6th Annual Cy-Man Triathlon - TriathlonSprint

I have massive allergies in August and September, and they were really acting up around all the foliage outside. I could barely breathe going into the race, which wasn't a good sign. Given this was my first one, I really didn't know what to completely expect with the swim part. It was so much harder than I thought it would be, but I'm hoping a lot of that was attributable to the allergies. After the running start, I was out of breath before I even started swimming, and breast-stroked almost all the way to the first buoy. This created some bubbles in my goggles, which kept filling up as well. I just wasn't happy with the swim, which was supposed to be my best event.

Stick with tris outside of allergy season. Practice more running starts.

First transition, wasn't really going for time, so I stopped to kiss the family on the way and things like that. I wouldn't do that differently at all :)

I was happy with my ride in particular. I was averaging about 13.5 mph in training (I'm not a fast one!), so to be almost 1 mph faster in race time was nice. The course was not traffic-controlled well, which was awful. There were points in which there were bikes going both ways on each side of the center line on the 2-lane country roads, AND cars going both ways. I was freaked out quite often when a car was in my lane with me, which completely threw me off. I think I could have gone faster without that.

Not a lot. Probably train more out in the country, as I can't really build up a lot of speed in the trails in the city, as you're always stopping for people, traffic lights, etc.

My T2 time was dead last in the race. I did stop to blow my nose (stupid allergies) and had to dig in my bag for the tissues. I forgot to untie my running shoes beforehand, so spent time trying to untie those double knots. I also was just really tired, so I sat to drank some water. All which contribute to a longer time, but still...dead last!

Untie shoes ahead of time for sure. Again, hopefully have no congestion issues and don't have to stop to blow nose and catch breath completely.

My run was pretty bad, but running is my worst event by far. I've never been a good runner. The worst part is that the drink stations on the course ran out of water and were trying to offer some awful performance drink instead (which people around me completely spit out and said it made them want to puke). At this point, due to the later 10am start, it was pretty hot, so to not have water was a pretty big blow. Not being a runner, I've run some 5K's with a PR of about 36 minutes. So I wanted to be less than 45 for the tri, and did that, so I'm happy with that. I'm still just amazed at how many people run it in 25-30 minutes, when I can't even do that in a standalone 5K. I really need to become a better runner.

Practice running more. I'm just not sure if that'll ever be my sport. Definitely choose a race next time that can plan to have water at the aid stations along the way.

Allergies for sure. My general lack of athleticism too, I'm sure! Overall, I'm so happy that I finished.


Expectations can't probably be that high, given that this is organized by college students, with probably a lot of turnover year over year. For experienced triathetes, it probably wasn't too bad, as they are used to different conditions. But for a first timer, probably not the best rest to start out with.