Cedars of Lebanon Triathlon - TriathlonSprint

I felt like I had a good swim. My swim finish time was about what I anticipated and in line with what I had projected. I didn't have any issues with swimmers crowding at the wall. I passed 3-4 swimmers and was able to draft off another swimmer for a pool length.

Nothing comes to mind.

Ran the length of the pool deck, then a carpeted section of wooded area to T1.

I arrived at transition early enough in the morning (5:40am) to claim an endcap space on the rack with the range for my race number, making it much easier for me to locate my gear in T1 & T2. While setting up my transition space, I marked the pavement of the row that my gear was on with a spot of baby powder. When running through transition during the race, I looked for the area on the pavement that I had marked with the white powder.

Nothing comes to mind. I was happy with the transition setup and movement through T1.

I knew that the course was going to be a challenging one for me. I drove the course the night before the race and checked out the hills. I felt like I was making good time on the ride until I dropped a chain around mi. 13-14 while climbing a hill. I had to dismount, engage the chain on the chainring, clip back in, and resume the climb. Crossing the metal grid bridges and weaving on the scarred roads while moving 17-20 mph was a little unnerving.

More hillwork in training.

I'm very pleased with my T2 time and performance. Today's race was my first run without socks. I saved a lot of time in transition by not having to put socks on and keeping clutter out of the transition area. Huge time saver for me. My Garmin 305 and race belt and number were inside my running cap. I racked my bike, removed my helmet, slipped on left shoe, right shoe, picked up the cap with my stuff in it and ran, putting on the watch, race belt and ball cap as I left T2.

Put vasoline inside my running shoes. Despite applying Body Glide to my feet before starting the swim, I still developed a dime sized blister on my right heel during the run. I think having some lubricant inside the shoes will be helpful. Feet will hopefully toughen up with more practice.

A challenging run. One of my goals was to complete the run without stopping to walk. I made a lot of progress. I made 2 brief stops at the aid stations for to sip water or Gatorade. I felt like I had a good run with a strong finish. It was in fact, one of my better tri runs.

Train on courses with a variety of hill climbs and rolling hills.

I did an easy 1/4 mile run, then cleared my transition space. I walked around the pool deck area and back on the run course to cheer participants approaching the finish line. Picked up 3 bananas at the food area to snack on during my 3.5 hour drive back home.


A dropped chain while climbing a hill on the bike. More hillwork training prep. on the bike and run would have been helpful.


I enjoyed this race. The run and bike course are hilly and challenging. Great race organization by Team Magic, volunteer support and hoopla. Will need to remember to enter this one early in the future as it fills to capacity (450) before the race date.