Tri for the Cure - Denver - TriathlonSprint

Actual time in the water ~ 14:50 - rest was a dodge-and-weave run up to the timing mat.

What a circus. I started near the front and went out strong and STILL was getting knocked around and swam over. It was an absolute washing machine mess until the first turn. At one point someone was seriously trying to swim right over me, so I kicked harder. *I* was doing my best go out of my way to swim AROUND people in my way. Hit a little more open water after the first turn, but then I ran into the stragglers of the earlier wave(s). Still, felt strong when I was able to actually swim for real, and didn't see too many yellow caps (my wave) in front of me, so I was happy with that.

Nothing more I could've done, really. Just way too crowded.

Transition was HUGE with so many participants, and naturally my wave's racks were way the heck on the far side (though there were some that were even further). I think 2.5 minutes of this transition were just the runs to my rack and then back to the same area with my bike to the bike out. The time I was actually at my transition spot was fairly efficient. I think I was the first person to get to my rack row.

Nothing.

The bike out area was a disaster waiting to happen. There was no designated mount point and it was on a fairly narrow bike path. Some people mounted right away, others ran with their bikes further up and then got on - chaos. I hopped on when 2 women in front of me stopped to get on their bikes, but then a lady on a mountain bike to my right nearly took me out when she fell over trying to get on. A little further up, a girl who had just then got on her bike was wobbling in my direction and not paying attention, so I had to go off the path and onto the grass to get around her (even after I yelled "Watch! Watch! On your left!").

Once I finally got rolling, I got up to a good speed and into the aerobars and cruised. I was whipping by tons of people, many on mountain or hybrid bikes. The course was insanely crowded, and I was forced to slow down a number of times to wait to get around people. Still, it was a pretty decent course without any HUGE hills (couple decent climbs). Rode aero most of the time and pushed as hard as I dared when I could. Ate a package of Luna Moons about halfway through and drank plenty of water.

Nothing more I could've done with how crowded it was (and given my relatively low time in the saddle in training). I was actually pretty pleased with this, all considered. It WAS a bit thrilling to be the one doing all the passing for once - normally it's the other way around.

The end of the bike was almost as much of a cluster as the beginning - again no real designated dismount area, on a bike path just a bit wider than a sidewalk. Slow moving over the timing mat and into the main transition area b/c it was so crowded. Long run with the bike to the rack (but I was the first one from my rack to return), quick shoe change, grabbed visor and number belt, and took off to the far corner of transition for the run out.

Nothing. Again, most of this was time spent running to/from the rack.

Approx splits (never saw a mile 3 marker, so the last is for 1.1 miles)

9:05
8:48
9:17

Legs were predictably heavy leaving transition, and it didn't help that we were headed uphill. Kept it moving but didn't push WAY hard since I knew my legs would feel better later. Sure enough, once I was through most of the uphill section, by about mile 1, my legs had loosened up some. Cruised for the next mile, careful not to push too hard again since I was starting to feel very hot in the direct sunlight. Took water at each water table. Just before the turnaround, I passed my Dip & Dash nemesis (I saw her in my wave just before the swim started), which made me very happy. haha At about 2.5 miles we headed downhill, so I just let my legs go. A little dodging and weaving around slower runners as I approached the finish line, and I crossed feeling strong and with a smile on my face.

Not much, really. Might've been able to push a bit harder but my body doesn't handle being in heat and direct sun very well, so I didn't want to risk crashing and burning midway through the run when the rest of the race had been going so well.

Lots of walking again.


The usual - lack of enough TITS. But more than that, it was the crowd. It was wonderful to see so many women out there tri-ing for the first time (or, for the first and only time this season) and supporting a great cause, but for someone more experienced and competitive (if only with myself), it was just too big to really push it. I wasn't entirely surprised, but I was hoping it'd be a little smoother and less cluster-like.


For what it is, this is a good race. This is probably the only tri some women will ever do, and I'm glad I did it. But I probably won't do it again - or, if I do, I'd enter the "elite" wave to get a head start on the crowd (and get a WAY closer rack spot). Parking was a pain in the neck. Getting out of transition after the race was a huge cluster as well. The course and transition setup was not entirely spectator friendly. As I said before, it's great to see so many women of all ages and shapes (and even breast cancer survivors) out there giving triathlon a shot. It's definitely a race more geared towards total beginners and casual triathletes.