Indianapolis Sprint Triathlon Series - TriathlonSprint

They started people individually 2 seconds apart rather than in waves. I thought it worked pretty well, although it would have been nice to have been ordered by swimming ability rather than age group. The water was very murky due to a storm the night before (I assume - it might be like that all the time, I guess), so it was impossible to see the other swimmers and I had several collisions. Apologies to anybody I collided with, I really couldn't see you AT ALL! I tried to swim to the outside for a clearer lane, but I wasn't the only one with that idea.

Maybe stay farther outside - the extra distance would be worth avoiding the many stops involved in running into and going around people.

Didn't wear a wetsuit, so no problems there. I put my shoes on at the rack. I have old lace-up mountain bike shoes so I got some Yanktz laces for them as well as my running shoes and they did the trick. The mtn bike shoes were great for running through the transition area!

Nothing.

I pushed hard on the bike - I could feel my quads burning early on - and I was surprised and pleased with my pace. I need to do a lot more work on the bike to feel more comfortable at race speed (felt too wobbly to attempt aero), and to increase my endurance so I can still expect to run after a longer bike leg. I let myself cruise the last half mile or so to let my legs recover a bit for the run. The people around me seemed to be doing the same. There were a few slick spots due to the storm the night before, but the organizers posted volunteers at those spots to remind us to slow down and take it easy on the tighter turns. Thanks for that! I probably would have wound up flat on the pavement without the advice!

More riding experience.

Kept mtn bike shoes on for run to the rack. Legs felt super rubbery when I hit the ground! No problems switching shoes, put my hat and sunglasses on as I ran.

More bricks in training so I can fun faster off the bike.

I SO wish I could own that run pace, but I don't think it's accurate. There were rumors around the finish that the run course was 2.8 instead of 3 mi, so I checked it on mapmyrun and it looks like even 2.8 is a little generous. The pace for 2.8 mi would be 7:20 per mile, which still sounds faster than I felt but is closer to the truth. Anyway, it took about a mile and a half to feel right on the run, but once I got my legs back I pushed it as fast as I could. Loved the downhill at the end that made everyone look like a million bucks at the finish!

More bricks in training, otherwise I'm thrilled with the run at either pace.

Lots of walking around, not enough stretching. Drank lots of water and ate a clif bar.


I lost the most time on the swim, due to the many collisions and not pushing my pace as hard as I could have. I need to practice OWS to get a better feel for pacing without walls and clocks, and just get myself out of the pack the next time.


The event started late because of some problems on the course (big puddles, downed tree limb, etc.) related to a big storm that blew through the night before. So the blame goes to the weather not the organizers, who did a great job of setting everything back up (the signs and tents had been blown over) and getting things cleaned up (volunteers were picking up tiny sticks in the transition area!).