TRI On the Hill Sprint Triathlon - TriathlonSprint

Somehow the race organizers had me at 27 minutes to do 328 yards, not 7, so they had me starting 4th from LAST on the roster. I wasn't happy. Found the swim organizer and they ended up putting me in at slot 21. They started each swimmer on the 15-second mark so I was in the water within 5 minutes or so of the start.

Was feeling pretty good but just before I got in looked at my HR and from pure adrenaline it was at 112 BPM. I started strong but by the 3rd lane (150m) someone tapped me on the ankle to pass. Ths unnerved me. Let him pass me at the turn around and glanced at my HR -- 161. WAY TOO HIGH for me -- I knew it. Kept going the rest of the lanes and got lapped 3x times, which was really bumming me out. I was breathing hard on the last lap and taking shorter strokes, and thinking "DAMN, I better get my act together before Memphis" (my next event in 3 weeks, an open water Oly). I got out and my HR was 165 -- I need to figure out why I was so compelled to stay ahead of everybody and why I couldn't slow down enough to get my HR back to where I train -- normally in the upper 130's or lower 140's.

1. Not let them seed me so high in the starting lines
2. Ensure that a few days before the race they have me at the right times for that type of distance
3. I've got to learn how to slow down and not let adrenaline take over or I'll not stand a chance.
4. I will be increasing my swim volume in the next couple of weeks to work on HR and endurance. I was really disappointed with my performance, even though my pace is roughly my average for the month.

They didn't track T1/T2 times. The bike leg started the minute we got out of the pool, so this influenced the total time. The 2:41 is the difference between what my GPS provided versus what they listed as the total bike time.

I was pleased with what I had done in T1. Helmet went on first, then started GPS so it would get a lock before I did everything else. Had GPS lock within 30 secs or so. Got dried off (it was in the lower 40's) and got my jacket on without any problem. Got my socks and shoes on without any hassle. They would not let us run so walked fast to the exit and mounted and clipped in without any hassle.


Nada. I had mentally walked through this several times and it went just as I had planned.

I had a good bike leg given the course - 41st place overall for the leg and 45th cumulative swim+bike. I've uploaded my HR and speed so that you can see the relative magnitude of the downhills and slowness of the up hills. I kept to my standard form -- keep cadence as close to 90 as possible and if it dropped below 80 to change gears until it was above 80. Worked well overall. I passed 4 people and was passed by 3 or 4, so held my ground fairly well. I was working hard on the up hills -- need to work on this more.

Not much. Incorporate more hills into my bike training. Work on cadence. I held my own on the bike.

They wouldn't let us run and we had to completely dismount and lift our bike up over a step, so the jumping off moving bike and running with bike wasn't an option.

Got my running shoes on fast and was off. My GPS said I was stationary only for 57 seconds, which is a BIG improvement off my duathlon T2 earlier is this month. Grabbed a banana and a Gu and was off.

Nada. Again, had gone through this several times in my head and it went off ok. Possibly would get some zip laces, but that wouldn't save me more than a few seconds.

Lost some ground on the run leg -- went from a cumulative 45th place to 55th. Took a spill at 2.87 miles -- did the fall and roll to my shoulder and was back up in an instant. Scraped the heck out of my shoulder and leg but only wounded my ego.

Beautiful place to run, but vastly different from running on the WO&D in my local neck of the world. Guess that is why they call it "TRI on the Hill".

Definately makes sense to me now.

I had failed to remove my biking shell and although it probably was in the upper 40's, overheated. Had to walk up one long grade -- just could NOT continue taking baby steps up so decided to take BIG steps at a walking pace upward.

I'm definately incorporating more hills into my running routine, as much as I can find in my neck of Northern Virginia...

Was greeted by my two boys and my wife. Walked around, drank a couple bottles of water, ate a number of oranges and some pizza... sat on the ground and stretched.


Hills. I need more hills, both biking and running. Psychologically, I really reacted poorly to being passed in the pool. I obviously think I am a better swimmer than I actually am (I only started swimming this past December) so I need to figure that out, and soon.


It was a challenging race for me given where I am today. Here at 12+ hours I'm tired and need a good sleep...