NE Season Oper Sprint Duathlon & Triathlon - TriathlonSprint

My hands were so cold and stiff from being in the water for so long that I could not really cup my fingers. This made paddling rather difficult. Also, the water was super choppy, which I was not used to, so I kept swallowing water and/or had to breath only on one side, which threw my rhythm off.

Not get in to warm up until I am ABSOLUTELY sure the race will not be delayed. This is the second race where I froze after getting in to warm up and then having to wait an hour.

My hands were so stiff that I did not have the dexterity to pull my wetsuit over my left heel. Very frustrating. Also got my shirt caught putting it on.

Same as above. I would not warm up before I knew there was not delay. I can't see any other way to keep my hands from freezing into prehensile claws. Also need to practice transitions more.

Could not go full speed on the one big downhill because of the gusty winds throwing me off balance and my eyes watering so much I couldn't see. Also had tons of sand blown into my eyes, which made my contacts kill. Overall, I just didn't have it in me to push on the big hills -- the course was much harder than the previous day.

Again, I think that the cold wait for the swim exhausted me. Maybe I would not have pushed so hard during practice the previous day too. Honestly, I don't know how much I could have done differently given the wind, which was the hardest part. I was so concerned about maintaining my balance I did not drink that much on the bike.

Much easier transition. Tied left sneaker a little too tight, but otherwise okay.

Get Yankz for my sneakers.

Definitely my best part of the race. Did a good job of keeping my heart rate under control on the uphill start and managed to average 8:16 for first mile. The course was totally bizarre, and the wind on the weird run on the grass around the parking lot tired me out some. CRAZY high winds across the dam, but that made me feel so much faster after I crossed the dam and got out of the wind. Nice strong finish on straightaway last mile.

Not much. Probably drink more earlier, but otherwise, I did okay given the wind.

Wandered around, drank water and coconut water, ate granola bar and orange slice.


High winds on swim, bike, and run courses, stiff muscles and limited motor dexterity due to waiting in cold water for an hour, and not drinking enough due to balance issues on bike because of wind.


Overall, the race was organized, but the handling of the delay at the start of the race really affected my overall performance. I heard later on that the race organizers knew there would be a delay but didn't announce it BEFORE I got in the water. Then, they kept giving out incomplete and inaccurate information about the delay while everybody waited around freezing. Obviously, they couldn't control the weather conditions, but there needed to be faster decision making and better communication.