mini-Mussel Sprint Triathlon - TriathlonSprint

My swim last year was 16 minutes. I worked on my swim all winter and spring, so I was ready for the swim this year. However, I went out way too fast the first 200m and could barely breathe for the next 200 meters. I had to quickly switch to 2 strokes then breathe and twice had to stop for a second or two to get some air. I regrouped and the second 400 went pretty well - even though my form was awful and I had to continue with 2 storkes then breathe. All in all, my time was over 3 minutes faster than last year and I learned a lot from actually being in the middle of the pack instead of the back of the pack.

Ankle held up well and was not a factor in the swim.


Not much, I guess. I learned a lot from this race and next year will be even better. Although, probably not another 3 minutes. This year I wasnt "out of it" after the swim, but I'd still like to be 1-2 minutes faster to be closer to the competitors that beat me by a few seconds overall, but were over a minute faster than me in the swim.

My transition went well, although after looking at the people who finished around me, I lost almost a minute to everyone. I had to jog slow because of my tender ankle and also took my time getting my wetsuit off my ankle. When I put my bike jersey on, I ripped my number so I had to pin one of the pins back on. I put on my bike shoes in transition instead of on the bike, which I had planned on doing originally.

Wear a tri suit and get a number belt. Putting on my bike jersey wasted lots of time. If my ankle were better, I would have saved 15-30 seconds running through transition, running with bike shoes on and pulling my wetsuit off.

Felt strong and focused on the bike, even though I was pretty winded from the swim for the first part. I pushed it hard the whole time and passed about a dozen people with 2-3 people passing me. From the halfway point there was a good group of about 5 guys, including myself, who kept passing eachother and pushing the pace. It was really nice competition and we all kept up a good pace because of it.

I was 4m 30s faster in the bike this year compared to last year. Last year I was on a road bike that didnt fit that great and this year I had a TT bike which I had rode for a few hundred miles. I felt comfortable in the aero position and everything about the bike was excellent.

The only thing I can do differently is train harder. My longest ride was 30 miles (once) and most rides were 15-16 miles. Overall, I rode about 300 miles in preparation for the race. I am confident I could train harder and be near 23mph average.

Pretty slow transition, although I didnt lose as much time to my competitors as in T1. I took my bike shoes out of my pedals and stopped completely before dismounting my bike. I didnt want to turn my ankle so I took it easy going from the pavement to the grassy transition area. Changed bike shoes to running shoes, which was a bit slow because of my tender ankle.

If I was more focused and more importantly, agile, I could drop my T2 transition time by 15-30 seconds, which would put me right around the time of my competitors. It will just take some practice and a good ankle.

For the first mile of the run, I ran really slowly (7:30 pace), because I wasnt sure how my ankle was going to hold up. After the first mile though, my ankle (and leg muscles) loosened up and I was able to push it through the finish. My run was slower than last year, but mostly because of my ankle and lack of run conditioning the past week.

I was hoping to be in the top 3 in the run this year, becuase I'm in much better shape and running is my strongest event. Due to my ankle being hurt, I didnt have much of a chance to do that, but next year I will train even harder and I can definiately be in the top 3. If I were to transition better and run at my full ability I would be right in mix for a top 3 finish in my age group.

My ankle felt okay, but I visited the medical tent for some ice. The temperature was rising and I was getting overheated, so I cooled off and just relaxed in the grass for awhile.


Sprained ankle.


The race was well organized. Seneca Lake is a beautiful location and I had a lot of fun. Exceeded expectations.