Cape Henlopen Triathlon - TriathlonSprint

About two minutes from the gun, I looked over, and saw a guy standing next to me who had, similar to the guy back in transition, managed to get his wetsuit on wrong--this guy had it on inside out. I was about to say something and thought better of it. Not much he could have done about it at that point anyway.

This swim started really well-- I got into the water, past the breakers and out around the buoy really quickly, but I just didn't feel like I was going very fast. It wasn't exhausting or anything. I didn't feel like I was swimming against a current, but maybe I was. I got out of the water at around 13 minutes, which is way down from what I usually swim. I was expecting to finish in around 9 minutes at most. Not really sure what happened. I finished in a group of a lot of swimmers from the previous wave and don't recall getting passed by anyone from the later waves, but it didn't feel like a great swim.

After the swim, the run from swim exit to T1 was incredibly long. DIstance-wise, it was further than the swim itself. I tried to hurry, but couldn't go too fast since I was barefoot, and got passed by a couple of people who had left shoes at swim exit. I'll remember that for next year.

Not really sure. This wasn't a great effort on my part, even though I finished in the top 20%. Most of the top people in my AG were in the 16-19 minute range.

My heartrate was sky-high after the long run from swim exit, so it took me a little while to get out of my suit and onto the bike.

I'm out of practice taking my suit off.

I wanted to push this bike leg a little. I know this course really well and knew what to expect. I passed lots of people and only got passed by a couple (a P3 with a disk and a P4). I was really aggressive in the corners. I stayed aero, kept my cadence pretty high and kept pushing the pace.
I had my aero bottle full of Heed, but I only drank about 2/3 of it. It was cool, I was well hydrated to begin with, and I didn't want to have to pee on the bike or stop to pee in T2.

At one point, we rode past some stinky roadkill--I think it was a possum but it smelled like a skunk.

I don't know that I could have gone a lot faster. I need to get my bike fitness up. I was happy to break 20MPH. That was one of my goals.

Decent transition. I was a mile from bike in/out. Got my bike racked and my helmet off, grabbed my visor and race number and took off.

I should have body-glided the insoles of my shoes, since my Superfeet insoles bunched up a little when I put them on and it took me a couple of seconds to straighten them out.

I felt ok on the run. I started out at a moderate pace. I knew there would be only one water stop but I wasn't thirsty or hot at all. I got passed by 6 or 7 people and passed a handful. I ate a gel at the 1 mile mark and picked up the pace a little on the last 1/3 of the course. Wanted to try to finish in under 9:00. I run this loop in the summer all the time and usually do it in 25 minutes. With the extra segments they added on (a short out and back at the 1mi mark and the last 500 feet or so to the finish) I was pretty close to my usual pace.

It was fine. I need to be faster. I finished in the top 20% in both swim and bike and then barely cracked the to 50% in the run, which drags down my placing. Not that I'm looking for a podium spot, but it's annoying.

I gathered my stuff, ate a turkey sandwich and went and met my wife, son and friend who had come to watch me.


The bike was really good. Not sure what happened with the swim. My run fitness just isn't where it was before the injury, and I need to get it back.


This is the second time I've done this race, but the first time I was able to swim (last time got cancelled due to heavy surf). It's a fun local race. Good spectators, lots of volunteers, and I even like the t-shirt. I love the area, so I'll definitely do this race again.