Hawk Island Triathlon - TriathlonSprint

This did not go well for me. Historically, I have been a slow swimmer so I stayed in the back and kind of let everyone else go. I then waited just a bit for things to clear and went in. It was not good after that, people were doggie paddling, back floating, just hanging out, you name it they were doing it. I had to stop 5 or 6 times, weave back and forth and I could never get into a decent rythym except for maybe the last 50 meters. I am sure I could have been 2 minutes faster if I would have not been back there.

Start in the middle of the pack or at least to the outside. To be honest, this is the first tri I have done where it seemed like a lot of people just didn't really know how to swim. It was only 400 meters and people were hanging treading water and hanging onto the spotter boats. The other tris I have done were 1/2 mile swims and it seemed like everyone just flew the whole time.

OK, I am just plain bad at transitions. What I was worried most about was getting my wetsuit off as I had never swam in a tri with one. Well that was no problem, got it right off and didn't even need to sit down. However, I screwed around forever trying to put socks on my wet feet as I hate running without socks and I just wanted to get them on. I ended up giving up on the socks.

I need to practice this more.

After taking my good sweet time in transition, I hop on the bike hoping to make up some time. I get chugging along and all the sudden it becomes very easy to peddle. I look down and realize my chain has come off the big ring. I stop, unclip and toss it back on then I have to wait for a huge line of bike traffic to jump back into it. After that, I felt really good and started moving well. I think I passed just about everyone back who passed me when I was out of commission. Overall, I was happy with my bike performance but for the chain issue.

Not have my chain fall off.

This transition wasn't too bad and I did manage to finally get those socks on.

Probably not too much, I could likely shave a little time off here but I don't think significant.

I started out the run just like I normally do trying to find my legs. That usually takes the first mile which it did this time too and I was right around 9:30 for my first mile which I was happy with. Second mile was ok...not great. Third mile, I started having issues, thinking back now I think I should have probably hydrated better before the race and part of that might have to do with dealing with the bike and being sort of freaked out and not thinking about drinking water. I started getting those side cramps that I seem to get when I haven't drank enough.

Hydrate better. I also realized today that I need to put a little more focus into running. I'm just plain slow.

Spent some time with the BT crowd. It was really great metting everyone. Found out that Erik beat me by 13 seconds but I want a rematch next year. Overall had a real good time chatting with everyone.


The main factor in limiting my ability to perform faster comes from my old, 225 lb body. However, I made some mistakes and had some issues. Starting in the back of the swim pack was a big mistake for this race. Losing my chain on the bike wasn't something I could control but it certainly cost me time. Also, I should have spent a little more focus on hydration and I think the run would have been better.


I really liked the race. Nice layout, well organized and a good first tri as it is short. I will plan on doing this one again next year.