Cajunman Triathlon - TriathlonSprint

Lined up near the front, close to the inside buoy and treaded water for a few minutes. As soon as we got the GO, I went out strong. Amazingly, not too much thrashing or elbows/feet to dodge. Once I got past the initial fray and into some open water, I settled into a more comfortable rhythm and pace. Tried a few times to draft but either couldn't stay on the person's feet or didn't want to (if they weren't swimming altogether straight). After rounding the second buoy I was pretty much by myself. By this point I could also feel my body temperature heating up quite a bit, thanks to the very warm water. I knew I'd be plenty hot enough on the bike and run, so I eased back a bit on the pace so as not to get TOO hot so early on in the race. After rounding the last buoy I kicked it in a bit harder.

I could've pushed harder, but all considered I'm glad I didn't.

After getting hauled out of the water and onto the step by one of the volunteers, I hoofed it up the stairs and started the long (at least .25 mile, I'm guessing) trek to the transition area (this is why everyone's T1 times look exceptionally slow). A lot of people were walking but I ran. Once in transition I took a few extra seconds to wipe as much of the grass off my feet as possible before putting on my socks, bike shoes, sunglasses, and helmet. Ran out of transition to just past the mount line, where I fumbled around a bit trying to get my first foot clipped in and moving.

Move a bit faster and not look like a moron trying to get my shoe clipped in - just hop on and start pedaling and get the darn shoe clipped in while on the move. Apparently I'm out of practice in that regard.

Well, here we go. The bike portion is always my weakness, and this was no exception. The first few miles clicked by fairly easily, but even before the halfway point my legs were tired and I had had enough of my saddle (it was perfectly fine on my old bike, but for some reason it's just not hacking it on the new bike - I have another one I'm going to try). The road surface for the majority of the bike also left something to be desired - very rough pavement (at least, compared to what I was used to in CO) with a lot of (marked, thankfully) ruts and potholes to avoid. And it seemed to be windy no matter which direction I was headed. Tried to keep a high cadence to save my legs for the run, but my cadence sensor hasn't been working since we moved here so I had no idea what my cadence actually was - tried to go by feel. The last 1.5 miles or so was into a stiff headwind. Just not a good bike leg for me, though I tried to enjoy the scenery along the way.

Spend more time on the darn bike. I may never be a truly strong cyclist, but more TITS would certainly help.

Pretty happy with this - was the 2nd fastest T2 in my age group.

I suppose you can always move a bit faster.

WOW was it hot. I knew ahead of time that it would be hot and had mentally prepared myself. The first thing that struck me as I ran out of transition was how many guys (who looked like they SHOULD be fast) heading back toward the finish were moving very slowly, looking like they were about to keel over. As I kept moving forward, I began to see a lot of people walking. By .5 mile in my legs had loosened up and felt good, but I could feel my body temperature rising rapidly. I told myself to just keep running, no matter how slowly, since it would be over faster that way. And, long story short, I did. I allowed myself to walk briefly at each water station just long enough to down some water (Gatorade at the turnaround) and dump some water on myself. But other than that, I ran. My first mile split was 8:50 and my second was 9:20 (which included a brief aid station walk), then the last 1.1 was 11:05 (2 brief aid station walks). The most annoying part about the heat was that my legs felt great and could've gone much faster, but I would've hurled or passed out if I had pushed any harder than I did. Still, I was one of just a handful of people actually running, so that felt good. Not bad for a recent CO transplant. Apparently all the running I've been doing lately, especially out in the heat and humidity, has been good for something.

Nothing.

Walked around to get the HR and body temperature down. Drank water, Powerade, ate watermelon.


The heat. And the lack of bike and swim training recently. In the quest for quality, injury-free marathon training, some things had to give, and biking and swimming have been it. Cest la vie.


Excellent race - a great introduction to the LA tri scene. And I've NEVER gotten as much awesome swag in the goody bag as from this race - particularly impressive considering the very affordable (relatively speaking) entry fee!