Foothills Sprint Triathlon - TriathlonSprint

Good water entry into a shallow pool & maintained a good consistent stroke rate & transitioned between lanes well (you could stand up on either end); targeting an 8-minute swim. Passed 5-6 folks & ran into a guy that was swimming 50m hard, then resting, then 50m hard, etc. He passed me and I passed him about every length; I've not seen that technique before. Breathing every other stroke; every 4th when passing.

A friend noticed that I wasn't kicking very well, so I need to work on a 2-beat kick (or none at all).
I did take 15s/100m off of my last competition, so I am getting a little better.

The light rain caused every thing to be wet, but I ran well from pool exit to transition at a steady pace & choose my bike placement well. I put it at the entrance to the transition, so I was running with the bike while I was still fresh; this worked well. I had my helmet on my aerobars w/ sunglasses inside (plastic bag over these; put these on first, then shoes. I ran well with the bike, pushing from the seat and only missed clipping in on the first try.

Eventually get comfortable with having my shoes in the pedals, after fumbling with this at Tri-Delt. At most, this cost me a few seconds. Also, I will eventually have to learn to get socks and gloves on for longer rides, but for now I'm fine without them.

I rode the course 2-days before the race, so was aware of the speed opportunities and hazards. This really helped on the wet course. While it didn't rain much during the bike leg, the pavement was slick. I believe I rode up to my current abilities and made up a lot of race spots, especially on the hills. I was appropriately cautious on the turns and avoided any mishps.

Work on cadence; not bad, but an opportunity.

I had an excellent spot @ the transition entrance (1st rack on the right), so I only needed to run with the bike for a short distance. I think this minimized not pulling my feet out before dismounting. Good transition; partly due to my new Zoot running shoes which I slipped into very easily. Hit a good pace even before exiting the transition area.

Practice pulling my feet out of the shoes on flat or downward slopping bike finishes

I pushed pretty hard on the bike and was a little concerned about how much I had left for the run, but this wasn't a problem. I took advantage of the downhill portion going out (course recon helped) and held a steady pace on the mostly uphill return. I still had good energy level left once I crested the final hill and hit the mildly downhill finish. I raced in my new Zoots for the firt time and I like them on 10k and less. I'll likely need to use my Nimbus for longer runs, just not enough cushion in the Zoots for a long pounding.

I haven't run much lately, so that might have helped.

1/4-mile run/walk, light stretch; carb replacement


Lack of training - Between vacation and a pseudo-taper week last week, I've not trained much in the past 2 weeks.


Good organization and great support from the volunteers; especially the boy scouts. I'll likely do this again.