Camp Courageous Sprint Triathlon - TriathlonSprint

Tied for first on the swim. It felt good. Started off fast and had to remind myself to stretch it out and use my feet. Rounding the second bouy, I had to go wide because I was passing, and that person took the inside lane. The results website shows my pace as 1:22. So maybe it was a bit longer than 500.

Not pass while rounding the bouy.

Getting my helmet, glasses and shoes on went pretty smooth. I still need to either get clipless pedals or get better at getting into my cages.

There was no mount line, so I quick asked the official if it was OK to get on and go. I should have just gone.

This was my first race with the aerobar, and I liked it. It seemed to help my speed. A few times when shifting to go uphill, I pushed the gear shift too far and dropped a couple of gears when I only wanted to drop one. The results website shows my speed as 21.3 which is more than 2 mph better than Hy-Vee. That makes me feel pretty good considering the course was a bit longer, and hillier (is that a word?) Maybe it was a bit longer than 16 miles.

Get better at shifting.

The transition started out well. I had a decent dismount, but I guess I am pretty un-coordinated when trying to run with my bike on my left side because I lost control of it and dropped my bike. Right in front of the official, who was very nice and wanted to help but reminded himself out loud that he could not offer assistance, and apologized for it. I recovered pretty quickly, but dropping the bike flustered me and my hands where shaking while I tried to put on my number belt.

Remember to keep my bike on the right side and run with it in my right hand.

I could feel that I had pushed the swim and the bike when I started the run. I just kept telling myself to keep moving and keep the legs turning over. It was starting to get hot by this point, especially at the turn-around where we were running directly into the sun with no shade. Again, the results website shows my pace faster than the calculator here on BT, so I don't know if all distances were off or what.

Go faster?

Walking, stretching, eating watermelon.


Just experience. This is only my second triathlon, so with more training (especially on the bike). I think I will improve.


This was a great race considering it was the first year. Lots of volunteers, very organized. Everyone was helpful, friendly, and in good spirits.