Blackland Triathlon - TriathlonSprint

Probably one of my better race starts. Didn't really tense about the race until I was actually looking at the pool as I jumped in. I passed at least 2 people in the first 100 and my wife says 3. My top started fluttering and my HR strap dropped down around my waist but it didn't bother my form. As I expected after 150 meters my endurance failed and I found myself doing some breaststroke. I finished the last 50 in free though, so I feel good about that.

Build the endurance. I spend so little time swimming and when I do it is 50's with rest so this was not a surprise. A decent effort but a disappointment in regards to my training.

Walked the LONG transition mat out to my bike. Grabbed my sunglasses and helmet, got out of the racks. I was walking the whole time because I couldn't catch my breath. I crossed the mount line and did a pushing mount. Took me about a mile to get into my shoes because I forgot to open the straps before I put them on the bike.

Open my shoe straps before I clip them on the bike. Build more endurance so I can run through transition.

I almost quit 3 times; once on each of the first two hills and once coming up on the end of the 1st loop. I kept going because I realized it was the first triathlon my son had seen me in and I didn't want that to be his first tri memory. I felt ashamed that that's what kept me going but I did keep going. Threw up a little bit in my mouth on the second loop and I just tried to keep my bike moving. The word of the day was humble as I was down in single digit speed on flats, much less some of the long shallow inclines.

Train more. Riding my trainer for 45 minutes on a flat elevation and minimal resistance is cute, but clearly it isn't preparing me for any kind of real effort. I need to build strengthe and speed, but more importantly I need to build endurance. I should at least be able to continue turning the pedals rather than coasting 50% of the time.

Coming out of the shoes and dismounting was no problem strangely since I hadn't practiced that at all. Walked my bike in and racked it back up. Putting on socks was a chore but got them on and got in my shoes. Grabbed my hat and belt and headed out on the "Run".

Build more endurance so I can run through transition. Build up my feet so I can go barefoot on the run.

Sucked on the run, if you could call it that. I tried jogging 1 cone, then walking 3. That didn't last as I just felt too wiped so I walked and walked and walked. Once in a while I'd jog but just couldn't mentally get into it. Coming into the finish the tri club was there yelling for me to finish strong so I sprinted the last 20 feet or so. The tri club president had my wife's camera and it was accidentally on video (but she didn't know that) so there's actually footage of me tearing in and then one of the other club members saying "What was that? He could have run the whole thing!". So I look like I sandbagged it the whole time, which to some extent I think I did.

Build more endurance overall. I've actually worked on the run more than swimming and biking lately but by the time I get on the run I'm wiped physically and beaten mentally. So that means I have to be twice as good on the run just to compensate for some of that.

Grabbed some water and sat with my family. Took a few pictures, ate some oranges and helped take down the club tent. Walked about a mile back to our car and headed out for lunch.


Being fat and having no endurance. 260 lbs. is a bunch of weight and my knees/ankles aren't very good anyway. But I've made time to train and as it turns out I'm not really pushing myself. Mental toughness wasn't there and I think that stems from thinking the little bit I'm going in training is really a lot; it isn't.


I would have changed several things about the course but overall it was good and certainly challenging. I need to improve myself more than the course needs to change.