Rattlesnake Sprint Triathlon - TriathlonSprint

I did 2 back/forth laps of the swim area for warmup, then got out of the water to warmup and have a gel. It's a TT start, not a wave start. All the women start first, then the men. Last year I was apprehensive at the start and had cold water shock going in. Not so this year. The 3 practices at CCSP and the warm up swim had me feeling pretty good.

My time this year was a little more than 5 min better over last year, but I was hoping for a below 10 min. I lost at least 1-1.5 min with my navigation error. And the 200 m run up the beach to TZ also counts for some swim time. Without the nav error my in-water time would have been only a little over 10 min.

Better sighting/navigation. I was swimming straight on course to buoy, just the wrong one.

More practice.

There is a wetsuit pull-off near the swim exit, so I was just carrying my suit and racked it. Had to put on sox/bike shoes, but had them prepped/ready. Had small towel and water for that. Also fumbled a bit with the Garmin. I need to practice with it. Put on glasses, helmet, gloves. Water & nutrition was already on the bike.



Maybe nix the bike gloves. Practice, practice.
Practice with the Garmin.

Mount line outside of TZ was hard to see. Lots of people, crowded. Guy on left center line going very slow, I accelerated fast passed on the R.(was doing 25 mph up the hill out of TZ). I smoked down the park road. By the time I got to turn onto Quincy Ave. I was feeling dizzy. Decided to back down a bit, did not need a heart attack. Out on the road. I was slower than I need to be climbing the hills. Really smoked coming back. Had tailwind and more downhill. Top speed 40.9 mph.

Still, the bike felt good over all. I was kinda surprised I was about the same as last year.

Need interval training & sprints. Good endurance base from RTR, but not enough top-end.

Shoe change went well. Race belt on, exchange hats. I dunno why this was so slow, should have been a minute faster. Maybe I was not in race mode.
Garmin switch OK. Dismount line was obvious coming in.

fiddled with sunscreen, it wasn't working. Had to abandon. Should swing leg over and ride on pedal mayb e save a little time. Need to practice that. Practice, practice.

Light wind (5-10 mph) helped keep things cool. I ran (jogged) to Aid 1, then on to mile 1. stopped for a pee near turn around, then back. Walked briefly a few more times coming back. Finished strong.

I haven't really trained for the run at all, and it shows. But legs felt good after the bike, so no problem there.

Train, train, train.

Got bag and water. Walked up to my stuff in TZ. Got my pullover and went back down to the meal. It was cold in the shade of shelter from breeze. Sat out on the lawn to eat. Got all my gear out of TZ and packed in car. Got my bike and rode out to see when Sue was coming in and they were hauling all the stuff back. Waited for her to eat lunch and then came home.


I felt good about the swim and the bike. I knew I was only so-so on the run. Tried to watch my time there, and push it a bit to be faster than last year. Not blaming the Garmin, but I missed the HR and lap timins (did not know how to get that) so was relying on my regular watch for that. Fiddling with technology while on the run is not the time to learn it. Practice, practice, practice.


A great race, another good year.