Northwoods Triathlon - TriathlonSprint

Well, in hindsight, perhaps I should have worn the wetsuit, but who knows. I'm disappointed with this pace, although it was still good for 2nd in my age group. I figured on a short 1/4 mile swim, the benefit of wearing the suit wouldn't outweigh the cost of getting it off in T1 since I tend to struggle peeling it off. Last year when I did wear it, my pace was :12/100 yds faster, so maybe I was wrong about that. It was choppier this year than last, so that was a factor too.

The course is fine overall, but the turnaround seemed extremely congested for some reason. One guy in particular was hanging on the big turnaround buoy to rest and was just totally in the way. I know that is allowed, but there was a kayak not 10 feet away that would have kept him out of the middle of the already packed turnaround area. Oh well.

I used some of the sighting techniques I learned int he OWS clinic I went to a couple weeks ago and they helped.

Wear the wetsuit?

Heh. This time was only 1 second faster than my T1 from last year when I *did* wear my wetsuit. So much for my time-saving theory! :) I also had a severe case of the drops--it seemed everything I put my hands on slipped out or rolled away from me or whatever. Felt very frazzled as I finally unracked the bike and headed out.

Just calm down a bit I guess.

Finally, a ride this year that was faster compared to last year! And another 17mph average, which is very good for me. Considering it was much windier this year too, I'm pretty pleased with this ride. The first half was hillier than the second, but the wind helped a bit at the start. The second half was flatter, but parts were straight into the wind, which made for a challenege. I probably passed about 8-10 people, which is about twice as many as normal for me.

Drink less. I had a side cramp at the end from drinking too much, again. I just cannot get a handle on how much I should drink on the bike. I didn't even attempt a Gu this time given how my stomach was feeling. (Also didn't want to repeat the Gu packet disaster from last year. ha ha)

Pretty average T2. I know I keep saying I'm going to use speed laces, but of course I haven't yet. The sad thing is that I have them; they're just not on my shoes. Very helpful, I know. :P

Speed laces (same song, different race!)

Well, this is disappointing compared to last year, but I expected it might be right from the start. My legs were just burning off the bike and I thought I might pay for it on the run. My calves started to cramp right away, so I had to slow a bit. That passed and I tried to speed up, but seriously, this is me we're talking about. :) Running is not my strong suit anyway, and the 7 extra pounds I am hauling along compared to last year didn't help either. I felt pretty good throughout though and tried to turn it on a little at the end. Only felt the IT band twinge a bit in the last third mile or so. Not my best run, but not my worst either.

Spin more at the end of the bike rather than standing on the last hill. :)

Found my husband, chatted with Ian, Jeff, and Dave a bit more. Walked around some. Failed to stretch as usual. Had some ice cream. :)


Extra weight compared to last year. Deciding not to wear the wetsuit on the swim.


A great event again this year! We were reminded why we declared this our favorite course last year. A nice small town atmosphere and a ton of community support.

I placed 9th in my age group again this year, which makes me happy. This is the only race this year where I was faster than the same course last year, so I'm glad about that too.