Giant Acorn Sprint - TriathlonSprint

Started on the horn and settled into my usual slow, methodical pace. The water was choppy at first. Sighting was a bit more difficult, but the crowd was easier to follow. I also got a smell/taste of gas in the water which was exceedingly unpleasant.

After the first turn, the difficulty level went up considerably. The chop became much more challenging. It was like the ocean but the periodicity of the chop was much shorter. I felt like I was slamming down between waves. Breathing became much more challenging, because it required a significant turn to breathe. Plus, I had a guy swimming next to me who appeared to be sighting off me to his left while I was sighting him to my right. Result: we were bumping into each other or charting into each other’s path.

Final turn led to a funnel and a gaggle of people in a bottleneck. I got squeezed so much at one point I pulled up and let people go to find clean water. There was a single staircase to get out of the water.

I need to become a better swimmer.

I transitioned fairly quickly. Half out of my suit before I found my transition space though I struggled to find the damn zipper pull more than I should have. Stepped out of my suit with ease. Helmet, sunglasses, gloves, and shoes on. It was a LONG walk to the mount line up a hill. My T1 time was slow, but my head probably cleared from the swim during the transition.

I ranked 24th of 28 even though I felt pretty good about my T1.

Mounted up and clicked in the left shoe easily. Right took one or two tries, and then away I went. A very good bike ride. The course was fair. Not too tough. Hills were reasonable. I think I was nearly 18MPH for most of the ride with a 30.5MPH max. A few times I turned into curves and worried that I might be going too fast, but I felt in control throughout. Passing people is fun.

It was easily my best ride of the year. No complaints whatsoever. Do more of it.

Orderly transition, but the walk down hill from the mount line in bike shoes was tough.

Ranked 19th of 28. For my first transition with bike shoes, I was pleased.

The run was typical. No cramping whatsoever. Established a bit of a groove. Passed plenty of people. The trail run section was challenging watching for the roots that late in the race. 28:37 was solid. I’d like to find the next gear in my run next time. I can do better.

I need to find the next gear and really push it the last mile.

Watched for friends. Chilled. Lovely atmosphere.


Poor training, as expected, in September.


The condition of the Marina is not SetUp events fault. The exit from the water with a small staircase was none too fun. Those are nitpicky complaints about what was otherwise another great SetUp Events race.