Cyman Sprint - TriathlonSprint

As this was my last race of the season, and since it was a sprint, I decided on the following game plan -- go balls out, the whole way. I didn't want to blow up on the swim, but I didn't want to leave anything in the tank either.

As usual, I started wide and outside. At the gun, I jogged into the water and got going. Staying wide, I had nice clean water all the way. After about 100yds, I realized that I was cranking pretty good...but I wasn't overdoing it. I kept it up. Rounding the bouy, I was in the back of the main pack, but not doing too badly. I kept pulling hard and made quick work of it. I was getting a little beat by the end but I held it together.

I intend to improve even more on the swim this winter, but it was so exciting to come back to this race for their second year, swim a course that was 100yds longer than last year, and finish the swim in just about the same time! That's improvement, baby!

WOOT! Only two people in the whole race had a T-1 under a minute, and I was one of them! Second fastest T-1 -- yes!

If you haven't caught on by now, a major goal of mine in each race (except 1/2 IM's and up) is to win the transitions. Go ahead and laugh if you want, but I tell you, fast t's are free time on your opponents. If you take one thing from these reports, it is this: practice transitions! Get good at them! I gained MORE THAN A MINUTE on some racers above me solely based on T1 time.

Even more telling: at least four people that finished BEHIND me had faster times in the swim, bike, and run, but I beat them because their transitions were slower. Today, that was the difference in taking home hardware or going home with bananas and cookies.

Think about how long it would take you to cut a minute off your 500yd swim. 6 months? But you could cut that minute out of your two t's with just about 30 minutes of practice and planning. It's part of the race, so don't neglect it.


Zilch.

Again, employing my "all-out" strategy, I hit the bike and hit it hard. Teeth-baring, snot-flying action. I knew I might end up blowing up on the run, but I also knew that for me to have any shot in this race, I'd have to make up serious time on the bike. So I went for it, and ended up with my fastest average speed yet. By a long shot.

Again, I could always be faster or stronger, but on this day, I gave it all I had.

I leave my shoes clipped to the bike. This takes practice, but it's worth it. I dismounted right at the line and ran into the t-area. Slipped into socks and shoes (elastic laces) grabbed my hat and race number, and off I went.

I was happy with this T, but I don't think I made the top 10. I still like socks on my feet, even for short runs, so I lose time on those that go sockless. A goal of mine for this fall/winter/sprint is to get my feet happy running without socks -- that will save me 15-20 seconds I imagine.

Drop the socks.

Off the bike, I was puffing pretty good. But, I had a good feeling about where I was in the race and I didn't want to leave anything out there, so I just put the hammer down and brutalized myself. At about the 1 mile mark I was waning a bit, but once we got onto the roads and I could see the racers in front of me and I was able to mentally pace off them. I got passed early on by a couple of guys that were just hauling (from the 35-up wave), but I found my spot pretty quickly and hung in there. About mile two, I could tell I was gaining on a guy so I just focused in on him. I figure it's hard to get passed when you're busy passing. I got by him with about half a mile to go. I knew I was getting close to the finish but I was just about cashed. I took a quick glance behind me and saw a guy coming on pretty strong, about 50 yards back. I threw the hammer down with about 200 yards to go and emptied the tanks. In retrospect, he probably wasn't that close to me, but I have only been outsprinted to a finish once, I hate it, and it wasn't going to happen today.

I hate I hate I hate to look back! I need to know if anyone is coming, but at the same time it means I'm worried about dropping a spot. And, if I'm the guy behind and I see this, I know it too and it motivates me to attack.

All in all, I still need to have better running legs off the bike. My run effort was all-out, but my time was nothing spectacular.

I found a shady spot and got on all fours for a minute to catch my breath. That was 73.7 minutes of red-line racing for me. Recovered pretty quickly and got some goodies into me.


It's still very early in my tri career. I have definitely come a long way in the last year, but I still have a long way to go.

Last year, I ran this race when it was just a 400yd swim, and I finished in 1:26. I cut 13 minutes off that time this year, even with a 100yds more of swimming. I was still 7 minutes back from the winner, but I can't complain. I felt competitive, which was pretty awesome.


My first triathlon trophy! Ok fine, so really it was just a pint glass, but I got 3rd in my AG and they gave it to me, so I'm calling it a trophy, dammit! My first "award" in triathlon, if you insist.

I was definitely pumped to hear my name called, but I would have been happy either way as this was my best race yet. Not perfect -- far from it -- but it gives me good confidence going into my "off" season (road racing). I feel like I made real progress this year. My first race of the season (Land Between the Lakes) was my worst, and my last was my best. I'm looking forward to next season, especially since I signed up for the big one: Ironman Wisconsin. Holy crap!