Escape From Fort Desoto - TriathlonSprint

I experienced more contact in this swim than any other I've raced. I think I swam with my head up until about 20 meters after the first buoy. Some contact was violent enough to be disruptive, but I'm happy to say my goggles stayed on.

Count the buoys before the race and push it once I get into rhythm. I had no idea where I was in the race so I couldn't pace myself.

Many rocks on the way to transition. I bruised my heel pretty badly on one of them apparently. I tried to navigate through some of the obvious ones and that slowed me down a bit.

Take my champion chip off my ankle before trying to get my wetsuit off. Duh. Once you start it's too late unless you put the whole thing back on.

Windy ride for about 3 miles on the way out and about the last mile on the return. I slowed down to 18 mph in the headwind but picked up to 28 mph on the return. I'll never forget the dead silence as we made the turn to pick up the tailwind. I love the surreal sound of my breathing, spinning and tires rolling on the pavement.

Have pushed harder than I did. I had more in the tank but I knew I had a chance at doing better in the run this time and didn't want to blow that opportunity.

Skidded to stop. Stupid.

Should have unclipped both feet before I got to the stop. Would like to get different shoes to try foot on top technique with shoes already clipped in and then start practicing mounting and dismounting while moving. Not sure how much time that would save me, though. I certainly have plenty of other areas to refine with less risk of crashing.

Stomach and upper back cramps for the first 2 miles. Took a gatorade on top of the fort. That seemed to help, but I can't imagine why. It was only about 3 oz.

Push harder once the cramps stopped. I could have picked up a minute or two probably. Certainly need to run more, but now that my EIA is under control (yay!) I can do so.

Couple of bananas, some gatorade and water.


Conservative race management overall. Stomach and back cramps on the run were not helpful but I overcame them in the latter half of the run.


Put together well. Great weather. I just lacked the killer attitude needed to perform a bit better. I took a back seat and just went with the flow. Now that I reflect on it, that was my attitude going into the race -- no wonder why I performed that way.