Hawk Island Triathlon - TriathlonSprint

This swim was just brutal. I started about mid pack and it was just a total nightmare. I had 3 different people who felt as though they were trying to rip the timing chip off my ankle. People swimming in front of me would just stop for no reason. People doing breaststroke were kicking me. I had to stop swimming about every 6-8 strokes and tread water to find and opening. This was without a doubt the worst swim conditions I have ever had. I even got a bloody ankle from scratches as a result. To be honest, I am actually amazed my time was as good as it was all things considered but I should be able to do this swim in about 7-8 minutes normally.

I think there are just so many first timers doing this race and there are so many people that the swim is going to be a nightmare. Maybe next year, I should opt for the individual starts which are after the mass starts.

This was a good transition considering I had to get my wetsuit off. Good news is that my bike was very close to the mount line so no long runs in bike shoes.

Nothing, don't see much room for improvement here.

I felt like I really rocked this bike. Although my average is not really high, based on the number of full 90 degree turns and the rough road conditions, I am very happy with my performance. I got passed by 4 people one of which I repassed and I think I must have passed at least 50 people, probably more. Got kind of tired of saying on your left but thats a good problem to have.

I'm very happy with my bike performance. Just wish the roads were better as I was worried about my carbon wheels.

Nothing significant here. I did rip one of my socks putting it on and totally forgot to put my race belt on.

Remember my race belt.

I decided to not wear my garmin and run by feel. I have always worn my Garmin in the past. I found a guy to pace for about the first two miles, then he sort of pulled ahead a bit on the last mile or so. I had a guy pace me for the last mile in which helped kind of push me a bit. The last half mile or so was sort of tough and I really felt like I gave it my all when I hit the finish line.

I'm happy with this run and I think not wearing the Garmin was a good move so I wasn't so focused on what pace I was running.

Got something to drink and some of the food they had. Spent some time at the BT tent and watched them pass out awards.


Definetly the swim. This is the first time when I can look at a race and think I might have had a shot to place in the top 3 in Clydesdale had I actually been able to just swim. This race offers an individual starting option, I think maybe next year I should do that instead.


I like this race except for the swim and the rough roads. Its a great distance for the first race of the year and its nice seeing tons of BT people there. I did manage to beat my time from last year by about 7 minutes so I'm happy with my results.