Smithfield Sprint Triathlon - TriathlonSprint

Not too nervous or anxious. Kept calm. Pushed off the wall and had a little trouble breathing for the first half lap, then refocused and did fine. Out of the pool I was surprised at how weak my legs were, but I noticed that my kicking was more consistent than in practice.

I'm happy with the swim and I think with more training I can pick up the pace and turn in a better time. As for performance, though, I'm pleased.

It was cold coming out of the pool and into the open air, but I found my rack without a problem, no issues putting on my shoes. I had put bodyglide in the heels for easy on and off. I had a little trouble putting on my shirt because I was wet, but nothing major. Had some difficulty fastening my helmet, but not bad.

I think I had set this one up pretty good, so apart from learning to leave my shoes in my pedals and putting them on on the ride, I think everything was fine.

Hard start with climb into the wind. Mostly headwinds for the first couple of miles. Average speeds were in low teens. Strong left turn at about mile 4 was uphill and into the wind. At mile 7, back onto main road with flat or downhill and a tailwind. Kept it between 19 and 23 all the way back.

Apart from extra training on bike (I'd like to get a trainer this year) in preparation for the race, I'd like to be able to transition with shoes pre-clipped and knowing gears better. I'd also like aerobars. My big mistake on this leg was removing my feet from the shoes before the dismount line and one shoe dragged the road, and I couldn't pedal as far as I needed, so I coasted too far. That added several seconds to my time.

Apart from my dismount issues concerning my shoes, my only real issue was that the two bikes on either side of my spot had racked their bikes and their wheels had both turned toward my spot, so I had trouble racking. Apart from that, I got my helmet off, socks on and shoes on without a problem. My legs were very heavy.

I can't think of anything I would do differently regarding the transition, but for training, I will do more bricks.

I was completely worn out by the run, but I didn't stop or walk. My wife said I was wobbly at the finish. I felt exhausted, but I didn't collapse. I was moving slow, but I didn't slow down except on the hill, and in the downhill portion of the run I kept a steady pace and control or I could have easily fallen.

Nothing during the run except maybe a fuel belt or camelbak (I didn't wear mine today). Everything else came down to training.

Oops. Didn't warm down. Just stood around talking to my family and waiting for them to post race results.


More consistent training and more intensive speed work. Endurance was fine, but speed was difficult. If I do more intervals I should see some progress. Mentally I think I was ready. I was confident I could finish and that was my main goal. My secondary goal was to break 1:30:00, which I also did. Now that I have done one race and know what my body feels like during and after I can push harder in training. I've also seen how far down the placing I am and that serves as a great motivator.


I'm glad this was my first race. It was well-organized and laid out, the course was good, and the volunteers were great. I plan to do it next year.