Cooper Summer Sprint Triathlon at Craig Ranch - TriathlonSprint

Getting better on the swim. Last year 7:35, this year 6:56. Started out too slow because I didn't have enough confidence to go out hard with no warm-up. Passed 4 (or was it 5?) people in front of me so still better seeding would be good. Did also pass two strugglers who clearly messed up their time seeding and it was really hard getting around one of them at the wall. Would have liked to have someone to chase/maybe draft hard in front of me. Decent swim and was surprised that it was over so soon - I was actually shocked when I got to the last lane. I know I had at least 10 seconds here I could have picked up. My sister and my kids were at swim exit cheering so I waved - love seeing my family!

Start out harder. Though I was proud of the swim as this puts me something like top 120 out of 510 and I wouldn't consider myself a 'swimmer' so at least I'm improving here.

A little slow putting on my socks and had one of the farthest racks from bike out (and bike in lol) but no hang-ups.

I ran to bike out and Sabrina was there cheering (thx!) and said something like 'Go Jen you can win this!' and I think I laughed and then she added something like 'Well your division!' so that was funny. Wasn't feeling really powerful on the bike but felt competent. I've mostly been working on increasing mileage for the Half and not much speed work so sprints still could be faster. Worked hard without really red-lining anything. Last year 39:22, this year 37:35. Felt good about the bike split. Only complaint was the signs at the loop 2/finish bike split. I knew the bike course and still thought they were ridiculously confusing signs. I'm sure newbies were likely confused by that (for example the girl in front of me). Otherwise great volunteers and I saw the race official at least 3 times (on a short course!).

Work the hills harder instead of settling for slowing down.

The girl in front of me rode right past the dismount line and into transition - I think she thought that was the way to lap two. So then everyone at dismount is screaming at me to stop and I'm thinking 'thanks I know.' lol. Tim was at bike in cheering (thx!) and I think I said thanks! I had started a little farther back in line (maybe 15 or so) than my seeding to swim with a teammate and ended up last back to my bike rack in T2 and all the bikes on my row were handle-bar to handle-bar with absolutely no room in between. So I had to really struggle to lay my bike over theirs as it just wouldn't even fit on top easily. This easily cost me 10 seconds. Otherwise no hang-ups. Shoes/helmet off, grab belt and hat and run out. Again farthest rack from run-out but no biggie.

Practicing transitions on your own without a bike rack full of bikes really didnt help my situation lol.

Running is easily my weakest discipline. My husband and I were racing this one and I knew he would have at least 5 minutes on me here so I really worked at keeping a steady pace. I have only been working on increasing my distance and not much speed work so this was a good run for me. Last year 31:53, this year 29:15. Walked each aid station.

One thing I always like is the support I get as I get passed. Since I am weaker here there are always a number of people (especially guys) who pass me and almost every one of them tells me 'good job' as they pass and I actually appreciate that triathletes can be pretty supportive people even as they compete against you. As I came into the finish my sister, brother, mother-in-law were there and my kids were jumping up and down yelling 'Go Mommy go!'. Thanks for the support guys!

As usual my weakest event but proud of the effort. Just need to keep losing weight and keep running. :)

Walked around and grabbed some water. LOVED those cold towels. What a treat! Eventually grabbed some free breakfast and hung out for awards as I usually place in my division.

2nd place Athena (by 13 seconds) to a gal who couldn't be more than a pound over the weight limit lol. I had those 13 seconds to get but it's hard for me to remember to fight for every second in a sprint. I was proud of the effort and I took almost a full 5 minutes off last year's time: Last year 1:21:02, this year 1:16:27.

OH! I also won the household contest - hubs was 1:18:39. ;) He ran 25:02 so I had to make up that time in swim and bike so yay!


Overall I think this is a well-run and fun event. They didn't oversell slots, they had plenty of water, and got through the swim pretty quickly. They had volunteers at every turn on the course (not much chance for anyone to get lost.) I felt this year the race got even better/ was more well-run which I think means they really listen to comments and try and improve. Fun local race and I would do it again. I also like that we got memberships to Cooper as part of the award - that's really nice!