Beaver Lake Triathlon - TriathlonSprint

The swim felt pretty good, I was much more aggressive at the start than in Seafair. At the same time, I remembered to stay calm, cool, and collected. I wanted mostly to get into a smooth rhythm without wasting energy at the start, and I believe I did this effectively. Very happy with my start.

First time I tried a wetsuit... ABSOLUTELY A DETERMINING FACTOR!
My swim time was 17" at seafair for .5mi without wetsuit. At beaver lake, my swim time was 6"30' for .25mi with the suit. Although the swim was shorter and I could be more aggressive anyway, this was still a huge step up.

Rounding the 2nd bouy at about 300yds in, I was feeling a lack of confidence because I couldn't find anyone around me in my division (because I was out in front!) but the lack of confidence caused me to slow my pace and doubt myself some. I had a great rhythm in the first 2/3 of the race, I would love to keep that constant for the last portion as well.

I did this section pretty fast, it was tough with the suit, since it was my first time using it, but not too difficult.

One of my future purchases may be bike shoes with just 1 strap so that I can do a faster bike transition.

I did a great job on this bike ride. I attacked the hill very hard and kept up with someone who had an ironman tattoo on his calf for almost 3/4 of the climb!

Have a different water bottle that doesn't have a messed up spout. That was making it difficult to get fluids. I may have gotten too excited about attacking that hill and used up too much energy in the bike leg. I had to recover for a while in the run before I could get up to rhythm

I was very wobbly/shaky when I got into the transition area. My quads were shaking pretty hard as I put my shoes on; I almost sat down but fought through it.

I did well in this transition, no problems.

I did not feel great about this run. I ran the course with a 7:02mi 2 weeks ago, and was a little bummed about that time... It was a little disappointing feeling and seeing a slower time. My first mile was tough, as I was recovering from that huge hill on the bike.

It took longer than usual to get into the running rhythm. I sensed this while I was running, and tried to pick up my breathing rhythm to between 4-6 steps per breath cycle, which is right between lactate threshold and VO2 max for me.

Of the 2 triathlons, I ended the race with a lot more energy than I should have. I was sprinting at the end of the race and really should have started picking up speed at least a half of a mile earlier.

HOT YOGA IMPACTED MY RECOVERY TIME TREMENDOUSLY! I felt 100% recovered about an hour after the triathlon, with no soreness all day or the next day. I actually ended up riding a 50mi bike ride the next day!


Going hog-wild at the 'all you can eat pancake topping bar' at portage bay after the race. Worst abdominal cramping in a long time for the rest of the day and into the next day.


There were a PLENTY of drink stations for the running portion, it almost seemed like too many. I think I said 'no thank you' to about stations.

I really liked this race, the course was dynamic which made it really interesting, and plenty of chances to test my decision making abilities.

A GREAT race, will definitely do it next year.