Hansen Dam Triathlon - TriathlonSprint

I was calm, relaxed...no nerves at all. I went in paying close attention to the direction I needed to be heading. I've been training swimming pretty heavy lately--my last swim workout before the race started with a 500 yard warm-up, timed at 14 mins., so I was confident I had plenty of steam. I focused on my technique and did much less sighting that last year. I never went off course, pretty much hit each buoy dead-on. My only frustration was that I was behind almost everyone in my age group and the last waves were starting to pass me up. I kept thinking...why am I so friggin' slow? I did my absolute best incorporating everything I've learned since I started swimming freestyle last year. I felt fine coming out of the water. I'm rating my swim as "Good" because at this time I could not do any better, ever though I suck overall.

I just joined a master's swimming club, which has a very generous leader. She has started writing workouts for me...I hope this will help. I also plan to seek her critique of my form. Obviously, something isn't right.

I was very wobbly and had some trouble balancing to get my shoes on. I didn't wear a wetsuit and I don't wear socks. It was mostly about reorienting myself and getting my helmet on.

At this point I'm not worried about my transitions...really, taking off a minute wasn't going to make me feel better about my shabby performance elsewhere.

Nothing at this point.

It took the first 15 minutes for my legs to feel like mine...I just felt sluggish from the start. There were times on the inclines when my speed was 5 mph...although I felt slower, my average for this ride pretty much matches what I've done in training. I was able to pick up speed and pass some people in the descents, max speed 23, but the ascents killed me. I did go on a leisurely 18 mile bike ride with my son on Saturday, but it just didn't feel strenuous enough to have effected my race. So..it's there but I'm not blaming it. Also, I had some gear issues as when I shifted into granny gear pedaling became harder, not easier. I almost thought I was going to half to walk the climb up to the top of the dam...I just might have been faster. Still...I can

I guess I really need to find some hills to practice on. I also spent the least time bike training vs. swimming and running. I know I should have spent more time on the bike leading up to this race. So...train harder and get my brother to tune up my bike.

Again, not worried anymore about transitions or at least not until fixing my transitions really makes a difference. I didn't wear socks, but I had Body Glide in my shoe and I applied it quickly before slipping on my shoes. My feet were still wet coming off the bike and picked up gravel, which ended up in my shoe. I opted to leave the gravel. It took time to put on a race belt and hat and take a swig from my bottle.

Ditch the Body Glide.

I don't know what to say...it didn't feel this bad, although it didn't feel stellar. I actually attempted to incorporate some technique changes suggested by a POSE instructor who was operating a booth on Saturday. Should I call him and tell him his suggestions added 5 minutes to last year's time? Yeah, probably shouldn't blame him. I walked the major inclines because I wanted to save something for the end. I train in the wind a lot but don't have many hills to practice on. I thought I'd do better since I've been working on my running endurance...I ran for 1:15 my last training run. I thought the added endurance would help me with speed on a shorter run. I'm beginning to think that theory is a fallacy. I seem to only be getting slower.

On race day...nothing really. I just need to find some hills and keep working on building my endurance, and maybe learn how to do speed drills.

A couple of orange slices, finished my bike bottle and headed home, then out to breakfast with my son.


Genes and training. I forgive every team captain throughout school who picked me last for every sport we played in P.E. I guess they weren't just being mean.


I actually love this race. There is a coned off lane for the bikes and traffic control every step of the way. The fixed their 'long line' issue this year by providing bike stickers with the race packets we picked up the day before. So, there was no need for the long line that delayed the race start last year. This race started exactly on time.