TriDeltaThon - TriathlonMini Sprint

The air temp was cold and I stood on the deck for about 25-min waiting my turn to jump into the 'warm' water. It only took me 300m to warm up. Since this was my first tri, I was concerned about going out too fast in the swim (not that I have a fast swim pace). I kept a steady pace pretty well throughout the 400m swim and finished without difficulty and wit a lot left in the tank (I'm okay with this). I passed 3 folks and was passed by 5-6 folks; no traffic jambs. I got kicked in the head at a turn and got a mouth full of water, but was abel to focus on breathing and swimming (good recovery). I lost a lot of time at the turns/cross-overs, especially when I was passing or being passed at these junctures. At the exit, I stopped swimming too soon and tried to walk through the 4' deep water, following the example of the swimmer ahead of me. I won't do this again, since it cost me time versus swimming to the steps. I'm not unhappy with this 'swims-like-a-deer' (my new native american name) pace given this was my first competitive swim experience.

1. Push a harder pace; had plenty left for the bike and run.
2. Swim to the wall and push off, just like practice
3. Finish the swim to the stairs

T1 & T2 time included in the bike time.
I was generally happy with my T1 performance. I got to the transition early and placed my bike in a favorable spot near the T1 exit. I had my tri-bike shoes in the peddles with rubber bands to hold them in place (right shoe forward). I ran out of T1 bare-footed (inspecte dthe surface beforehand for appropriateness), jumped on the bikeand gained speed before attempting to slip my feet into the shoes. All went well until I learned I did not account for having wet feet (I was great in practice). I struggled to get my feet in for 1/4-mile or so, but finally got my feet in the shoes.

Practice, practice, practice. My plan was good (no socks, shoes in place w/ rubber bands), just took me a little longer to get my feet set. I still gained secondds compared to putting my shoes on in T1 and running out.

This was my strongest leg of the race (48/318; bike and transitions). I stayed in the drops for all but the hills and kept a good cadence throughout. I cornered well, losing time on corners-under-construction and was out of the saddle (and comfortable) on both lap finish hills.

Ride the course before hand. I likely would have picked up 15-30 seconds per loop. I drove it, but didn't ride it.

T2 time included in bike time.
The bike leg finished uphill, so (after the getting the feet in the shoes fiasco) I decided to just run in the bike shoes. this was a little clunky, but worked fine, since my transition spot was close to the transition entrance. I had been practicing putting my shoes on (no socks) with them tied; not so good with depleted energy level. I finally just untied the shoes and re-tied them; cost me a little time and 2 spots in my AG.

1. Practice pullin my feet out of the shoes on flat or downward sloping finishes.
2. Use my new Zoot shoes or get quick laces for my Asics.

My feet were still numb from the pre-pool concrete when I started the run, but eventually warmed up. I felt strong throughout the race and likely could have run a faster pace. I attempted to save something for the final hill climb, but it turned out I had plenty.

Probaly could have pushed this a little harder, if I had run the course and known the hills, etc. Otherwise, I was happy with my performance.

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


Experience and course knowledge.