14.06 - Tri it now 1/10 ironman - TriathlonMini Sprint

Start came faster than expected. Felt my performance was about average, but the snake swim was difficult. People passing everywhere, especially at the ends. I allowed several to pass at the ends (while catching my breath too) and that cost some time.

Not let people pass at the ends and exhale more evenly. I think I was holding my breath some; increasing fatigue.

Don't remember much about T1. Found my bike easily, helmet on, wiped feet off, socks, shoes, ran with bike to mount line, mounted, and off I went.

Nothing, everything went fairly well. Something I've wondered about it leaving the shoes clipped on the bike. I've tried it a few times in practice and have a difficult time getting my feet into the shoes while on the bike. I'll stick with running in them for a while.

Hit the water bottle as soon as I got on the bike. Overall it was decent, but not as fast as I'd like. It was three loops of a pretty flat course with a few gentle climbs. I passed a lot of folks, but the multiple turn-arounds (12 overall) killed momentum. The engine on my bike needs some work; both in power and endurance. Spotted my wife and kids screaming at one of the turn-arounds, so that was cool.

I sucked in some air on the water bottle and had problems with that for a bit. Still need a lot of work on my biking, but it wasn't bad.

Again, don't remember much about T2. Dropped the bike off, threw the shoes on, picked up the hat, belt, and headed out of transition. Unclipped from bike and ran through T2 with bike shoes on.

Nothing really. Went pretty well. One thing I wonder about is pulling feet out of shoes near the end and leaving the shoes clipped on the bike. I've tried this a few times in practice and it doesn't feel "right".

Actually ran about 30s/mile faster than normal; so, that was pretty cool. However, I started getting some pain in my lower left leg and had to slow down a bit. Don't know if I didn't get enough stretching in or what, but once it started it didn't get any worse, so I pressed on. Saw some of the folks I started the swim with and everyone was yelling encouragement. Very cool. The finish was also cool.


Warm-up more thoroughly before the race. Some light jogging, and lots of stretching.

Poor warm-up and felt like I could have gone harder at times. However, as this was my first race; finishing was really my goal.


Had a great time. First race, so nothing to really compare it to.