Stonebridge Ranch Triathlon-Short - TriathlonSprint

7 weeks ago I couldn’t finish 50m in a 25m pool without passing out. I was a cement block with flailing arms. My wife who swam in HS showed me a few tips in the pool, but I was still missing something. She could kick with a board faster than I could freestyle. I bought the Total Immersion DVD and book about 4 weeks ago because I was struggling so much with the swim. Without the TI technique I most likely wouldn’t have been able to finish the swim leg.

With total credit to the TI technique, I finished the swim and even finished 22nd out of 50 in my age group. And even still, I feel like I didn’t meet my potential. I’ve read so many stories here at beginnertriathlete about the swim starts and every one of them are correct. The swim start is scary as Hell with all the arms and legs beating up against you and people literally swimming over you. The first 100m was very difficult getting into any pattern or technique. I was on the far inside which I know people have said don’t do if you’re a beginner. But it actually had far fewer people on that side plus my breathing side was less populated. I just wanted to survive the first 200m and not over excerpt myself and then see what happens. I could see the first buoy coming up and I was right on target plus nobody was to my right. I settled into more of a routine TI stroke. Before I knew it, I looked up and didn’t see a buoy! Stopped, swirled around, and there it was 20 feet to my left. Whew! I didn’t swim to far beyond it. I wasn’t sure if I would be DQed for missing the buoy, so I swam back to it and went around it.

From that point, I was able to start relaxing a little bit more. I still wasn’t able to nail my stroke that well and my breathing was off. About every 15 secs, I would either bump somebody or somebody would bump me. Most people were going around me at this point. I kept telling myself to just swim my race, hit the mark on the buoys, and forget everybody else.

In the last third of the swim, I found myself swimming up on people rather than them passing me. I was actually having to maneuver around others to pass! Being passed sucks. Passing others is cool!!! Plus, I didn’t feel tired at all. I picked up the pace in the last 100m.

Coming out of the water, I was complete fresh. Once again, total credit to TI. I was almost mad at myself for not pushing harder earlier. Came out of the water, passed probably 10 people jogging swiftly but not sprinting to T1. I even passed one of my rack mates who I thought for sure would’ve been way ahead of me.


I was panicked the first 150m. I’m not sure if it’s possible to relax at this stage even for a seasoned triathlete. But beyond 200m, I would try to focus more on technique and breathing and just deal with being bumped. I would also trust my training in the pool and realize that I can swim harder even at distances beyond 750m.

I had a good jog going into T1. I caught a glimpse of my wife going into T1, which put a smile on my face. She was cheering me on, but I’m not sure if she was cheering or just excited I didn’t drown during the swim. Had quiet a bit of grass on my feet, but I had anticipated that and had a bottle of water and small towel handy to wash it off. Probably spent too much time doing this, however. Next time, I will probably just focus on getting sand off and worry less about grass.

The crowd going from the swim into T1 was WONDERFUL as they cheered everybody on.


Worry less about the grass and just get any sand off the feet.

As my first triathlon but hopefully not my last, I went ahead and bought a road bike, a BOTTOM OF THE LINE $250 bike. I did buy it at a good bike store though. I was drooling over the multi-thousand dollar bikes with their carbon forks and aero bars as I walked through the transtion area! I didn’t know exactly what I was looking at in all the racks, but quality was just exuding out of a majority of the bikes. I may splurge and move up a level or two in bikes next spring.

I knew the first 2 miles were going to be the toughest with a few long uphills and a few steep ones (at least in my book they were steep since I have nothing to compare them to.) 25 yards from the first turn-around, I shifted down in gears to get ready for the turn and start going back uphill. And “GGRRunch” (kinda like a crunch but without impact. :-). Something has gone wrong with my bike. I know, I know. You get what you pay for!! But why did it have to happen now. I know, I know. Murphy’s Law.

After the turn, I jumped off the bike. Checked out where the noise was coming from and could see nothing. Chain was on. Gears shifted. But something was wrong with the derailleur. Ok, I’m beyond my knowledge of bike repair at this point especially without a good strong hammer, screwdriver, and duct tape. People were passing me left and right. I know I was doing this just for “fun” (fairly morbid fun especially since you have to pay to torment yourself!) But damn! I want to at least finish respectfully!! So, I jumped back on my bike and started catching back up to the people that just passed me. MY BIKE SOUNDED LIKE IT WAS FALLING APART THOUGH!!!! I was embarrassed, but at least I was passing people. I sounded like one of those rattle toys that you use on New Years! Then I started thinking to myself, why should I be embarrassed when I’m passing people with bikes that cost 10 times what mine cost and it sounds like shit!

