HQBN Sprint Triathlon - TriathlonSprint

Ok...so my first tri was a month and a half ago. With current and waves. It was also 250 meters longer...so I figured this would be a piece of cake. My swimming has also drastically improved since then, so I was expecting a pretty good performance for my standards...maybe 1:55 per 100 yards. Hmmm...not sure what went wrong. From the start I felt okay, but about a minute later my HR spiked and I started to panic. There was tons of contact and I felt like I had to slow up everytime I ran into someone, or someone swam over me. I was getting passed as I normally do, but there was just no room to maneuver. Never at any point did I feel that I was swimming. It was simply 500 meters of water survival. That being said...I was still slightly faster than my first tri's pace. I think part of it was that I could have swam much faster if I just didn't keep running into people. It's not so much that I was passing tons of people...but people were passing me, and it seemed like everyone who did pass me, did so by cutting me off or swimming over me. I think I should have started farther back and too the outside at the start. I was about in the middle and inside...but it was so not worth it.

Start in the middle back of the pack and the outside to avoid getting run over. Maybe punch people who tried to pass me so they would stay out of my way...=)

Coming out of the water, my legs felt like crap. I don't know if it was because I was kicking too much during the swim, or simply because I was tired from last night. I "jogged" to my spot, and things went well from there...until I actually got on my bike.

Nothing really.

Ok...since this happened right after T1, I suppose it's part of the bike comments. But as soon as I jump on my bike, I realize my speed cadence sensor has been knocked and the speed sensor is hitting my spokes. I drop an F bomb then jump of my bike and take about 5 seconds to readjust it. I figure I lost about 20 seconds total having to slow down and get back up to speed. I checked my wheel before racking my bike, so not sure how it got knocked off line. GRRR!!! Not the best confidence booster after a bad swim.

Anyway...I digress. My legs are still not feeling it, and I'm struggling to go 17 mph on a slight incline into the wind. But after a few minutes, the legs loosen up a bit and I'm going about 21-22. At one turnaround point, my left calf cramps. I reach for some endurolytes I had in my tri short pocket...but it's not there. Oh well, water will have to do. It subsided and never really came back. When the winds were finally at our back, I was flying down about 28 mph. It didn't last long, but it was fun while it lasted. I was passing people by the bunches, and everyone who passed me, I eventually passed back on the second lap. In a way I knew they would pass me on the run...but I wanted my small victory over them.

Fill up the PD aero bottle a little more...I ran out of water the last 2 miles. Other than that...I smashed the bike...almost top 15% even with the 20 or so seconds I lost.

Not a bad T2. Not blazing...but no major foul ups. My race belt did malfunction...so I had to stuff it in my back pocket. No real time lost.

Nothing...but make sure my race belt clip doesn't come off.

Since I ran out of water on the bike, I decided to take a small water bottle with me on the run to make sure I didn't cramp up again. I reach down for a GU I had in my pocket...but it's not there...do you see a trend building??? I'm getting passed, but going along okay. There were no mile markers, so I had no idea what pace I was going. But judging from HR...I was not pushing enough. I was int he low 160's and I wanted to race closer to LT at around 170. So I force myself to up the effort during the uphill portion. As we're coming back down, my running legs start to come back a little. My HR is closer to 170, and I try to convince myself to eat the punishment of the last mile. It doesn't really work though...my body doesn't respond. However, during the last 500 yards or so, I pick up the pace along with another guy...we both kick it up into another gear, but eventually I somehow shift into overdrive and take him the last 100 feet. I nearly took out a guy taking off his timing chip after the finish line...whoops.

Run the first half harder. The fact that I had enough energy to break out into a sprint tells me that mentally I am not pushing myself hard enough in the beginning of the race.

Ok...so my endurolytes go missing...then my GU. I had them in different pockets of my new 4 pocket desoto tri shorts. I used them on the bike before, but never during the swim. So I get back to transition and OH SH!T...my car key is gone too. In fact, there is nothing in my pockets. The pockets are very deep...about 3 inches, so I figured no way it could come out. I had my key in my zoot tri short pocket before with no problem. I guess I should have just left it in transition or in my bento box...but I was scared that during a race, if I flatted, I might rip everything out of that bag and lose my key on the course...instead...I lost it in the water. Called my mom who had a spare key, and she came by about an hour later.


Need to do more full contact swimming. Going to take off the speed/cadence computer and move it back to my road bike...it just doesn't fit well on my tri bike...it worked fine once I readjusted it, but I had doubts that it could move and hit the spokes. Go harder on the run. Don't try anything new...tri shorts with stuff in pockets in the water. If this was my Oly last week...it would have been a nutrition disaster.


I gave this race a 4 because it's only $40. What do you expect for such a deal. It was on a marine corp base, so the marines were most of the support crew. Awesome job by them...there must have been at least 75 of them helping out.