Richmond Sprint Triathlon - TriathlonSprint

This was a 50 meter pool. My goal for this entire race was to go easy in the beginning and save my energy for the big Winterfield Rd. hill, then recover enough to have a good run.

I started out easy with long strokes and soon fell into a comfortable rhythm. I placed myself very well as I had no one riding my feet and rode no one's feet until the end. During the last 100, I passed one teenager who later won her age group and was in the middle of passing a guy who later won his 25-29 age group when we finished.

Nothing. Great swim, great pacing. I probably would have gone a little faster at the end and had a better time if I hadn't been so worried about saving my energy for the hill climb.

T1 was long. Out the pool doors, around the building, and up several rows into transition. My feet hurt from running on the cold, hard pavement and I was preoccupied with worries about the bike so I wasn't as focused as I should have been in T1. Decided to wear my warm-up jacket on the bike and my wet arms got hung up in it, which slowed me down a lot. Dumb! I ate two Shot Blocks on the way out.

FOCUS on what I'm doing and not worry about what's to come. Use a different jacket for cold weather biking that won't slow me down. Don't get hung up in the small stuff. Def. could have shaved 30 sec.-1 min. off.

I'm new to the bike and suck at it with no leg power so I dreaded this and it was just as hard as I thought it would be. I struggled to keep much of a pace for the first half of the course. Kept it mostly in easy gears but mashed when I had a little strength. Took occasional sips of water when I thought to.

I'd never done anything like Winterfield Road and my training had been very limited up to this point so I had exactly two hopes: 1) no flats, which worked out - yay!, and 2) get up the hill without having to walk. That also happened - yay!! Once that was over, I was elated just to be done with it and looked forward to the run. I got passed by a lot of people.

I just need to become a better cyclist and build more leg strength. I also need to learn how to handle the bike and gears better. Work on that this winter.

This could have gone faster but my feet were frozen so it was like running on blocks of ice. I slowed to a walk to let my feet come alive before the run. Hesitated before I racked my bike again (did this is my last tri, not sure why?), removed helmet, grabbed race belt and Garmin, and jogged out.

FOCUS again. I was a little distracted for some reason. Otherwise it was an okay transition. Could have shaved a good 15 sec. off if I'd rushed a bit more.

Started off with ice blocks as feet so I had to use my Garmin to regulate my pace. Once I got into it it felt pretty good. Just tried to keep a steady pace without overdoing it too soon and kept an eye on sore spots with a couple of short walk breaks. Once I reached the end I probably could have sped up sooner. Overall the run felt really good and I had fun briefly chatting with other racers.

I started my Garmin before I left T2 and ended it well after I'd crossed the finish line. It wasn't far off my official results so I'm wondering if the official results are incorrect. My official split was about a minute slower than I expected.

Stretching, walking, hydrating, eating...I avoided sitting down for at least an hour afterward to avoid stiffening up. Looking back I think I was perfectly fueled for this race. Never felt overly full/crampy or under-fueled, which is a challenge for me as I get light-headed easily during workouts. Very happy with that.


This was my second tri. My bike training was minimal at best. My lack of confidence in that area and my fear of the hill caused me to be distracted and without enough of a sense of urgency for the other aspects of the race. If my bike was where it should be, I'd be placing in the top 5-8 AG.


I thought this was an excellent race. Very well run, on time as much as you can be when herding around 500+ people, very well staffed with good presence at every intersection, great course conditions, good post-race food and drink.