Redondo Beach Triathlon - TriathlonSprint

No panic attack this time. I'm automatically gonna PR my swim time due to what happened last year. I've gotten used to ocean swimming a lot, but I still need to work on it. My sighting isn't the greatest and I don't swim as well as I do in the pool. I think because of the current I don't rotate my body enough to get that extra propulsion. I got right in with the washing machine and didn't let up. One of the waves knocked my goggles a little so I needed to adjust it.

While swimming my cap kept slipping up, like it was gonna come up. I had to keep adjusting it. When I got going I noticed not a lot of people were in my area, which was closer to shore. I was more focused on my own swimming so didn't see where everyone was, but they were a lot farther out.

My swim was better than my usual open water swims. My sighting wasn't as bad as normal and I stayed mostly straight. It's just I wasn't going as fast I'm capable of.

Practice more open water swimming, work on my turnover and rotation as well as kick. Gonna aim for a sub 20 minute swim next year.

T1 takes a long time to get to from the beach so you have to make sure you pace yourself going up the ramp. I got my suit off and Garmin, helmet, shoes on. Then I ran out. Didn't bother with sunglasses. I didn't go for the flying mount since I haven't done it in awhile. On distances longer than Olympic I don't bother to do it.

I'd set up and do the flying mount since it's faster. My transition was still faster than last year.

I'm a lot faster on the bike this year due to lots of training, getting a tri bike and riding in aero. I wore my aero helmet and TNT tri shorts since I was repping TNT. My aero helmet has the names of people that are currently fighting cancer and those that passed away from it, so I want to try and use it as much as possible during races.

I think only 1 or 2 guys actually passed me, but then again the really fast guys were probably finishing up. My left nostril was running a lot cuz of the swim. Had to keep using my hand to wipe it and wasn't able to farmer's blow. I bet it looks kinda gross in the photos.

Nothing really. Keep training. A better bike fit with newer aero bars will help. Also I need to make sure my aero is correct since my helmet might have caused some drag. I'll set a soft goal for next year and try to average at least 22 mph. Since the course is so fast and I'm used to longer distances I didn't drink at all.

This was the only thing slower than last year. Didn't flying dismount.

I had normal laces on my shoes instead of Yankz! so I'm sure I would have been a lot faster if I put Yankz! or some sort of speed laces on. I'm gonna do a flying dismount next year.

My run has gotten a lot better since last year. My goal was to do it in under an 8 min/mile pace. I was keeping a little under a 7:30 pace until about 3/4 of the way through the course when I also started to slow down. I got a side stitch as well which slowed me down a lot more. It hurt but I still kept pushing.

Since the course was short I ended up barely hitting my goal, but really by the end of the run I was a few seconds slower than the goal time.

I'm not sure how to avoid that side stitch. I guess find a better opportunity to take in fluid than that one. Soft goal for next year is to run it in 15 minutes or less.

Hugged a couple friends at the finish line, then got some post race eats and drinks.


I've been training for longer distances so that probably inhibited me a little, but the base I developed from that training has made me much faster than before. My coach wanted me to get under an hour, and I barely missed it. It's doable though. I'm aiming for sub 1 hour next year. Most of the time saved can be made on the swim. Little things like flying mounts/dismounts, speed laces can probably save me a minute or two.


This is the first triathlon I've ever done, so it's amazing to see how far I've come in a year. I didn't stick around as long since I had stuff to do that day and fewer friends came out than last year.