JCC Firecracker Sprint Tri - Triathlon

My four warmup laps before the race felt great with no issues, but boy did I have a terrible swim. I felt like I had never swum a stroke in my life. I was spent halfway through and actually had to pause mid-lane at one point to catch my breath for a few seconds.

In terms of time, I was actually close to my goal, but I felt like I was sucking wind almost the entire time. It may have simply been nerves and too high of a heart rate, but I'll have to work on relaxing more at the start of the swim.

This went pretty smoothly. This was my first race with the tri-suit top and not having to take off and put on clothes saved lots of time.

There wasn't much more I could do to go faster unless I opt to ride with no socks next time. Learn how to start with shoes attached to pedals to reduce running time with the bike.

I felt this stage went well. Pace was steady throughout at about 20mph. Slightly slower on the start of each loop (mainly to take in fluids) and slightly faster on the very slight downhill on the back of each loop. My legs felt good, but again, my breathing was a little labored for the pace.

Better speed on the turns.

This was a very fast transition. Everything came off fast and the running shoes went on with little trouble.

Fast laces on the shoes to shave a few more seconds off. Practice slipping out of the bike shoes to reduce time running with the bike.

No stiffness or soreness transitioning from bike to run today. I practiced three bike to run transitions in training in the week leading up to the race, which I'm sure helped a lot. As always on the run, I felt like I was moving in molasses though, but when I checked my time at the turnaround I was very pleased, so I just plugged away and the same pace on the way back. I tried to pick it up with about a quarter mile to go, but the hairpin turn right before the finish slowed me up. Since it was only two miles I didn't bother with anything to drink, which saved me a few seconds.

Not much. I had negative splits as usual, so I felt that I performed well.

A little stretching and just getting free samples.


Bad swim.


I liked this race. It didn't take a substantial effort to get ready for and it was a good test to get the season started and to judge what I need to work on (swimming!).