Toyota Challenge at Deer Creek - Sprint - TriathlonSprint

I was freezing to start the swim. It was a little under 50 degrees to start the morning and I don't have a wetsuit so I was shivering a bit on the beach as the elites took off and I waited for my wave. I'm guessing there were 40 or so people in my wave. I think it was all men under 39 plus all Clydes. This was my first tri so I didn't know what to expect. I should have started at the front as I got caught behind a lot of slow swimmers and spent a good part of the time breast stroking and looking for room to go around the guys who couldn't swim a straight line.

Start towards the front so I can spend more time swimming and less time stopping to find openings. Get a wet suit.

Took a little more time than needed. I was freezing so I dried off a bit and took time to put some socks on. Although I still shouldn't have taken that long. Maybe I got a cup of coffee and a donut as well, it's a bit fuzzy.

Go faster. Practice a bit at home.

The bike was pretty bad. I was freezing from the cool air and the wet tri shorts/top. I haven't put near enough time as of late and it showed. Started holding a 18-20 pace and then there was a pretty good headwind on the backstretch portion of the loop. I don't have aero bars so I was basically had the wind resistance of a Mack truck riding into it. My average dipped significantly in this portion. Cornering was terrible as well. I slowed way down as there always seemed to be a rider or two right on my back tire coming into them so I didn't want to cause any wrecks. I was in more to finish my first than worry about time. The first hill wrecked my legs as well. I wasn't prepared for it at all as I have never seen the course so I was in the big chain ring when I hit it. I was worried about losing the chain trying to switch on the hill so I just stood and hammered the hill. Bad idea. I passed about 6 people on the hill but nuked my legs in the process. The second hill by the dam, I took my medicine and sat down in the saddle chugging up it in first gear.

Train more, invest in aero bars.

Another slow one. So goes the first tri.

I'll probably start practicing taking my shoes off on the bike. That would likely drop a good bit of the time as I came to a complete stop on the bike, unclipped, and then walked the bike in to my spot. Running in bike shoes is a little awkward on rubber legs so I took my time. Took a minute to grab a shot of water from my bike as well.

I actually expected a slower time on the run. It seemed like I was walking a big part of it and I stopped for a minute at the aid station both ways to grab a drink. I found out what heed is. It was quite a rude awakening nearly causing me to spew over the spillway on the way back to the finish. The stuff tasted bad enough on it's own, but when you are expecting water, it's a bigger shock to the palate.

Train more. My knee has been a little tweeked up for a while so I was anticipating a slow "run" portion of the race due to the need to walk a bit on top of wasted legs from the bike.

Walked around a bit drinking the water they handed out at the finish. Cleaned my stuff up at my transition site and loaded everything in the truck.


General lack of fitness and not really pushing too hard.


It was my first real event and I was more concerned with finishing happy and getting my feet wet. Not too disappointed overall. I have no basis of comparison, but I thought HFP put on a great race and I look forward to doing some of their events in the future. Got a nice shirt and a finisher medal for the entry fee so that was nice. I'm not crazy about a participation prize but my kids (5&3) thought I must have won something since I got a medal :) They must not have noticed the other 500 people walking around with them. I lost twenty pounds this summer due to this crazy idea of doing a triathlon and had a lot of fun in the process. I plan to drop another 15-20 over the winter and get my fitness up a lot higher to start the spring strong. With a couple gifts from Santa, I should be set to drop some serious time next year. Looking forward to it.

Thank you to my beautiful wife and 2 great boys for the encouragement through this whole process and coming to see me in my first race.

Special thanks to the people of this site as well. (particularly the Ohio sub forum) You have all been very generous sharing your time and knowledge answering my dumb newb questions. I have learned a lot reading everyone's reports and posts.