Midwest Mayhem Triathlon - Sprint Distance - TriathlonSprint

My second Tri. Went out harder on the swim than my first race. Hit the last bouy with my left arm (was really wide in my first tri so over compensated this time I guess). Can't believe the distance was only 500 m. Maybe my first tri (also listed as 500 m) was shorter than 500 m ?

Just train more.

My second tri, first with clipless pedals. Shirt got rolled up in the back. I wasted a few seconds trying to get that straightened out. I was really concerned about clipping in since I only had a few weeks of practice with clipless etc. But I was able to clip in without any problems.

Buy a tri-top that I can wear throughout the race (Tri-suit not in budget, can afford a #30 tri-top). Practice transitions?

Judging by the time you could imagine something went wrong. About 30 seconds into the ride I heard a "pop". Then I noticed pedaling became harder and sure enough, rear tire blowout. I had purchased a spare tube and pump the DAY before. What I did not have was tools (those little blue plastic things would have been nice). This was my first ever tire change on a road bike. Took me 5 minutes just to get the tire off of the rim. I used the air valve lever on the bike pump. Then I finally got the tube in and spent some time trying to get the wheel/chain into proper position. Two guys on Mountain bikes actually stopped to help me out. I knew I was out of the race but there was no way I wasn't going to finish. Also on the u-turn at the T in the highway I took the turn too sharp and the bike slid under me. Chain came off, spent more time getting chain back on. I was glad when the bike portion was over, nothing to break down in the run. Wish I knew what my actual bike pace was.

Not sure, watch for rocks in the road? I don't even know what caused the blowout. Have all the tools in the saddle bag. Practice tire changes? The bike shop owner says he can change a tire in about 1 minute.

A discouraged T2 knowing I would finish at the back of the pack.

Had I not had a flat on the bike I would actually comment here.

Probably would have run faster had I not had a flat tire on the bike. I still went out hard, mainly to just get it over with.

Not much to say here given the bad bike experience.

Walked around for 5-10 minutes. Drank a diet pepsi, ate a banana, strawberries.


Oh, let me see.....a rear wheel flat.....


Even with the flat tire it was a fun race. It was pretty well organized. I heard some gripes about the run course markings etc. not sure what the problem was. Too bad about the flat tire, in my age group I was 1st in the swim and 2nd in the run. A big "what if" had I not gotten the flat. An age group top 3 would have been NICE given this was only my 2nd triathlon.