Toyota U.S. Open Sprint Triathlon - TriathlonSprint

Official results have me at 2:21 pace? Since I was apprehensive about this swim I had already decided to just cruise and not swim hard. Next time I know I can swim hard, race, and be just fine. The goggles I normally swim in are tinted. When I packed up for the race the weather had called for partly sunny so I had not packed my clear goggles. It was very difficult to see anything and sighting for the buoys was hard. Plus the right side fogged up so I was all over this course. I probably swam an extra 100 meters easy.

When you got about half-way out to the first buoy the chop picked up since it was rainy and slghtly windy so I kept getting a mouth full of water. Had to stop and burp that up twice. The second half of the swim was easier but you still had to pass back through the chop. Finally made it out and had accomplished my first goal of "just make it out of the water" without embarrassment.

Later I was a little disappointed in this performance since I know I can do better. Was not tired at all from the swim so guess I took it way too easy. I had not been swimming except maybe twice the last six weeks so I was apprehensive. When I get nervous my instinct is to be conservative, I need to learn to trust my training more.

Wetsuit was off in a snap, super quick. Just had already pulled it down and then I stepped twice and it was off. Also no problem running and finding rack immediately.

I HATE the cold so I expected T1 to be long. I put on arm warmers, a jacket, ear cover, glasses, helmet, gloves, wool socks and shoes (toe covers already on). Then I gingerly ran the length of the entire transition to exit since I could just see myself biting it in the slippery conditions in my bike shoes.

Somehow my rack was one of the farthest from the bike in/out at T1 and T2 so I always had LONG runs in stupid bike shoes on wet pavement. It would have been easier to run barefoot and then mount with shoes on bike or at least be closer to exit.

Also this is my first cold weather race so I had never ridden in 50 degrees wet - I had no idea what to expect. I also didn't know how hard it would be to get on the arm warmers when I was wet!

I have never really cared about leaving the shoes on bike, but this would have really helped since the shoes were slippery. Easily lost two minutes overall from having the farthest racks. Not a big deal, but since I usually have top transition times this nibbled at me later.

I really did not enjoy this bike course because I did not find it scenic at all. A few spots were pretty treacherous in the rain. Two of my teammates wiped out on the course (both finished), one when a car pulled into the bike lane. Lots of big cracks and the railroad tracks took out a few riders. A few people taken in ambulances.

I felt that the worst hills were all in the first 10 miles. Mostly just long. I had intended to take the course steady, not attack the hills at all and that's what I did. Had a problem and couldn't get in my big chain ring on the course. No idea why - maybe from rain overnight? That was a pain but otherwise no bike issues. Hated that awful stretch of road where the slabs were un-even and every time you went over that space it was like a little bump, two seconds later, bump, my bum does not like, over and over - ugh I was sick of that.

Went by fairly quickly and I felt great the whole way.

Should have taken the course harder but wasn't sure how my run would respond at the time. My last two bricks went great so I should have just trusted my training thus far. Again the rain and uncertainty lead me to be conservative and at least I felt great and also did not fall. Overall the original goal was just stay between 15-16 and I did that.

T2 was again the longest run to the farthest rack with my bike shoes on and wet pavement. It took forever. Jacket, helmet, shoes, ear warmer off, run shoes on and grab belt was quick like usual. Even had a quick conversation about another teammate with a close by friend.

Learn to get out of shoes without losing a finger. Would have reallllly helped in a wet race like this.

Fantastic run for me! A PR 5k!

At the end of the bike I had been playing leap frog with one guy. He ended up leaving T2 same time as me and I fell into step right behind him. He seemed to be going just slightly faster than I would have paced but I told myself 'If you don't keep pace you'll talk yourself out of running harder so just see if you can do this'. Following someone is so much easier for me. Just stayed right with him the whole way out to the turn-around at a nice pace. On the way back in I had to fight myself to try and keep a good pace. Stomach started to turn a little and again I told myself 'Just keep running hard until you puke.' Didn't puke. Ended up with a 5k PR in my longest race of the year.

I am so proud of this effort. All my runs at the beginning of this season were 12-13 minute miles. It has taken all season to see anything sub-10 and I really struggled with every minute of it. Of course the flat course and cool weather didn't hurt. :)

Just keep working on running. I am still solidly BOP on the run. One thing I have learned about myself is that I just don't warm-up easily for running. I feel best AFTER 30 minutes and by then a sprint is over! Minutes 30-60 always feel great. So getting the long bike warm-up in this race was great for my run. Legs were not heavy at all so again I defnitely should have taken the bike harder.

Got my finisher medal (yay!), fluids, a little food and walked around and found the rest of the team to cheer in the remaining athletes. Then my lips started turning blue so I went to car to get dry clothes.

Ended up with 1st place Athena 39 and under so I got a nice plaque and they will mail me a nameplate for it -- how fun is that??? Also got a nice K-Swiss bag. I am loving K-Swiss right now (my K-ona shoes are awesome) so this was great!

Would have been 6th in my 30-34 AG which I think is great also! Just shows I am improving each time.

32/68 women in Sprint


Conservative mentality and just inexperience. Sure there were things that could have gone better, but overall this was a solid conclusion to my season this year.


I felt this was a solid race that was well-organized. I thought they handled the unexpected temps and rain well. However, the buses were a cluster - some athletes didn't arrive until after 8am due to the buses and lack of them. Buses and shuttles are always a cluster at any event so they should have planned for this and handled it correctly (more buses - spaced appropriately). Also, I did not like the bike course - it is through some of the worst parts of town with roads that I don't think are fun - it's not scenic. But it does allow starting at JPL which is a good venue for parking and transition. The tech shirt (thank you for red and not white!), finisher medal and towel were expected quality. Could have used more goodies and less paper in the bag. Overall a solidly put on race but I can't see this being a 'destination' race for anyone. The finish was great but I always hate when they have events in Victory Plaza where awards were -- that tiny space between buildings I just think never works the way it needs to. No one goes in the shops and getting between the steps is confusing - maybe they should have finished there instead? And it's too far from the finish so you can't watch both. So many races now try to have events there and I just never think it works out well.