Quad Cities Triathlon - Triathlon

They did the elite guys first. There were only two so they got a two minute head start from all of us. Then after the first guys went they would send off two more every 3 seconds. It worked out alright I think. Once in the water I got caught behind a slower swimmer ahead of me and every time I would try to pass it seemed someone behind me had gotten fed up with him as well and was passing the both of us. Got kicked in the face and such. I did not enjoy this swim that much. I ended up passing him after the turnaround buoy and got going at a better speed then. Came out of the water and ran up the hill to transition!

Eh. Couple things. I was worked up to start with because this is the biggest tri I had done to date so far plus the level of competition here was big as well. Think I was just hyped up to much. Would have helped not getting stuck behind the slower guys as well but it wouldn't be challenging if you didn't :P

It was a pretty long run from the water edge to my bike rack. I had an excellent transition spot though which made it super easy to find my bike. Put my helmet on as I was trying to move my wetsuit down with my legs at the same time. Need to practice it just a little more to get better at it but overall I think it went pretty well.

Not much I could have done. It started raining around this time as well :P

Didn't go as fast as I wanted to. I wanted to average 23 at least and was a tad over that with a mile to go. I think I took my shoes out to early coming back in because I slipped a couple times with them out and that cost me some time. Otherwise the ride went alright I guess. The wind was doing some crazy things out there coupled with the wet roads and rain made it a tough ride I think for us guys who were out there early. A lot of the other people who came later didn't have to deal with the rain it seemed as it quit about the time we were getting done. I passed a couple people and was passed by two other guys during the bike. The bike is my worst discipline and it seems to be slowly getting better as the training days go by.

Not much. Don't take my feet out of shoes as early! I did a HIM 6 days before this event and I think my legs were still not 100% recovered from it.

I think this went pretty well. Had to take an extra second to figure out right exactly where my spot was at haha. Everyone has black bags it seems! I got the bike on the rack and was able to get my socks on pretty quick considering they were all wet and the shoes were wet! Thank you baby powder! Once they were on it was grab the number belt and start running!

Nothing. The wet pavement and running downhill to my spot was a little sketchy but I think it all went very well indeed!

It had gotten muggy out! The first hill right out of transition sucked! It was in the grass and everything was wet so it was tough running up it. I knew there were a couple guys behind me right off the start because I could hear them. Put on some speed and I pulled away from them. After about a mile into it though I could see a guy behind me that was slowly chipping away at me. There was another guy ahead of me that I was catching but with only 2 more miles to go I knew there was no way that would happen in time. I pushed it about as hard as I could during this run I think. I went sub 20 again and was really happy considering this run was hilly to start with. The guy behind me got pretty close towards the end but I finished strong and was probably 4-5 seconds before he crossed. Should have pushed harder though because he was in my AG and beat me by 2 seconds overall!!!! Oh well. That's the way it works it seems. He and I talked for a minute or two and went about our ways! This was an awesome event.

Not much I could have done. Left it all out there I think.

Walked around and talked with other club members as they would finish. Did some light stretching but that was about it.


Doing a HIM 6 days before this :P Otherwise I think that's about it. I felt pretty decent going into this race but my biking legs were still not 100% I think.


This was a very well run race. It seems to be one of the premier sprint races in the Midwest if not the nation. It pulls in people from all over the US and there is a ton of talented athletes that show up as well.