Parvin State Park Triathlon - TriathlonSprint

Hung right on the buoy line, but did let stronger swimmers go off first. Hung just back from pack until first buoy, losing a little when I swam in wrong direction towards first buoy, headed towards the inside. After that I never got too far off course. By the time I made first turn, pack was pretty much out of reach but I was gaining on this one man and actually putting distance between me and the 5-6 people who were actually slower.

Swam continuously fairly well; took one backstroke break on the parallel-to-beach leg, and a couple of 15-20 second breaststroke breaks. Tried to breathe to both sides...probably 50-50 bilateral/every four on left side. Also tried to focus on smooth, slow, gliding swimming so I didn't get out of breath. Worked, for the most part, although I was panting a bit by the end. HR averaged 143 for the swim, so not too bad. Tried drafting off the one guy, eventually got past him and somebody from the previous wave. Swam until my hand touched sand.

Not a whole lot...this is about as good as it gets for me. I'm actually amazed my swim place (227) was better than my overall placing.

A little slow here. Separate top is easy to get off and the bibs too, but I've always had a little trouble getting the DeSoto off my heels. I also probably have too many steps in this, between my bandanna, sunglasses and helmet, plus the case with flatting gear. I put shoes on and tightened them up rather than try tightening on bike. Interesting to note my HR during T1 averaged 163, meaning I came in from the swim fairly high and probably hit the bike just a little lower than bike LT.

Other than being a little smoother and economical in movements, I could probably save some time by deleting the bandanna and learning to get shoes on while on the bike.

Much slower than I'd like to be, obviously; the holy grail of 20mph continues to elude me. But I did meet my goal here. I wanted to ride at a pace that never got too uncomfortable; I told myself if I started to feel my legs getting sore I'd back off a little. I wanted to make sure I had enough gas for a decent run. And considering I managed a little over 18mph with what felt like a fairly reasonable pacing effort, I'm not too displeased. Last year my goal for this race was to hammer the bike and just survive the run, and my bike time was about the same!

I forgot to use the Garmin bike mount - I'd just put it on the day before and I didn't even think about it during transition, only remembering about a mile into the ride - so I was riding sans info except for the beeps I got every mile. I felt like I had a decent pace, and I only got passed by a couple of racers during the bike leg. So yeah, I'd like to be faster, and maybe I could've pushed it a little harder, but overall I'm OK. Cadence averaged 88 and HR averaged 155 so I wasn't too much lower than LT.

Almond Road on the way back into the park was awful, torn up really bad along the right hand edge, and it was hard to see in the shadows and with sunglasses. Took my feet out of the shoes about a third of a mile out, so came into transition bare-footed and saved a little time that way.

Remember to take the Garmin off the wrist and onto the aerobar so I'll have a sense where I am. Maybe, just maybe, push it a smidge harder.

OK here.

Put on shoes and then get moving, do the belt and hat as I run. Can't imagine that cost me too much, though.

Broke 30 minutes! Always a big deal; pacing at 9:37 which is pretty amazing for me, particularly after the bike. I've been working on the run but didn't quite expect this, so not sure the course was quite 5K. Knew I had a pretty decent time going when I got to turnaround in just under 15 minutes. Walked a little through the water stops and walked a little in the last mile too because the HR was well into the 170s. Paced off a couple of folks to mark some time. Started picking it up at about 2.7, made the last couple of turns neck and neck and three-wide on the trail with a couple of other guys...pretty cool, never actually experienced that before. One of them dropped off but me and the other guy sprinted in together, crossed at the same time. About a hundred yards out, we're both pushing it, right there together, and he said, "Come on, let's go." I said, "Let's do it," and we humped it in. Again, pretty cool. My HR averaged 169 for the run, and that was pretty much the average for each mile too, except the last which was 172, right at or slightly over LT.

I think I went out a little too fast; unusual for me to do the first mile in under ten minutes but that's what I did. Pretty satisfied, but I'm wondering how it would've worked out if I'd started just a little slower and been able to pick it up faster at the end.

I had nothing left at the end. Had to bend over with my hands on my knees and then walk around to get breath back and the "about to be sick" feeling to subside. Grabbed a water, ate a cookie and then a banana and then started packing up.


Pretty good race overall, everything came together nicely.


Another solid DQ race; they do a good job. I was scheduled to do the Piranha-timed race in Middletown, DE on Sunday but circumstances didn't play out to allow for that and this just fit the schedule better.