Massachusetts State Triathlon - TriathlonSprint

So I was in the first wave. We were herded up then went into the water and swam to the start bouys. Before I knew it--and before I got to the bouys--the gun went off. I took my time getting out there so was BOP and completely taken off guard with the gun--even forgot to start my watch. So I missed the entire group of good swimmers because I was wrestling with BOPers to get at least a little space (thankfully it was a REALLY small wave so not much trouble there). However, I missed the chunk of good swimmers and found myself in no-mans land, no feet to draft off of. Very frustrating, I didn't have more than 5-10 seconds of drafting the entire swim and put out too much effort trying to catch up.

Not take my time getting to the start bouys, because who knows when the gun is gonna go off!

Another disaster...I don't have a tri top and even until the start of the race wasn't sure if I was going to wear one of my running tops on the bike. I hesitated in transition deciding and ultimately threw it on. Then, as I was leaving T1, I realized I hadn't strapped my bike helmet. After stopping I tried to get it strapped only to drop my bike. 1:20 should have been closer to 30-40 seconds. Awful transition.

Have a plan and stick with it, period. I would have had the helmet strapped if I wasn't worried about the stupid shirt.

So the shirt that I shouldn't have put on bothered me the entire ride...all I could see was the stupid thing flapping in the wind the whole time and it just pissed me off. Add in that the multisport function on the 310XT doesn't display power (unless it can be customized, which I have to figure out) and I was basically biking blind and not aero at all. My legs were pretty dead for this, it's been a tough training week so I didn't expect a ton but this effort was still a disappointment.

Also, the descent was real tough because the road was very rough, tons of little potholes and cracks all over the place, and also pretty curvy and technical. It was really tough pushing on these descents because the last thing I wanted was to flat out, so it was alot of cruising down the hill rather than pushing down it.

Not wear the shirt in a race this short. Not kick my ass in training, but then again this was a C race so I don't mind a less-than-optimal effort if it gets me closer to my goal for Timberman.

Two things: I need to either buy some tri-specific running shoes or get some Yankz, tying them in transition is just too much damn time. Also, for some reason I just couldn't get the bike racked, the rear wheel just wasn't sitting in the cutout correctly. Solid 10 seconds lost trying to get it to fit correctly, I should have left it slightly off, it wouldn't have gotten in anyones way.

So this is what decent running feels like, huh? This time beat my open 5K PR (from early last year) by more than a minute. I didn't feel like I was pushing it super hard, it was just a constant, hard effort the whole way--and the data bears that out as I was sub-7 min/mi pace for almost the entire run and mostly around 6:45 with a slight uptick to start and finish.

Anyway, I've been working on a slightly forward tilt and an earlier footstrike, it's taken some getting used to but I'm starting to get the hang of it. Core work has definitely helped as well, as has the speed work I've been doing. I think I could have cranked it up just a bit more the last mile but I had no chance of catching the guy in front of me, no one was behind me, I knew I was first in my AG and I still had an hour run post-race...not that I didn't go hard, just not balls-to-the-wall hard.

Nothing, I'd say this was a perfect run leg for me considering all the factors...so happy with this time.

I got tons of water and some fruit, then walked around for a bit, got my stuff packed up, then walked around some more and met up with some friends to watch the rest of the OLY race.


A few tactical mistakes plus the engine. I need to get a tri top that fits, and want to get an aero helmet as well, which will help. In the end, though, it's all about the engine, I'm definitely getting faster but the bike should be 23-24mph on a course like this and while my run has improved it could still be alot better.


Two things keeping this from being a 5: The bike course is rough; it's smooth as silk for all of the flat sections but coming down that hill on rough roads was no fun, I was constantly worried about flatting and there was just no way to push it on the descent unless you wanted to crash out. Also, it's a minor quibble but there should ahve been a warning or countdown or something before the gun goes off, we barely had time to swim to the bouys and I don't think people were ready for it to go that quick (I'd say just under a minute from entering the water--and it was a 50m swim out to the start bouys).

That aside, great race. Very organized, tons of volunteers, beautiful course and the beachfront area is perfect for transition. Great event, tons of fun, and while this clearly isn't a priority race for faster triathletes it's a fun time and something I'd love to do again.