Lake Sammamish Triathlon - TriathlonSprint

It started raining, and I was in the "retro" wave which went next to last with the relayers. I stood out there shivering for 30 minutes. I would probably have kept some more clothes on for longer but I wasn't sure when I was going to start. People around were very upbeat and it was a fun, fairly relaxing start.

I didn't really know who we were starting after, I would have looked closer at the ordering of the waves. I also got caught behind some slower people and it was really hard to get around them even though I was faster.

My shoes and socks were soaked from the rain! That made it difficult to get them on my feet.

I would have put my shoes and socks in a plastic bag. I also would have had a bottle of water specifically for washing the sand off of my feet.

It was really wet and my feet were soggy. I was riding my mountain bike but I kept up a decent pace for my first race. I passed a lot of people since I started after the older age groups. There were a lot of people with flats. At least 5 or so.

I would have worn clear glasses, the water from the road kept getting in my eyes.

I was on a mountain bike, so no bike shoes, which made this transition easier. For some reason, it didn't record so I don't know my exact time.

I had to much Gu/bars/etc in my back pocket. I didn't need all that for the 5k and should have dumped it before the run.

I kept a good pace for this segment. The trail is a bit bumpy so you have to pay more attention. There weren't many volunteers out on the run trail, and only one water station.

Not much - hung around, grabbed some swag from the sponsors, ate some muffins.


I had a nasty cold for that week. I think I would have done better if I didn't.

I had dropped about 30 pounds before this - but I still need to drop some more in order to race faster. That's the first thing. Then training more specifically for speed in each of the segments. I don't have a fancy bike - but that's the least of my concerns right now.


This was my first race. I signed up with my wife for the "Retro" division which seemed like fun. There was a group of about 20 of us - we all had a really good laid back attitude. Some people wore really cool eighties costumes. My wife and I found some headbands and Neon raybans. I hope they do it again - it was a great way to get introduced to the sport. Deanna from Budu was really great - very friendly and encouraging.