Amica 19.7 Las Vegas - TriathlonSprint

My first triathlon and I had not really done an open water swim other than a few yards in the ocean at the beach. It was much harder than I expected it to be, primarily mental. Water temperature was perfect, even without a wetsuit, but zero visibility in the water and my goggles fogged up so sighting buoys was hard.

The toughest part mentally was wanting to make sure I was swimming in the right direction, which was difficult to do while in freestyle. I did about the first 200 yds freestyle then alternated between freestyle and backstroke primarily for the advantage of navigating in a straight line while on my back, which kept me mostly on course.

I did not need a wetsuit for the water temperature, but think I would have benefited from one just for the buoyancy advantage. As I move into longer distances I'll definitely look into it.



Enter the water much earlier so I didn't tire myself out swimming to the start. Use goggle defogger. And rent or buy a wetsuit for the buoyancy advantage, if nothing else.

Since it was my first triathlon I decided not to worry about my transition times at all, making sure I got all my equipment on rather than rushing and forgetting something. Already had swim cap and goggles off by the time I got to my spot and didn't have a wetsuit to remove (still slower in T1 than 80% of the field, who had wetsuits!). Sat down, took a GU, dried off feet and put on socks and bike shoes, gloves (probably unnecessary but race like you train!), glasses and helmet. Was careful not to knock anyone else's bike over while moving out.


Reasonably fast by my standards. My triathlon bag came with a tripod stool which I really liked sitting on and got compliments on. And if you're going to take your time changing your shoes at transition, a stool is just what you need!

Nothing! I'm in triathlons for the athletic benefits, not overly concerned with competition and shaving a few seconds (or even minutes) off my transitions. As I move toward longer races, this transition time will be an even smaller portion of my overall time. I may be slow in transitions but I'm content with that.

Much harder than I had expected. The brutal 0.3 mile 8% grade really took its toll. I thought about giving up on the first lap, thinking there's no way I'm doing this six times! But I pressed on and made it through, and it seemed to get slightly easier for the next 4 laps. Last lap was really hard again, but I knew it was the last one and pushed hard to make it! The hill took so much out of me that I simply coasted on the downhill rather than pedaling faster. Probably wise as I was going 35 mph and just trying to stay on the road! Traffic circle at the bottom of the hill was scary to me, I probably lost a lot of speed braking there every time.

As I started the bike, about 80% of the racers were on the 2.7 mile bike course, including the leaders trying to lap the pack. It was a bit crowded with lots of "keep to the right" yelling by the faster riders. My first time down the hill and into the roundabout turn, the rider in front of me slowed quickly and I moved left to pass them, unfortunately taking up space needed by the race leader who seemed a bit miffed at me at the time (but was gracious when I apologized at the finish line). Fortunately, as time went on, the faster riders got onto the run course, and for the last 2 laps I got to be one of the "fast" people doing all the passing and feeling like a stud.

I did not take enough advantage of clipless pedals to share the load on the muscles, having to force myself to remember to pull the pedals up on the hills. I think this is a lot of time-in-saddle experience that I'll pick up, but a good focus area for training. I also need to learn how to get out of the saddle and push up hills.

Again, I was content to take my time in transition and do it right. Took slightly longer to get my bike shoes off than in practice (I couldn't remember which lever to press!) and I took enough time to double-lace my running shoes. I took a GU and washed it down with the water from my bike's water bottle, since I didn't have the foresight to have more easily consumed beverage available.

Preposition some gatorade at transition to swig before running. Get some of those laces that you can tie quickly and not worry about coming undone.

Although I can do a 25 minute 5K, I literally had nothing left after the brutal hills on the bike leg, and did way too much walking. I knew by this point that I was going to finish, and the worst part of the race was behind me, it was just a matter of putting one foot in front of the other to get to the finish. I already knew my bike time was slower than the unofficial goal I'd set for myself and I did not push as hard as I could have since the main goals were to survive the swim and experience all 3 sports, and the benefit of a faster run (shave a few minutes off an already slow time) didn't outweigh the benefit of enjoying the last portion of my race.

Train more, to make sure I had energy left for the run! BIke more efficiently, too.

Wandered around the finish area and consumed food and beverage while hugging my family and chatting with other finishers near my time.


Experience. Training. Mental hurdles, especially on the run.


Volunteers for this race were great! Lots of energy and encouragement, plenty of water. While I disliked the 6-lap bike course, it gave me the chance to see the same volunteers 7 times!