Tree Fest Triathlon - TriathlonSprint

The water in this lake is DARK. I have never swam in water like this before. It was dark, like an Amberbock beer kinda dark. Zero visibility deeper than the first couple inches. It kinda freaked me out the first time I put my head in to take some strokes. I thought it was going to taste bad but it was fine. It wasn't dirty, there's just something in the water that makes it that color.

The RD announced that we were going to go off in one wave instead of two and the groans of the athletes were noticeable. After my Xterra swim, I was not looking forward to a one wave start. We waded in the water, I wished my sister good luck and then we were off!

I actually had pretty clear water from the get-go which really surprised me. I did have a few men swimming around me but I was able to squeeze between them. I tried to push the pace and kept catching up to the men that went out first until we got to the first buoy, everyone started breaststroking. They were taking the turn really tight so I couldn't go around them so I did a couple breaststrokes too, then as soon as I could, I went back to freestyle.

I swam straight to the next buoy with very few people around. Whenever I would swim near someone, I wouldn't know it until I saw bubbles or if I was breathing on that side and saw them. (or touched them) I really couldn't see them even if they were only a few feet away. I just concentrated on swimming my speed, to the shore and the boat ramp. I think I saw one or maybe two red caps (women) get out of the water before me.

As soon as got near the boat ramp I tried to stand, felt the cement and then the ground dropped below me - oops, this is too deep. Swam a couple more strokes and when it was shallow enough, I stood up and ran up the boat ramp to transition.

This swim felt faster so I'm surprised I went over 2:00/100y, I know I can go faster. I don't know how much time my hesitation at the beginning and at the buoy cost me.

Not much, maybe swim harder in the beginning but I still managed to have a good swim.

I practiced my transitions a couple days before the race and this was auto-pilot. Ran to my rack, slipped on my shoes while putting my sunglasses and helmet on - grabbed my bike and jogged out of T1. I had planned to leave the rachet unbuckled until I started riding and I got one in but never got the other and just left it.

Nothing, this was a great T1 for me.

The bike is one of my strengths, I planned to hammer as much as I could. I tried to keep as much distance as I could in front of the women because I knew I'd lose time on the run.

When we started the bike, there weren't many people in front of me and I was able to catch a few (and a few caught me) so that was nice. I didn't see any other women until the front group had made the turn-around and I saw two. I thought there was no way I'd catch 'em so I just concentrated on pushing the pace. The first 2.5 miles was a rough road and prayed the entire road wasn't this rough but then we turned on to a more major road and it was smooth.

I leap-frogged with a guy for a while and I also saw a guy in front of me without a helmet. DOH! He'd forgotten it, oops. We made the tight turn around and headed back. Anytime there was a slight incline, I was able to make up ground. We made the last turn (back on to the rough road) and I kept hammering. As I passed a guy on a tri bike with fancy race wheels I said something about good ride (I don't know why?!) and he said the same thing back and that I was leading the women - I said I was second. (I knew I'd passed the girl I had earlier seen was in front of me)

When I saw we were only about a mile from T2, I made the gear easier and tried to increase my cadence but not drop speed. We got to transition, unclipped and hopped off the bike, ran with my bike around transition in to the opposite side and ran to my rack.

Probably nothing. I feel like I pushed the pace as well as I could. I rode in the drops almost the entire time. This is probably the only time in recent memory when I was missing my aerobars.

Again, this transition was auto-pilot. I jogged to my rack, racked my bike by the brake levers, took off my bike shoes, grabbed my helmet and sunglasses off my head, slipped on my socks and then my running shoes, grabbed my hat and race belt and ran out of T2.

Nothing, another great transition.

I knew this is where I'd lose spots and time. I got passed by a lot of guys but only three women. (2 of them I'd passed on the bike) So, I knew my 2nd place O/A spot had dropped but also knew I was in 1st in my AG. I had an epiphany a couple days before the race and knew I needed to push the run as much as I could. I knew it was gonna be hard and probably hurt but I needed to focus and finish strong. Because it was a flat course, I knew I could do it.

Right out of T2 I was running but my HR was high and my shoulders were sore from riding in the drops but my legs felt great. I wanted to walk but didn't stop. Just after mile 1, there was a water stop and I grabbed a cup, walked and drank a little, spit some out, dumped the rest out and kept going. I felt like I was slightly dehydrated but not bad enough that I needed to hang out and have a bunch of water. My HR was high the entire time but I never felt it was out of control so I pushed through even though it was uncomfortable.

I kept running, made it to the turn-around and started the run back. Between miles 2 and 3 I came up to a guy who I'd seen running and walking in front of me. When I caught him I gave him encouragement and told him to come on, let's run. He said he was cramping real bad and that he should have been training instead of hunting and playing ball. I said something about us almost being done and he started running and then took off. Seriously?! Whatever, Dude. I let him go. At our last turn, I knew I was close. I looked at my watch and knew I was going to get close to my goal. I picked up my pace as much as I could to finish strong. I crossed the finish line as the 5th woman.

This is a PR for a 5k so I'm happy with that but sort of mad at myself because I know I could have improved my run if I'd been running more in training.

Not much except train more on the run. I was able to "fake" my way through this run because of my bike fitness, my base and because it was flat - that ain't gonna cut it for my other races this year. This run was good for me so I'm happy about that.

Walked around and let my HR come down. I checked the preliminary results, went to my bike to get my bottle of GU2O (felt better after that!) and gathered my stuff to take back to the van. I was trying to estimate in my head when my sister would cross the finish line so I could be there to cheer her on but I messed up and missed her by a couple of minutes - OOPS! I found her, we grabbed some food and checked the results and it was confirmed that I was first in my AG - woohoo!

We walked back to gather her stuff, packed the van up and waited for the awards.

Total HR data:
low: 115
average: 182
high: 199

This sums up how I felt, I was pretty much in Zone 4 the entire time.




Lack of run training. My swim and bike went as well as I'd hoped.


I have no complaints about this race, the RD is obviously experienced. The course was well marked, there were cops at every turn to control traffic (even though it was an open course), enough volunteers, plenty of post-race food and well organized. The only detail I didn't like was the late start, the pre-race briefing was long.