Black Bear Triathlon - TriathlonSprint

I was in wave 5, right behind all of the old men (50 and up). I thought it was going to be bad, but there were 4 minutes in between each wave so I didn't have too many problems. The only thing that sucked was that the wave before us had yellow caps -- and the buoys were yellow. Made sighting a bit difficult.

Lined up in the second row, as far to the right as I could. Gun sounded, and I figured I would just stay on the girl's feet in front of me. But she was a slow swimmer (not sure why she was in the front row) and immediately went around her. From there on out, I had open water. No drafting. I would sight every 10-12 strokes, as this is a big lake and I knew there was a lot of room around me and I didn't have to worry about swimming into anyone else. Felt great the entire swim and started to pick it up after the last turn. Had to do some navigating through the last 150-200 meters, as I was in the mix with all of the slower swimmers from the three previous waves. Came out of the water 9th out of my wave (not sure what in my AG though).

Nothing. I was very happy with this swim. Time includes a short run (15 secs) up to transition.

Had a solid T1.

I noticed that one girl from my AG who beat me out of the water was having trouble getting her wetsuit off, so I really wanted to have a solid T1 to beat her out onto the bike course.

Waited to take my wetsuit off until I was in front of my transition area. Came off with minimal difficulty. Threw it aside, and immediately put sunglasses and helmet on. Then into my bike shoes. Did not bother to wipe off my feet, which I usually do. Grabbed the bike, and off I went. The girl in my row was right behind me. The run up to the mount line was effing LONG. We are talking about 0.10-0.15 miles. The girl beat me up to the line (I could tell by her body type that she is a runner) but she had her shoes clipped on her bike, so she struggled to get her feet in and I whizzed by her.

Learn how to keep my shoes on the bike, but I think I don't lose much time putting on shoes in T1.

Overall very happy with my performance. I took some chances and took some of the corners very fast to try to stay in the mix for an overall place. Normally I would back off on the corners, but this time I pushed through them and trusted my bike handling skills.

Out on the course, I played leap frog with the same two girls for the first 8-10 miles (the one girl was wearing pink and very nice, as I chatted with her on the course a few times). Finally I dropped the one girl on my way to Penn Station. There is a little climb and then probably the biggest and most technical downhill section. So I told myself this is where I needed to lose that girl. I got out of my saddle and busted the uphill and then went as hard as I could on the downhill section. When I made the left onto Berger, that girl was no where to be found.

Coming back out onto Pohopoco, I saw another girl in my AG whom I hadn't seen before. I made her my next target, and again busted the uphill to catch her. From there on out, I played leap frog with her and also still that same girl in the pink who I left transition with. It was the three of us jockeying for position back and forth until the end. Although the girl in the pink was very nice and we kept trading small talk and joking, the other girl was a beeotch. She kept riding the double yellow line so that you couldn't pass her. Even after I would yell, "On your left," she still would not move over. I made it my mission to not let her beat me back to transition. I kicked it into high gear after the climb on Jefferson, and eventually dropped the girl. I ended up coming into transition number 2 (female), with the mean girl and the girl in pink right behind me.

The course is really rolling with some hard climbs, so it allows you to really excel in whatever area you are strongest at. I made sure to hammer the uphills, which is usually where I passed my competition.

Nothing. Very pleased with my performance.

My watch split shows 37 seconds for this transition. I think 49 is a little high, but maybe there was a second mat out of transition and I pushed my split too early. Regardless, transition was good. I sprinted with my bike down the long transition run, and the two girls were still behind me. Made it to my spot on the rack and noticed that the mean girl was catching up. I took my helmet off, shoes on (used body glide and vasoline, which worked excellently!), grabbed my race belt and a visor and headed out. The girl in the pink was still at her spot on the rack, so I yelled to her nice bike and good luck on the run. I knew she would catch me, so no reason to not be nice ;)

Nothing.

Mean girl was ahead of me, and I knew there was no way I was catching her. Too fast. Within 1 minute, the girl in the pink catches me and says "Lets go get her!" I said OK, but I knew there was no way I was keeping up with either of them. I let the girl in the pink go ahead, significantly, and then just tried to fend off anyone else.

I felt good the whole run. In hindsight, I don't think I pushed it hard enough. I had so much left in mile 3, and although it was a slight downhill, I should not have been that fresh by the end of the run. I think I was settling because I knew I would not catch the two girls in front of me. At the turnaround around mile 1.5, I was able to see how far back the next girl in my AG was. I figured she wouldn't catch me, but I picked up the pace a bit just in case.

I hit mile 2 and picked it up even more, seeing the 8.34 split. I think this mile marker was a bit long. Probably this one was a bit long and mile 3 was a bit short. Not sure if I could have ran a 6.58? Saw the chute right after mile 3 and was confused, because the course is advertised as a 3.4-mile course. Kind of wish I would have known that from the beginning.

First time in a while I have run without my own water bottle, but I figured for a 3 mile run, I shouldn't carry one. Ended up taking two cups of water. One to two swigs and then the rest over the head.

I let two women pass me on the run. This is where I need to pick up my training. Could have been 4th overall female if I was a bit stronger on the run. I know I am not lightening fast and I never will be, but more sprint training may get me a few seconds.

Push harder from the beginning! I need to remember its a sprint and not a half Ironman where I need to pace the run.

Crossed the line and was greeted by Tim and both sets of our parents. Grabbed a bottle of water, some food, and waited for the results to be posted.


Not too much, other than believing in myself as much on the run as I do on the bike.


CGI puts on good races. Although they pushed back the swim start by 15 minutes because of traffic, I understood why they did it. Other than that, things were pretty timely and nicely run.