Long Beach Island Annual Triathlon/Duathlon - TriathlonSprint

The swim was the hardest portion for me, but it's generally my strongest. I don't have much opportunity to swim in salt water; so I think it was a factor. My last sprint was in a lake. I couldn't see anything then, but it didn't seem to affect me. This time the fact that I couldn't see anything with my face in the water seemed to cause some anxiety. I just did backstroke. I wasn't alone though. I saw a lot of people in my wave doing the same thing. I got through it.

Next year I have to find a way to do some practice open water swims in bay or ocean.

Walking across the rocky parking lot was difficult after the swim. Glad I had a bottle of water to splash my feet.

Put flip flops on the beach at the exit. I couldn't tell if that would work prior to the swim. Now I know it will. Picking my way across the rocks slowed me down even more.

The bike segment went just as I expected. I think the time is what I anticipated almost to the second. The wind on the northbound part of the lap was a little stiff, but not terrible.

I'm not sure there's anything I would have done that day. I see the value of the spin classes now. You pedal 100% of the time. Even though I'm working hard on the hills I get little breaks going downhill. On the flat, you pedal 100% of the time.

The big thing about this transition was I had planned a pit stop. I didn't do it on the last tri, and it was an issue. Glad I took the extra minute to do it. Pretty sure it made it possible for me to have a better pace on the run.

Check to see where you leave the transition area for the run. It wasn't clear and I got a little confused. Lost another :30.

Much faster than other walks I've done. I was able to run intervals several times. Really excited about that. Actually sprinted at the end.

Push myself to run more. I'm going to be able to run the full 5K next year (or sooner).

Wow. I don't really remember it. I was so excited to have finished and celebrating with my friend. I walked around quite a bit. Did some stretching. Ate part of a bagel, drank water and coconut water.


Lack of training. I know I went into this more unprepared than the one I did four years ago. But I also finished 4 minutes faster overall. There's a lot of room for improvement for me. If I can "wing it" to this degree and still finish, imagine what it could be!


I've only done two tri's. Both with the same organizers; so I don't have any comparison. The one think I would say is that pizza and hoagies as post-race food do not appeal to me. The bagels were ok.