I started to check my average speed on my bike computer, 6MPH. “BULL,” I thought. I started flipping through the computer and could see my current speed jumping all over the place! I kept thinking, “could my computer be making that much noise?!? Surely not!” So, I just kept going at what I thought was a comfortable pace, working my gears on the hills and trying not to overexert myself to save energy for the run. Until I found the race results, I had no idea how fast I was on the bike. I was surprised to see 18.1 mph given that I had stopped for at least 2 min and could feel some additional resistance in my gears from that God awful noise! Most of my training times were right around 18mph, so not to bad.



Post race I could see what was happening with my derailleur. It had bent and was rubbing the gears. I need to learn more about bike repair/maintenance. The computer going out may not have been a bad thing because it let me focus on me and not the computer. I think I lost at least one gears worth of energy in addition to my stop on the course, but I'm still fairly happy with my speed.

My T2 wasn’t bad. I’m not sure it could be bad. I already had my running shoes on. All I had to do was rack my bike, take off my helmet, put on my race number belt, throw on my cap, and go!

Not sure how much more I could do differently. I did triple-check my race number to make sure it was on right. Guess that could save a few seconds.

I felt pretty good jumping off the bike. I had the anticipated brick-legs as I jogged through T2. But overall, I felt good! Then, the uphill run started. OMG!! My legs stopped. I know I didn’t train as hard for the run as I should have due to some initial and then slowly healing shin-splints. (Thanks Run on! for getting me proper fitting shoes!) But I just couldn’t find my legs! I did catch back up to my rack mate that I caught up to in T1 and he was having similar trouble. So, I started walking for about 20 yards to regroup, which helped some. The remainder of the mile 1 was tough! But I did pass my rack mate again.

Just as I felt my legs coming back, I got to the unexpected detour. This was the only part of the race that I felt confusion as to where to go. The arrow said one thing, the volunteer said another and everybody else was turning. So, I turned also. The entire loop felt odd since there were no volunteers or arrows at the next turn and there was also no safety measures as runners had to cross the street. When I finally did make it to the 2 mile station, 13 minutes had elapsed since the mile 1 station. There was no way my mile 2 was slower than my first!!! I rationalized that they just put the station further away.

Just before reaching the mile 2 station, the stomach cramps started. When I swim, I have tendency to swallow air, which of course gives one gas. I had these pains before after swimming so I knew what it was. I knew they weren’t going to go away and that I just had to run through the pain. I skipped the water because I was afraid it would just make me cramp more and I just had one more mile to go. Then a third station came up and I skipped water there as well. My stomach was hurting very bad at this point and it wasn’t my diaphragm. I started walking hoping the pain would magically go away. It didn’t and I knew I would be upset with myself if I didn’t at least average a 10 min mile. I started running again knowing the last tunnel to the finish line was coming up. WRONG!!! DETOUR!!! I looked at my watch and it was at 30mins. This couldn’t be right! But at least this time the course was marked. All the same, my spirits were shot. Give me a damn beer and I’ll cheer everybody else on at this point. A quick attitude check pushed me on. Hitting the tunnel, I felt that last surge of energy and off to the races I went. Less the stomach cramps, I finished and I finished strong. I didn’t crawl, puke, or cry. Just smiled and started looking for wife. I did it!!! And through that morbid sense of drive that I’m learning most triathletes have, I started thinking, “When can I sign up for the next one!!”

What would you do differently?:

I’m not sure what else I could do differently based on my limited training period and shin-splints. If I had two or three more weeks plus proper equipment to begin with, I may have been able to do 8 minutes miles. This is the one area that I know I can improve in the most, which is kinda funny given my initial swimming issues.

I started very late in training for this event. But given the 7 weeks I did have plus losing 20lbs, I did OK. I could have qualified for the Clydesdale division. Had I, I would have been in the top 1/3rd. I met most of my expectations and even exceeded a few of them such as the swim. But here are my goals for the next race: 1) lose another 20lbs which will put me at my ideal weight, 2) continue improving the swim even though I already made tremendous strides, 3) possibly get a better bike, 4) and work on improving overall fitness and endurance levels for the run.


Besides what I now believe to be an incorrect course detour, the race seemed to flow very well. With around 1000 participants, I’m not sure how much better it could have been. I would give the race a 5 rating, but I don’t have anything else to compare it to. The City of McKinney did an excellent job patrolling traffic and make necessary repairs to the course. The race organizers did exactly that, they organized! Nice job everybody!!! (except the one volunteer who I think screwed up!)