Tomatoman Sprint Triathlon - TriathlonSprint

This was the very worst part of my race. I started to swim and kept getting tangled in all the seaweed. I wouldn't say it made me panic, but it definitely threw me off my game. I ended up having a lot of difficulties breathing steadily, so I backstroked at least 75% of the course to avoid hyperventilating. Because I was on my back, however, I couldn't see where I was going. There were 2-3 times where I swam quite a bit off-course because I wasn't sighting enough. I probably swam about 1000m when you add all that garbage in. To make matters worse, I wasn't focusing on what I was trying to do! All I kept thinking was "there's no way I can swim 1500m for the OLY!" My time is the biggest disappointment for me. I think that if I hadn't freaked out and just tried to do my best freestyle, I could easily have shaved at least 5-7 minutes off my time which would have put me under my 1:30 goal.

Learn how to swim!!

Decent transition - but it was really demoralizing to get to my bike and see that everyone was already gone. I realized at that point how much I really sucked!

Swim faster so that I would be there earlier.

My legs were pretty thrashed from struggling so much with the swim and it took me a long time to get up to speed. Then I almost crashed into the ditch when I tried to make the tight turn at the halfway point. Add into that the fact that I still can't drink from my waterbottle as I ride, and it seems like the bike portion would have sucked as well. Luckily, however, I eventually (!) got up to speed and felt pretty strong by the end of it. I passed 6 people and only got passed once (although who the hell was behind me in the swim, I have no idea).

Swim better so my legs didn't take so long to recover. Also learn how to drink on the bike so that I am better hydrated to start the run segment. Or maybe just go for aero bars and an aquacell to get faster and hydrated in one step!

I don't think I will ever have a cool dismount. I slowly and awkwardly get off my bike and run to the racks. That's fine. I had a bit of trouble racking my bike properly and needed to swig some gatorade before I could head out on the run - but together those things probably cost me only 10-15 seconds.

Rack the bike seamlessly and already be hydrated when I get to transition. Also be superfly and get my feet out of the shoes and flying dismount without killing myself or injuring any innocent bystanders!

As much as I struggled on the swim and start of the bike, I felt good on the run. Actually, I'm angry that I didn't push myself harder because I finished feeling really great. I started slowly to get my legs and picked up the pace at two different points, but I just couldn't get my legs to turn over any faster. I want to point out that I am probably the only racer who stopped in the middle of her final loop to help an elderly woman cross the street with her walker (she couldn't make it over the curb - Jenna to the rescue!) but that's still no excuse for finishing with so much left in the tank. Even with my troubles earlier in the race, I should have been running <5min/kilometers, which would have given me another 2-3 minutes off my total time. Next year I will catch Jeff!!

Run faster. Just friggen do it, there's no excuse. And maybe let the old lady fend for herself (just kidding!).

Walked, a handful of stretches. I had a big cheering section that wanted to do pictures/hugs, so that took some time. Then I ate the race pizza, pasta, and requisite doughnuts. Managed to stick around for the awards this time! BT totally represented - almost everyone got some hardware.


The fact that I suck at swimming. I am going to get some professional help for that!


It was fun for my first sprint! I'll do it again next year for sure.