Chaska River City Days Triathlon - TriathlonSprint

first race the swim was a little shorter so my times looked good, this one felt about right maybe a little longer but my time was more inline with what I expected. Lots of contact at the start due to other swimmers not being able to swim straight. I worked very hard at that in the pool (swimming with my eye closed etc) and think I do it well, it’s hard to put up with the zig zagers when I am not fast enough to out run them.
My last race I was in the first wave so this time I actually had some traffic from other waves, but it also felt good knowing I was passing people as I passed exactly ONE person the entire race my first time.
I could have given more, I was about 2/3rd through when I finally focused on getting into my grove then started asking myself why it took so long, was just going through the motions before that and so I wasted some time.


stay focused, get into my "cadence" sooner. Also make sure my zipper tether for wetsuit is tucked as it wrapped around my shoulder a few times and I had to a little dead mans float with a kick while I tried to sort that out.

Not much to say here, it was faster than my previous time because the run to my rack was shorter, but I don't waste time and I am not the fastest. Upon further review for people who finish overall near me I am much faster in transitions so I got that going for me!

nada

Clearly I need to work on the bike, I thought I would be faster but I don't know why, I had only like 2 good bike workouts since the last race. I tried not to get psyched out by the hills to start and think I did okay, I tried to attack when I could and took the other ones easy. Road along side a guy that must have been 8 feet tall and had on all white (looked like he was playing basketball). We chatted for a while, nice guy it was his first tri. He started to pull away after a longer incline. I got mad and decided I was not okay being passed by a Yeti. I passed him and set my sights on a girl in blue way up ahead. It took me 6 miles to catch her but it was a great motivator. Once I did there was nobody else to go after and I must have slowed because she passed me back. I liked going in a latter wave so I had targets to catch instead of everyone passing me! I got her back and said to finish strong; I don't run fast anyways so there was no point saving anything for a run that will be bad anyways! So the last 4 miles I really stepped it up and finished strong. Hit 35mph on the last hill so that was fun!
Continuted my tradition of saying Hi or thanks to every cop and helper on the course, I think thats a win win for everyone. Hopefully they know they are appreicated and I like when they smile after I say it.

I believe they call it T.I.T.S around here. Time in the saddle. the bike is the most bang for the buck in lowering my times, and I need to work on it. Sadly its the only one of the 3 sports I had any background in so maybe I took it forgranted.

decent time, again I am much faster than people who have my overal times. I felt slower as I wanted a little breather before starting the run. Talked to my family a little as they cheered me on, dont think that slowed me down as I was just multi-tasking!

Believe it or not I was thrilled with this run. I know I was 29/30 in my AG but it was still great considering my last race I was over 11 min pace and that was a run with not one notion of a hill as i walked at least 4 times.
This time I only walked once and that was up the hill as my calve was cramping really bad. I took it very slow up the hill, as I just wanted to stay alive. We passed a cemetary where my grandpa is and as I paid my respects I told him I hope he is okay if I don't join him today.
It was a little disheartning to know some were walking the hill and I wasn't able to gain any ground on them thats how slow I was "running"! hahahaha But I was still "running" in my mind and just kept moving. On the down hill I saw a guy way up ahead and tried to catch him, I was suprised how much I ground I was able to gain. The downhill was taking a toll on my knees which are not good to begin with but I pushed through. He didn't want me to pass him and as just able to fight me off by a second as we crossed the finish line. Its okay, even though I didn't pass him I know my time, and probably his, were better for pushing each other at the end.

I probably ran more than anything for training since the last race and I do think its paying off. I walked just once even with a monster hill so I think I just need to keep working at it. Some day I will be sub 10min miles!

family was there with the dog, so I like Bogey (the dog) lick the sweat off me as I was to tired to push him away, gave Sam the little man(the baby) a big hug for cheering loud (okay he is 8 weeks and slept the whole time but I didn't care). Got some water and a little food.
Counldn't stick around as I had to get home and shower/change for a golf tournament I was in later in the day (which the team took 2nd and I won closest to the pin on a par 3!)


Overall I beat my first Tri time by about 30 seconds even though this was a much harder course so I was really happy about that. I just need to keep training!


good small race, well organized. Cops did a great job of controling traffice which was nice.
No reason to not want to do this race again.