Tri State Tri - TriathlonSprint

i started at 9:47 am an the guy who started 30 seconds behind me caught me and passed me in the first lap. the guy who started last, 2 places and 1 minute behind me, caught me by about halfway and passed me. i caught him at the end of the next lap and passed him. he then caught me in the last lap or two. i ended up finishing last in the swim at 20:53 with the two african guys at 19 and 18 minutes. the next closest time to mine was 15 minutes and then someone at 14 minutes. so besides two guys who hadn't trianed at all in the swim, i was 5 minutes behind the next slowest person. although i need to mention that my swim time was probably between 18 and 19 minutes (19 minutes and something when i looked at my watch after having been out several seconds) but included the time it took me to towel off, put on my cycling shoes and longsleave tshirt and run out of the pool area over to the parkinglot transition area. this was my first tri, so i didn't understand how the timing worked. all the same, i'm glad i did it this way because it was one of the coldest days of the year so far, in the low 40s, and windy, and was able to dry off before going outside. so i think my swim time was probably 18 minutes and something which is equal or close to my fastest time. overall, the swim felt good. i didn't feel particularly fast, but steady with pause except when i was passed.

i would check my time the second i finished on my watch to see what my real swim time was. i would also put my shoes and shirt on in the transition area.

my true transition 1 time was longer, just that probably 2 to 3 minutes of it was counted in my swim time since i took my googles off, put my cycling shoes and tshirt on, towel off at poolside. i was probably closer to 4+ minutes tor t1 time. my overall time was probably a little slower than when i test ran two weeks earlier.

now that i understand how the transition works, i need to practice it. i'm sure i could cut my time in half or maybe to 1+ minutes

i rode steady, but it was tough with the wind and the cold. the cold wasn't terrible, but my thighes were a little cold. i wore gloves over my cycling gloves. i was about 6 minutes behind my best time, but considering the wind, i was pleased with my time.

tried to eat a protein bar, need to learn how to do that better.

thought i was supposed to ride through the mat into the transition area and they told me at the last second to get off my bike. consequently, i was locked in and fell on my left side. that was my first fall with cleats on. unfortunately, i didn't activate the timer so my bike time and t2 time are combined. luckily, i have an estimate of my bike time from by speedometer, all though it is probably a slightly longer time for two reasons. first, it kept running until i racked my bike after crossing the line and second, it sometimes keeps running even after i stop. i probably

windy and cold

train with more hilly and diverse run instead of flat

unfamiliarity with process, wind, cold


it was a great first tri. l learned a lot about the mechanics of how the race is timed and run. the folks at the y were learning as well since this was their first tri. the volunteers on the bike course were great and very helpful including the police who held up traffic for us. would have been nice to know that i was supposed to dismount my bike before crossing the time mat. i was sad that my honey wasn't at the swim portion of the tri because that was the part she could have watched and cheered me on the most.