Topeka TinMan Triathlon - TriathlonSprint

First off: Swim was wetsuit legal, I figure a gain of about 10s per 100 with my wetsuit but decided to leave the wetsuit behind, I was sweating standing still in the shade before the start, I might have gained a minute with the wetsuit on the swim but likely would have lost several times that due to overheating on the bike and run.

I had a very solid swim, started easy on the inside next to James we went shoulder to shoulder, literally a few times, until the first turn bouy then lost contact. There were lots of people to swim around from the first two waves, managed to sight them and avoid pretty well. Could have swam straighter and definitely noticed my head position is much too high, sinking my legs, probably why I gain so much time with a wetsuit. All in all had a smooth and consistent stroke the whole way, very comfortable swim.

Swim time across the field were very slow, I expected to swim 1:45-1:50 per 100m, the fasted guys officially barely cracked 2min per 100m compared to my 2:25. We had a steep run out of the water to transitio then basically half way around the outside of transition so it was "flow through". So the run added some time but the swim was probably somewhat long too.

Swimming is becoming frustrating, I'm way more confident and consistent than in the past but not much faster. I was 2:32 behind first overall in this race, there's an easy 1:30 - 2:00 on this swim, no increase in fitness needed, "just" better form. Long way of saying I need to swim faster. But still, a good for me swim given where I'm at now.

2nd overall for T1. Was relieved to see the racks still standing when i got to my bike. Took sweet time getting feet into shoes and up to speed, didn't notice until I actually strapped in my feet and accelerated. Either need to accelerate much more with feet on shoes or hurry up and get feet into shoes.

Get up to speed sooner, keep my head in the game.

A solid effort on the bike. Lots of mountain bikes on the course. Seemed like every gal was riding a pink trimmed bike.

HR stayed in lower to mid 160 for first 6 or 7 miles until I got to the smooth, flat, tailwind road where I could modulate a steady effort, dropped down to mid 150's for awhile then crept back up towards transition.

Cadence was lower than normal but power was higher. I've noticed that above mid 90's rpm I don't push the pace, if I shift and drop cadence into the 80's I'll accelerate to get cadence around 90 rpm. I've been doing that more and think it was a pretty comfortable compromise.


not much

3rd overall T2. Pulled feet out of shoes somewhat early but was downhillish into T2 so maintained speed well and I didn't want to be unprepared. Forgot to remove Garmin from bike before T2.

not much, I think it took a half a second to pop the Garmin from handlebars then dropped into back pocket on the run.

Very glad I previewed the route/maze out of transition and onto the running trail, there was an athlete ahead of me that hadn't and was practically stopping at each corner. Shouted out some turns to try and help then squeezed by.

Mainly tried to maintain focus on a fast turnover. It doesn't feel fast but I know it is. I get bored during the run and just want to sprint off and be done but need to focus back on fast turnover and the rest will take care of itself. The guys at the aid station/turn around did an awesome job of throwing water, thoroughly soaked me. The rolling hills were brutal, kept breaking up whatever rhythm I could establish. I was 6th or 7th at the turnaround but didn't know who was in my starting wave and who had started 6 minutes earlier. Ended up telling myself it didn't matter, nobody was within a couple hundred meters of me and I wasn't going to run any faster or slower if I knew where I was overall anyway.

not much, stay more mentally focused on form and stride rate.

food, beverage, shade, some cheering, and some BSing. Took a plunge in a cold endless pool.


the swim


A very nice race with lots of volunteers and I think the entire town of Topeka was out to see what was going on. Standard Ultramax first year event glitches though, nothing major and everything was ironed out before the start of the race. I don't think the swim to T1 chute was finalized until 30 minutes before the gun went off. Sometimes the best layout isn't apparent until you physically set it up. It looked like the number of athletes overwhelmed the physical transition space.