Tri del Sol - TriathlonSprint

Brutal. Not the way I was hoping to start the race and about 200M in I was thinking this was going to be a really long day. I had to stop twice because my goggles got kicked off and I couldn't find a good rhythm. In all of my training swims I have been breathing every other stroke and I couldn't keep my heart rate down enough do this so I had to breathe every stroke. Despite how bad it felt, I still swam faster than my goal of 16 minutes.

I started in the back inside and probably would have been better off at the outside. I also need to focus on establishing my rhythm vs. trying to draft off the guy in front of my and basing my pace off of someone else.

I had a helluva time getting out of my wetsuit and couldn't get it off of my ankles. Once I got the wetsuit off everything else went well.

I need to practice taking the suit off after open water swims. Not sure if body around my ankles would help.

Despite being at the bottom of my age group and pretty far down in the overall ranking I felt great about my bike time and performance. There are some really strong cyclists in this field. My only problem was my helmet. I got in on at transition and it felt like my head was going to explode. I somehow tightened the straps and I had to stop for about 45 seconds to adjust the fit.

Check my helmet in the transition area before the race. Dumb move on my part.

I had strained my calf the week before so I was wearing some Zensah Compression Sleeves on my both calves and, while I looked like a complete idiot, my transition into the run actually went pretty well. I did stretch my right calf a little bit in transition and had done a little stretching on the bike in the last mile and think that helped me not seize up when I got onto the run course. Grabbed a

Glad I wore the compression sleeves for the entire race and took the time to stretch. The only change I would make is to buy some zip laces for my running shoes.

I really pushed the bike hard because it's by far my strongest discipline and I really felt it in my quads for the first 2.5 - 3 miles of the run. At that point I really picked up the pace and made up some time. I pushed it for the second half of the run but the bike really took a lot out of me.

I need to get my bike set up with a tri-fit and forward seat post to save my legs for the run. I also need to get in some longer base runs as I feel like I'm behind where I was last year.

It was cool that they had Myoplex protein shakes at the finish line. Spent a lot of time stretching afterwards, especially my calves. Got some pictures with my boys that had come to cheer me on and we packed up to head home just as the clouds were rolling in.


I think I can make some adjustments to my bike that will help me with the energy in my quads. I also need to get some longer runs in (more 6-10 mile runs) at a slower pace to get more endurance.


This is a great race and the course looks harder than it really is. The bike route is very fast and you can get some great speed on the downhills if you push it. The weather forecast looked horrible but the actual weather, sunny and in the mid 50's at the start of the race, was perfect. Thanks to the crew from Gazelle who did a great job organizing and the volunteers from Village Bike that were helping out on the bike route.