Rose City Triathlon - TriathlonSprint

I lined up to the left because when I do swim off course I usually go to the right. I guess that means there is something goofy with my form. I started off at a decent pace but one that I knew I could hold on to. After the first bouy I felt pretty good so I decided to pick up the pace and see what I could do. I never lifted my head again. I knew that I was having a good swim but I forgot to start my watch so I didn't know what type of time I was swimming. I rounded the last bouy and pushed the pace until my hands started digging into the dirt. I got up but there was about 50 yards of running in knee high water. Overall good swim for me which is good because I only swam once since rivercities the first week of August.

Not much.

I should have moved faster here but I wanted to make sure I had everything and my HR was a little higher than normal coming out of the water.

Move Faster

I started off and was passing people like crazy. The first mile or so is very flat before hitting the rolling hills. I wanted to pick off as many people as possible. I hit the hills and climbed on my tri-bike better than normal. I just tried to keep a high cadence and keep the speed up the best I could. I really couldn't drink very well because my HR was up so high. I did manage to get a little gatorade in me once I hit the flat section on the way back in which I saw again later. Gross. I was only passed by one person that made it stick. I got passed by 3-4 people during the race but I would drop back for my time period and then I would pass them back with authority and never see them again. It felt good to know that I could pass people and not worry about them catching my on the hills.

Not much.

Decent. Not much to do except put shoes and race belt on.

I took off on the run and knew that I was running the first mile a little faster than I wanted to but knew that this is where Brian as well as the other people I pass on the bike usually catch and pass me. I passed the 1 mile mark and orange gatorade just came up. Happened before I even knew it was coming. I started to walk just a little and catch my breath but I heard this voice behind me yelling "NO, NO, get your legs firing again. You are not going to walk." I started running again and David Townsend passes me. Man just what I needed at that moment. I slowed a little over the next 2 miles but not too much. I held off Brian on the run which was a nice feeling.

Train with a higher HR a little more. I definitely need to work on my speed.

I stretched a little and waited on Brian to finish. Met up with several people and chatted for a little bit. I didn't get to stay for the awesome looking food because of 2 baseball games and a soccer game that I needed to get back for.
This was my best race to date. It felt nice to really feel good about my progress instead of driving home wondering what would happen if I actually pushed it past my comfort zone. Learned that a sprint is too short to worry about the pain.


Run training has been spotty lately and I need to make sure I work on some speed work.


Great race as usual. These guys do and awesome job and really care about the outcome of the race. The course is great and the atmoshpere is even better. This is one of those races I don't think I will ever miss. It was my first triathlon 3 years ago so it holds a special place in my hear. I went back and looked at my time from 3 years ago and I have shaved right at 15 minutes off.