PTARC Triathlon - Triathlon

I only swam once since March and that was last weekend, but I was a pretty decent middle distance freestyler in HS. I felt good though and my lane was right by the door. About as good as I could have hoped for.

Find some time and a pool to train more.

T1 had been a slow point for me in the past, so I had a new plan. I swam in the UA compression shirt which did not blouse and I basically just threw on glasses, helmet and shoes (no socks) and went. I transitioned right next to an "old timer" who was 3 seconds behind me out of the pool and we left side by side, so I was pretty happy with that.

Nothing

I don't have a tri bike, just a roadie, and I am not a cyclist to speak, but I did OK here. There were more mountain bikes than anything, and I was one of the better equipped riders there. I got passed by two guys in the first half mile and that was it. I passed about 10 mountain bikers. I tried to spin it up some at the end but the final 400 yards was uphill granny gear for me and when I got off I had jelly legs. T1 and T2 were included in the bike split, probably close to 3 minutes for me.

Take water. I decided to go sans the water since it was early and cool and the bike was so short. Wished I would have had some. I am also about 20# lighter than the last time I was doing tris and my biking is definitely faster - good stuff.

No bike racks so I just laid it down and almost fell over. Helmet and shoes off, socks and shoes on. Note to self - find my yankz i won last year! T1 and T2 times were included in the bike split so not bad.

I have only been training for about 5 weeks, and bricks have not been something I have worked in yet. I had not had a lot of trouble in the past with the bike-run switch, but I did today. My legs were really tight for the first mile and the second mile was much better than the first. Unfortunately, I am still ridiculously slow, and the run was my downfall, as expected.

I blew out my ACL in 1992 and my knee has never been right since. It is always swelled and it keeps me from running as much as I would like. Right now I am at 6'5", 246#, and this is the lightest I have been since 1993. I am hoping to lose 20 more pounds this summer, and that has made my knee a lot more cooperative for running.

Well I crossed the line just as my 7 year old was getting to her bike right next to the line so I just screamed like an idiot parent for her to GO GO GO!


Very little training to date.


This is a true mini sprint and is a community race. There were a lot of local/first time triathletes it appeared. Millions of volunteers. All cycling roads were closed with police/fire at all intersections. Great first race (or first race back!).

One last thing. There were no overall winners, just age group. First and second in my age group were 1-2 overall. Sigh!