Tiger Shark Tri #3 - TriathlonSprint

The swim was a little rough. I was excited to see a little swell had come up and noticed that plenty of others were not as happy. This gave me a little confidence boost. The ocean temp dropped and we were told it was wetsuit legal. I had my short john but decided against it. There was only one guy that wore one and I figured any time I may gain in the swim I might lose in transition taking off the suit. The water was not actually cold at all. There was a pretty good current so I took that into account and started a little further down the beach than the main pack. Ths worked out well because I was able to use the current to my advantage and angled perfectly to the first buoy. I saw others having to swim back against the current to make it around the buoy. Settled into a good pace after the first buoy and cruised to the end. Caught a good wave in and body surfed almost to the beach.

I could have pushed a little harder. I got into cruise control mode and stayed there when I saw others struggling a bit.

This was my first attempt at starting with my shoes clipped in. It went pretty well, I had a little wobble first jumping on but once I got up to speed it went pretty well. Definitely a faster way to transition. I will practice a bit more and continue to get better.

My helmet strap was twisted so it took me a couple times to get it buckled. I need to make sure my straps aren't twisted.

I had a great start with my shoes already clipped in and felt good. There was a little wind and I could feel it pushing me around a little. Not too bad though. There were a lot of people going by in formation attached to each others tires who obviously were not worried about a drafting penalty but oh well. I did lose my computer half way through so it was to tough to pace myself. I pushed a little harder than normal at the end.

I have an old tri bike with 650 wheels and I know a new bike would help tremendously. I NEED A NEW BIKE.

This was a great transition. I was a litle nervous about trying the dismount with my feet on top of my shoes and riding in on one pedal into transition, but it went well and smooth. It was one of the fastes of the day.

Keep practicing the riding dismount and continue to improve.

IT WAS HOT. We had 4.2 miles on the beach with the sun just rising and it was miserable. My run is my weakest portion and I definitely felt it today. My time was slow and I even walked a couple times. I drank a lot on the bike and could feel it sloshing around right from the start. I tracked down a guy in my AG and tried to get him at the finish line. He heard me coming and we sprinted the last 200 yards. He sort of blocked me out right at the line and we ended up in a tie.

Stop drinking a little sooner on the bike and just continue to work on my run. This off season is going to be spent running and running some more.

I got a drink from my daughter who was helping pass out water at the finish line. I can't believe she's almost 6 already and it is really cool to see her helping out.


The heat was bad. I also need a new bike and have to improve on my run. The running will be done all winter as I live in Florida and it is great running throughout the "winter". The bike is something I'll have to live with for a little while.


Tigershark puts on a great race.