Grandman Triathlon - TriathlonSprint

A little choppy from prerace rain and wind storm. Awesome swim for me. The course was marked with buoys every 25 yards which made siting better than ever for me. Could have been a little short but my performance ranking wise was strong for me.

need to work on drills but very happy with time.

No issues. I didn't put shoes on pedals because climb was close to start and the path was rough upto the hill.

nothing

Good bike on a wet, hilly, and somewhat technical course. After the first climb, I pushed pretty hard for the first half. My speedometer died before the race so I had to go on my gut. I went really hard on the hilly part and then let up a little on the last mile or two. I was extra careful on the turns as the course was wet and we got a little more rain toward the end of the ride. I also am not that compfortable with the handling on the tri bike yet.

Having a working speedometer. I probably quit pushing a little too soon but I really wanted to have something for the run. I need to get more riding on routes with turns and hills.

I left feet in the shoes because of the technical finish. Still not convinced it helps anyway. I had a little problem taking off shoes but nothing serious. I swapped to running shoes standing up, no issues.

It started raining hard at the beginning of the run. They should make that mandatory in summer races!!! I started easy and didn't push up the hill. The lack of mile markers aggravated me, but I felt like I had a good pace and I was able to push the HR up throughout the run. The run back was great and I pushed all the way to the end. Only a little pain in right ankle, nothing serious.

Light stretching and watching wife and friends come in at the finish line. Then I got a massage.


Wet course hurt on the bike but the rainy run probably offset that. I need to improve bike handling and hills on the P3. No speedometer led to me letting up a little early on the bike.


I really liked this race alot. My favorite tri this year. Its a course thats challenging enough for experienced folks and short enough for newbies. It sells out pretty early so plan it well in advance.

Positives
o Met Will (Memphis) from BT before the race and talked a bit. Didn't find him after race but he had a good time.
o Well marked swim course
o Challenging bike, not the standard flat out and back we get so much of down here
o Rainy run
o 25 massage therapist (only waited 5 minutes and got a 15 minute massage)
o Friendly volunteers and lots of spectators
o Fun race party, live band, lots of folks
o Tons of Door prizes, including a Felt bike (I didn't win again)
o Split awards
o 5 minutes between swim waves spread out the bikes nicely combined with the hills cut out the pelotons
o Erica Polllack (elite racer who founded this race with her husband) as race MC, she is a blast


Negatives
o Automobile traffic on bike got bad as the raced progressed. I was in wave 3 so it was minimal but later starters said they had issues.
o No mile markers on run
o The transition area was full of spectators before the race. They did clear it at the start of the race.
o They ran out of beer. This happened here 2 years ago and our group was prepared.
o They ran out of food at the party.
o No chip timing and the official times are off for 1 minute for everyone. Not sure what happened and it didn't affect standings but all times were 1 minute less than actual. I guess I should be happy but I put my real time in the report.