My Way or the Tri Way - TriathlonSprint

I started at the back of the pack since I had no idea how fast or slow I'd be. Turned out the be a mistake since it probably took >2minutes from the start to get down to the water because the back was walking so slow. So once in the water it turned out that I was actually kind of fast, constantly catching and passing people in the water. Because of that there was no one for me to draft. The slower start for me walking down to the water helped to make sure my heart rate never spiked as well. I tried to do more of a negative split and speed up as the swim went on. It seemed to work because I felt like I was passing more people towards the end than I was during the beginning. So overall in that respect I think I did well, but I know I could have pushed a harder instead of feeling completely relaxed during it.

Start more towards the front of the pack and try to stay more on the outside of the people swimming. It would be good to find some other tri folks and get used to having people swimming that close to you a lot. Also getting used to drafting would be very beneficial as well, it's hard to judge who you can draft and who you can't.

Trying to run in the sand and take off the wetsuit is more challenging than you'd think. Having a container of just water open next to everything was great for washing the sand off my feet quickly before putting socks on.

First I'd get a tri suit instead of a surfing wetsuit, I'd also use some kind of body glide.

I'll only towel off my feet before putting my socks on instead of drying most of myself off, it was warm enough that it would have been nice to have fended off the heat just a little longer with the water evaporating while biking.

Invest in bike shoes with ratchet straps instead of laces. My shoes are ~8 years old, and I didn't get them tied tight enough because of being in a rush, so I lost a lot of power during the bike with the shoes being kind of loose. It would have been better to at least spend the extra 5-10 seconds being sure the laces were tight, but better to just have ratchets and you can adjust on the bike if needed.

I could probably do without the bike gloves for the sprint, 14 miles isn't really that long and although I didn't put them on until I was already riding (having them pre-attached to the aerobars) they didn't let me really get up to speed until I finished putting them on, then having to take them off in T2 would be eliminated too.

Overall did great, my computer showed 20.3mph average, much better than I anticipated, having expected closer to 17-18mph. The hills didn't feel too bad, I tried to mix it up and ride 3/4 of the way up the hills seated before standing to power over the top. For longer course I possibly wait longer before standing in order to save the legs more but still carry as much speed over the crest as possible.

I stayed in the aero position as much as possible, except during the top 1/2 of climbs. I even managed to make the 180 turn at the end still in the aero position and didn't lose much speed at all.

Not use gloves for such a short race. Remember to drink more during during the early to middle part of the ride and then not drink anything within the last 10 minutes. Definitely take the Gu in the first half of the bike instead of 5 minutes from finishing the bike.

Get one of those aerobar bottles for hydration so you don't have to get out of aero to take a drink. It makes you constantly worry if drinking is worth losing the aero position otherwise.

I think I did pretty well coming into the transition. Dismounted while the bike was still moving. Got it into the rack quick pretty quick and got the running shoes on pretty well. I think the majority of the 1 minute would be having to run to the other side of transition to exit for the run.

Removing the sunglasses and putting the hat on was a much better strategy then dealing with sweat on the sunglasses. I'll definitely continue to run with a hat.

Again, not wear bike gloves. Just don't need to waste the time ripping them off in T2. Also get one shirt that will work for both biking and running and get a number belt. Changing shirts took some extra time and the number belt can be put on as you jog out of the transition zone.

I never expected my run to be great since it was what I trained for the least at this point. I had a goal of maintaining a 9minute mile pace and was slightly faster. So overall that makes for a successful run. But knowing what I can do with even a little bit more training for the run shows I can improve dramatically. Based on 5k courses I remember running 10 years ago, I know I can begin running sub 7 minute mile pace on a course like this by next year.

train more for the run.

walked around a great deal to stretch the legs. Grabbed a number of cold drinks, including a soda about 2 hours post finish. light stretching.


Not knowing what I was capable of doing since it was the first race in 6 years I had done. Not preparing for the run more. Starting so far back initially (again because of not knowing capabilities)


I don't understand why there was a water station at the entrance/exit of the transition for the run. I think it would have been much better if that was just after mile 1 and the second station was just around mile 2.2. Most of us have some kind of bottle or drink at our transition area already, so it's a wasted station at the exit of T2.