Castle Rock Triathlon - TriathlonSprint

I knew I was one of the stronger swimmers, so my goal was to lead my heat (of 30) going into the turnaround so nobody was in the way. That done I just stroked down the straightaway. Two problems - there was quite a bit of algae in the water so vision was nil. I struggled to stay close to the bouy line. The other was that I had to breathe more often than during training, whether it was churning water or heat of the moment, I don't know.

The water got shallow pretty quickly and there was a fairly long water run to the beach - got the cap and goggles off early and it helped orient me to vertical.

Go faster. Because of my increased breathing, I was concerned I was over-exerting. I would have forced myself to take less breaths and pull harder.

I didn't put a T1 split as none was officially taken and I completely forgot to hit the lap time on my watch until I was a 1/2 mile down the road.

There was a large kiddy pool as a common foot bath after the beach. A lady from the heat in front of me was taking her sweet time. Argh.

It went smooth. I swam in a tri top and shorts so no clothing change was necessary. Helmet on while scuffing feet on towel, had socks rolled off b-4 race and placed them in shoes (thanks for this tip, BT'ers). Biked in my running shoes and used Speed Laces. They allowed us to bike through the transition area under caution, so used that time to cinch up the toe clips.

Maybe no socks.

My bike time (and official time of all competitors) includes both transitions, as the crew basically took splits at the swim exit and the start of the run.

For me, I was hauling at the speed of ass. I did not have a single training ride over 20mph, and according to my computer, I averaged 21.7. The flat, cool, overcast conditions meant the stars were aligned but it felt good.

BTW, I ride an over-20 yo Schwinn Super LeTour with clip on aero bars, and running shoes with toe clips. I have to admit some pride in passing two guys with solid rear wheels!

I had my computer display time and drank every 10 minutes. At the 20-min mark I downed a Powergel, which I had taped to my aero bars.



Go faster. Because of the faster-than-expected speed, I became very concerned that I was leaving nothing in the tank for the run. I tried to idle myself back for the last 3 miles. Next time I'm pressing all the way in.

Biked with running shoes, so I screamed through this transition. Just had to ditch my helmet, grab my race belt and strap it on while running. Unfortunately, this caused the timing crew to miss my split, so I got no official bike and run splits.

The only mistake I made was shooting about 20ft beyond my racking spot and had to quickly run/carry my bike back to the spot.

Yell my number going into the run split area. I think not having my bib number situated didn't help, and I went through in a pack of about 6.

I'd keep a better eye on my transition area, too.

First two miles were solid, don't know what happened on the third. All in all, I'm happy. I wanted to stay under 8 min miles and got close.

Not much. Just gotta keep driving the legs until the end.

Water, hanging out with friends/family, eventually walked back to the camper and clasped our hands around a Miller High Life!


The mind. As my first triathlon, I was second-guessing everything...I'm breathing to much on the swim, I'm pushing too hard on the bike, etc.




This being my first race, tough to actually rate, but seemed to be very well organized and plenty of volunteers. Three water stations on a 3 mile race - I'd guess that's above average. We're all thinking of doing it again next year.