HR getting out of the water made it difficult for me to start stripping my wetsuit as I came into the transition area. Wetsuit got stuck on my heels (and my timing chip) and I was careful with it as I didn't want to damage the suit. I also don't use tri shoes and I am not yet comfortable clipping in "on the go" for fear of damaging my road shoes...plus maybe a little nervousness led to this being a slow T1 for me.

I think more practice is the only thing I can do at this point.

Where should we start the list of gear issues on the bike?

#1. Forgot the soft straw for my Aerodrink, so I had to pull the hard straw halfway out of the bottle and lean down to drink. Not really a big deal, just somewhat annoying.

#2. GST-10 Speed/Cadence sensor start acting up when I got there the day prior and went on a short ride to test my gear. I thought that I had gotten the bugs worked out, but apparently I didn't. The issue was that the cadence magnet was triggering the cadence AND speed sensor (as well as the speed magnet triggering the speed sensor). So although my cadence data was (usually) correct, my speed was reading anywhere from 1.5-2x faster than I was actually going. This, plus the fact that my computer prioritizes the speed sensor over GPS data to compute speed and distance meant I had no idea how fast I was going or how far I went. I overcame this (sort of) by realizing that I usually average 16-17mph on a ride and, knowing the course was 16mi, I could figure out about how far I'd gone, but it was far less than ideal especially given that I train using my computer.

#3. My HR was still pretty high from the swim/adrenaline/general nervousness, so the first 10-20 minutes on the bike were NOT fun. The remaining 40-50 minutes WERE really fun, though.

Plus, this was (relative to my AG), my strongest event. So that's nice!

Iron out gear issues. I did as much troubleshooting as I possibly could on the speed/cadence sensor, so I'm considering getting rid of the GSC-10 in favor of a cadence-only sensor to solve the problems with the computer. Remember to check my aerodrink before I pack all my gear and accidentally leave stuff behind.

Was hoping for a sub-1 minute T2. The dismount line was a pretty far jog from my transition area, so I'm going to partially blame that. I thought I did a good job putting my race belt on while I jogged out of transition and my shoe change went pretty well.

Remember to UNTIE my running shoes before the race starts. Having to untie them prior to putting them on in T2 is a stupid mistake.

I gulped down a gel right before starting the run and that, plus the other gels I'd consumed, PLUS the water I was drinking, plus nervousness, etc. meant I felt like I had to puke for the first 10-15 minutes of the run. I actually did spit up a little bit after the first mile or so and felt much better after that. Espresso flavored gels taste awful coming back up, though.

Other than that I am REALLY happy with my run. I have been working on running form and trying to train up my endurance rather than speed. 10-minute miles (or better) were my goal, as well as not stopping to walk at any point, and I met both of those goals. I am definitely not the fastest guy in the pack, but I am MUCH improved from where I was even a few months ago!

Not eat an espresso flavored gel ever again.

Walked around a bit, checked out some of the booths and got an awesome free massage.


Small gear issues, lack of experience with OW Swimming, general "first race in a long time" bugs.


I really enjoyed this race. It's a good deal longer than most sprint triathlons but not quite as long as an oly which made it a perfect length for me. The courses were scenic and well organized and volunteers were friendly, knowledgable, and helpful. I had a great time!