Lake Murray Triathlon - TriathlonSprint

The start of the race had the typical jostling for position and bumping. Everyone seemed to spread out fairly quickly and I was never beat on too bad. The water wasn't as rough as last year, but there were constant rollers as we were going out for the first 250 meters, and it felt like their was a current pushing us to the left of the first buoy. Once we made the turn at the first buoy it was pretty much uneventful. I got out of the water in 15:13. It didn't feel like it took me 45 seconds to run up the boat ramp to the swim mat but I guess it did.

Learn how to feakin swim.

I think this was one of the fastest wet suit transitions I've ever had. I ran in to transition, stripped my suit, buckled my helmet, and ran out with my bike without any fumbling. Once out of transition I jumped on my bike and started pedaling on top of my shoes. I probably didn't completely cinch down my shoes until about the 1/2 mile point.

When I got out of the water I pulled my swim cap and googles off first. I should have left the cap and goggles on so I didn't have to fumble around with extra stuff in my hands.

This was a good ride for me. I purposefully held off the throttle during the first part of the race. I knew there were some rolling hills coming out of the park and I didn't want to overtax my legs too early. During the ride I passed a 26 year old guy on every hill, he would then pass me on every down hill or flat section. We never drafted but we rode this way throughout the bike leg. During the Olympic distance race last week I only drank 1/2 bottle of G'ade and really paid for it on the run. This week I drank a whole bottle of G'ade and took a gel @ the half way point of the bike leg. Much better!

Push a little harder towards the end of the bike.

I forgot to loosen up my lock laces after I warmed up before the race. That made it a little challenging to stuff my feet into my shoes.

loosen up my laces.

My legs felt pretty good coming off the bike. The 26 year old (turns out his name was Eric) and I ran out of transition together. He pulled slightly out ahead of me and basically that's how we ran for the rest of the race. I have only gone sub 22 in a 5k once in my life and that was a non-tri 5k. This was my fastest tri 5k to date.

Keep working on my bricks. I probably should have taken another gel towards the end of the bike.

Mulled around talking with friends. Drank a coke and ate some oranges. After we left the race Kevin, Billy, and I hit Wild Wings Cafe for a celebratory beverage and Chicken Sandwich.


I need to work on swimming technique. I need to get both transitions under 1 minute. I probably should have pushed a little harder on the bike towards the end. I should have taken a gel towards the end of the bike.


This was the third time I have done this race. Today's race was a 5 min PR and overall I was pleased.