Tri State Tri - TriathlonSprint

Swim went pretty well. I have to keep a close eye on my pacing, as I have a tendency to push too hard during the swim which comes back to bite me later on in the race. I held a good tempo. I had conservatively estimated my time at 7:30, and came in about 20 seconds faster than that, which wasn't too bad. I didn't pass anyone and didn't get passed, so my estimation was about right. Out of the pool we had to run out the door and about 200 yards to the far side of the transition area, so my total swim split time was 8:02.

Outside of training up so I can swim faster in general, I feel pretty good about how the swim went. If I could learn how to do kick turns, that also would probably shave some time in the pool swim.

I removed my goggles and ear plugs while I ran from the pool to T1, so that didn'really cost me any time. The outside air temp was about 44 degrees and there was a mild wind, which was quite a shock when I came out of the door all wet. Knowing it was going to be cool, I had purchased a long-sleeve shirt to wear. This took some extra time as pulling a tight shirt over a wet body is never easy. I also wear socks, so that took me some time as well.

If I could learn to ride sockless, that would save me about 15 seconds. Frankly, I don't see that happening in the near future.

Given the temps, when I was on the bike I was wishing I'd worn long pants.

The good: overall the course is very flat. There were very few hills, and those were mild.

The indifferent: The following items were outside of anyone's control, so I listed them as indifferent. They did play a role in the race for all participants, so I thought I would mention them. First, dang it was cold! I put on the long sleeve shirt but it wasn't enough to overcome the fact that I was soaking wet from the swim. There was a medium strength northwest wind that wasn't as much of a factor from an air resistance standpoint, but it made for a brisk windchill. Even by the end of the race after working hard I still was cold. It had rained the previous few days, so there were spots of standing water on the course that had to be avoided. Also, on my last two miles of the course a light drizzle started. Thankfully it never got heavy and stopped after about a mile into the run.

There was a section of the race that crossed a busy street. There were police officers controlling traffic and stopping cars as racers came through. Unfortunately, one driver decided to ignore the officer and nearly took me out. Thankfully I saw the car coming and was able to get on the brakes in time. That was nobody's fault but the idiot driver ignoring the police.

The bad: I don't know how to write this without coming across as harshing on the organizer of the race, which is not my intention. I spoke with many atheletes after the event and they shared the same concerns, so hopefully I'm not just ranting. I don't mean to be overly critical, but at the same time if anyone is thinking about doing the this race in the future (and the bike course is left unchanged) there are things of which they need to be aware.

First, the course started out on a MUP which was not closed to the public, nor designed for the speeds at which the riders were trying to maintain. More than once I surprised joggers, dog walkers and casual cyclists out for a Saturday morning ride who weren't aware of the fact that there was going to be a whole pack of riders coming at (or around) them at a high rate of speed. It really wasn't safe.

Second, the coned off portion of the street really wasn't wide enough for two-way bike traffic at racing speeds. I noticed by the end that people were riding outside of the coned area just so they wouldn't risk head-on collisions with racers going the opposite direction.

Third, there was a good stretch of the course that ran on the sidewalk of a residential area, which meant hopping curbs and dodging people backing out of their driveway. I nearly t-boned an SUV as they gunned backwards out of their garage. Completely unsafe. It would have been much safer to run the bikes out in the street in the same direction as the traffic flow.

Fourth, some of the volunteers out on the course seemed to be a bit indifferent to the role they were playing. A couple of times I had to slow way down and ask which direction the course went, as the person manning the corner was across the street or resting against a tree rather than directing the flow of the racers. Some of the volunteers did a very good job (especially the guy working the corner on the second loop turning right onto Alocad drive; he was awesome!) and I realize that they were just volunteers, but at race speeds not knowing exactly where I'm supposed to turn can cause an accident.

Fifth, while the surface condition of the MUP portion was generally good the street surfaces were awful. The second loop down Alocad was particularly in bad shape. I rode in fear of destroying my wheels, and had to cut my speed nearly in half just to keep my bike intact. I saw one racer suffer a pinch flat (and a subsequent DNF) after hitting an especially large rut, and spoke with another rider after the race who was forced to stop and put his chain back on after the road got so rough that it shook the chain off the ring when he was shifting.

Finally, as I came around a corner I found myself riding parallel to a train. About a quarter mile ahead I see a volunteer standing there, and I realized that the course took a right turn across the train tracks. As I passed another rider, I could tell he was noticing the same thing. I jokingly said to him, "you've got to be kidding!" Sure enough, we had to stop in the middle of a race and wait for a train. At least I got a short recovery break at the expense of my split time.

I realize that with the location of the YMCA where the triathlon is held, they are quite limited in the bike route. Obviously the state of road maintenance is outside the control of the event organizers. They can't control the train schedule. I'm really not trying to be a complainer, I just want people who may participate in this event in the future to be aware of what they may face on the bike leg.

Obviously, now that I've ridden the course and know better what to expect, I could be better prepared for the bike portion of the race. Perhaps if I learned the train schedule I could ride fast enough to beat it to the intersection!

One of these days I'm going to get the money together to upgrade to clipless pedals.

As I mentioned above, I don't yet have clipless pedals so I biked in my running shoes. This meant that all I had to do is rack my bike, take off my helmet and clip on my race belt. So my T2 time was pretty decent.

Not much. Overall I'm pretty happy with it.

Admittedly, the run is my weakest of the three events. I'm not a fast guy by any means. The first 1/2 mile I struggled a bit to find my pace, as my legs were feeling a bit numb and heavy from the bike. Once that passed, I felt pretty good. As I approached the finish line I could hear another runner coming up from behind. So I kicked it up a notch. Then he did as well. So I picked it up a bit more. Then he started to sprint, so I unleashed with everything I had and we had an all out battle for the last 100 yards or so. He beat me to the finish line by a nose and we both wound up gasping for air and laughing about our little competition. It was a lot of fun.

Lose about 20 pounds and I'll bet I get a lot faster!

Didn't do anything too structured. Just walked around a bit and cooled off, which in the cold temps didn't take long at all.


My overall love for food which causes my weight to be a constant battle.


This was the first time this particular event had taken place, so there's always going to be things they learn and improve upon as the years pass. Overall for a first time event I think it went pretty well, so kudos goes out to everyone involved for that. Again the biggest issue was with the bike leg, and as I mentioned not all of that was in the realm of control of the race director.