Health First Triathlon - TriathlonSprint

I was a bit surprised at how slow I was, felt good. Maybe because I really didn't push it, something I always seem to do on OWS. First buoy was crowded and got hit in the ribs by a breast stroker, why people why. On the middle leg I tried to draft off of two faster swimmers but they ended up going off course a bit so I left them. Last leg I was gliding in and felt fine.


Push harder, I shouldn't feel that good after a 1/4mi swim! Need to swim a LOT more.

T1 went well, 11/34. Jog/ran the whole way, had no issues getting on my socks and shoes after I sat down (someday I'll dump the socks) and after I cleaned of the bottoms of my feet. Sunglasses and helmet, grapped the e-gel then off I went. Two people stopped right after the T exit to mount their bikes but I was able to run between them and jump on without any issue.

Dump the socks? Things went well.

Took me to the end of the first road (2mi) to get up to speed and I could relax. Saw 3 bikers with flats in this section, I know how rough the road is so I stayed in the left tire track and made sure I stayed away from the bigger bumps or anything that may have been on the shoulder side. Once on US1 I was able to take my e-gel and focus. Felt good at the first big bridge (~6mi) and pushed hard the next 3.5 miles with 3 of the bridges and passed a lot of bikes. Next 6 miles or so had a little headwind, enough to affect the pace. Also had a lot of road construction but traffic was lite and I was able to pass riders without issues. At ~ 15mi I hit the last big bridge and spun it up slower knowing the run back up the bridge was only minutes away. At the top I did something I've never done before and got out of my shoes then hammered down. After the last turn I swung my leg over and coasted to the Dismount line and did a running dismount and heard a guy yell "good job that's the way to do it!"

Nothing, more T.I.T.S. would have been nice but this wasn't an A race and illness took the last 2 long sessions away.

4/34, did the running dismount and my rack was only 8-10 yards from the T entrance and wide open. I put on my shoes, tied up the laces, grapped my race belt and small 6oz FB water bottle and started running to the T exit.

Contemplating using Zoots shoes next season to get ride of having to tie the laces. For some reason I can't get a good fit with my current running shoes with any kind of easy laces.

Overall it was a great 5k run, my fastest in years and fastest ever in a tri. All my run training this year has paid off! Felt good coming out of the T and heard the kids and waved. Once I turned toward the bridge the full sun hit and man it was hot. Focused on maintaining a comfortable speed up the bridge which was about 0.2mi from the start of the run. I let the down hill portion come to me and was dumping water on my head. Actually had a slight tail wind so nothing for cooling. At the turn I grabbed a water cup to replenish some of my small water bottle. Right after the turn I was passed by a guy that was holding a pace slightly faster than I was so I used him as a rabbit to push me and it worked out great. Wind was now somewhat cooling and I pushed up the bridge when we got there. My rabbit pulled away about 20 yards from me going up but I used the downhill to catch and pass him and several others. Last 1/4 mi or so I just pushed it and had enough to out sprint a shadow that was catching up to me, or so I thought, my son said I blew him away!

Nothing!

Having my own small water bottle to keep my head wet and somewhat cool was the ticket.

In the finish corral I was given a cold water bottle while someone took off the timing chip and dumped it whole on my head, ahhhhh! Some time later when I found family and friends I realized I forgot to stop my watch at the finish and when I did it showed 1:24:46, I had no idea what my times were until posted online the next day, it was killing me. Hung around and talked to friends and then rode home to get ready for a post race party on the patio!


Not an A race so didn't put a lot of focus on biking or swimming for it until ~8 weeks out, got ill 2.5 weeks out and still got 50/424 overall and 6/34 AG.


Organizers brought back the bridge run this year and devised a good way to keep the bikers and runners separated on the bridge and at the transition which worked out great.