Galena Triathlon & Duathlon - TriathlonSprint

The swim starts with a run in so I lined up in the front. My plan was to go hard to the first buoy, which I figured was about 125-150 yards out, make the turn and then settle in. The gun went off and I went hard as planned. I ended up going too hard because I looked around and was leading my wave which never happens. Ever. And then my wheels came off as my breathing couldn't match my pace any longer and I had to pull way back to collect myself. Realistically, I could have gone easier and settled in and built up my pace and saved probably about a minute overall on my swim. Lesson leraned. Regardless, after I collected myself I started moving past people and had a decent swim from there but I'd already lost that time. I stood up out of the water at 11:25.

It's a decent run up and I stopped briefly to take my wetsuit off in the grass since it gets a little crowded in the TZ area, not to mention it's on rocks and broken up blacktop. Hurts like hell to run across it and definitely slows down the time in T1.

Not go out as hard and let myself settle into the swim.

The gravel, rocks and broken up blacktop slowed the run in for me, but everyone else had to deal with it as well. Since it was cold and windy out I made the decision to put on arm warmers. I have no idea if this helped me keep warm on the bike (where I never felt cold) or if it was a waste of time, but I did have some difficulties getting them on wet arms. From a time perspective, this wasn't a good thing and probably cost me close to another minute which I didn't need.

Either swim with the arm warmers on or leave them off.

I was never able to get comfortable and into a rhythm on the bike. Not sure what my problem was but I didn't feel like I had the power I should have, or even had the day before. Some of it could be attributed to the wind, which was relentless, or maybe my legs never really warmed up. Not sure. Either way, I went out and was passing people pretty steadily along the way. I had my instructions and plans on how to take the hills, flats, etc. I got passed by 3 guys but caught and passed one of them later on the big hill of the course that was 0.8 miles long. Once I was riding it I kept waiting for it to get hard and it never did. I probably moved by 7 or 8 people on this hill alone by staying in the right watt range and not going too hard or too easy. I ended up spending more time worrying about this hill than I did riding up it, which is another lesson learned. Didn't need to stress about it before the race.

There were some spots that were difficult since you'd be at full speed and have to make a 90* turn. The winds would move from headwind to crosswind and at time, my bike would move 2-3 feet over. In all, it was a lesson in bike handling out there, especially down the steep hill near the end. I stayed out of the aerobars and was getting the wobbles from the wind.

Nothing really exciting happened on the bike, but I feel like I had more power normally than what ended up showing up out there. I keep forgetting to look at the mileage on my PowerTap but I've been told that the bike course was longer than 17.3 miles shown (if that really matters).

Not sure.

Wasn't able to get out of my shoes and do a running dismount because there were too many people coming into T2 at the same time. The rest went well. I was a little slow getting my racing flats on because I couldn't feel my feet but once that was resolved I was off. There were only 4 people in my AG with a faster T2 so this was good for me.

Nothing.

The run was the most fun part of the day, and the highlight of it for me. Coming out of T2 my legs didn't feel completely trashed, although a bit heavy. It's a gradual incline that I'm guessing lasts 1/2 mile or so and my instructions/plan was to CTFO (chill the _ out) if there's a hill straight out of transition. I did exactly that and didn't push the pace, though I was still running steady. Just as I got to the top I got passed and decided to stay on this guy's feet. I learned quickly that my quads were shot and I was slow when it came to downhills, but whatever ground I lost there I'd make up on the uphills. I was able to cover all of the guy's surges and stay with him. Coming out of a small turn around was an uphill and I surged on my own and got some room, but he made it all up on the longer downhill that followed shortly thereafter. Of course, this led to a big uphill that was right before the finish. We picked up another guy in our AG and were running 3 across for the first part of the uphill. I was slowly pulling away but knew that if it came to a sprint finish (on a slight downhill) I'd lose that and any moves needed to be made here. I picked a spot about 3/4 of the way up and went for it from there. Neither one could follow and I had a big gap by the time we got to the top. Of course, I could feel a puke coming on as well but did what I needed to as I kept running. I checked over my shoulder and neither of the guys were in sight so I was able to let off and cruise across the finish ahead of them both.

I wasn't sure what to expect in terms of pace, but my 6:33/mile matched my 5K PR so I was really happy to see that, especially considering my PR was on a relatively flat course with no wind. The combination of that and how I ran this leg in general has given me more confidence in this leg.

Nothing.

Had some bananas, Gatorade, and hung out with my buddy Rick and some of his friends that he trains with at Endure It! in Chicago. Rick had a good day finishing 7th overall and 3rd in his AG so congrats to him. His friend Chad beat me by exactly 1 minute which could have been either on the swim or in T1 - take your pick. In fact, I was 1:08 from being in 8th place AG and that 1:08 was easily attainable. Nonetheless, we hung out, had our food and stayed through the awards.


Good plan on the swim, poor execution. I should have gone out hard, but not that hard. I overcooked myself and it wasn't necessary. I also took too much time in T1. Not sure what went on with the bike but I feel I could have gone faster. Not unhappy with the bike, but not excited about it either. All in all, this was the first race I've done in nearly a year since IMCdA in 06/2008 so I'm pleased with how it went and am looking forward to my next races this year.


The volunteers were great and the race was very well organized. I can only assume it's a logistical nightmare to put on an event like this. My only complaint was with the shuttles. We had to wait forever to get from T2 to the Start in the morning which kept me from getting in a swim warm-up as planned. Still, it's a great event that I've done before and will do again.