Desert Triathlon - Sprint Distance - TriathlonSprint

Includes ~40sec run up the gravel to T1.

Not a bad swim, but I'd do it differently. I planned to get into the washing machine and draft after 80 or 100 yards, but the washing machine lasted for 2/3 of the swim. I should have known what we were in for during the count down when one of the guys yelled, "have fun, boys!" What a brawl! The black caps in my wave seemed like a mob that ran over each other and anyone in the way. OTOH, my friend who won the ag swim was a lot smarter and swam wide. I love ows, but even I was rattled after 300m of wrestling.

Ha! Swim wide!

Strategy aside, my run and bike were clearly strong today, so it's time to hit the pool and take a couple of minutes off my swim.

This was on the slow side for people who finished with me, so I need to work and shave a few seconds. A faster run out of the water would help.

Oh boy!

"Nice pull!" The riders around me were like an ITU peleton. Right after transition, 7 or 8 of us from the black wave ended up pacing each other, and two or three of the guys just blatantly drafted most of the way. On the connector back in, the marshal rode by and yelled, "break it up, guys," but all the talk of instant DQs for drafting was all bluster. After the race, I asked a marshal who said there were no red cards.

Conditions were ideal. Just warm enough to not unzip, and no wind. That 22+ was by far my fastest time trial. The other guys in the pack passed me by the time we turned to the South (once the axles meet, you drop back, right?), but it was just a testosterone-fest for 1st, so I passed the group and thought I'd dropped everyone through the next two turns, but a bit after we turned North, the front guy made the "nice pull," comment as he drew even. So I let everyone pass again, and hung back a few lengths all the way to the park entrance. I had more legs than the other guys, but I wasn't going to ruin my run by getting into a passing competition. Once the road pitched up into the park, I pulled away and made it into T2 ahead of the peleton. Really, there were only about two guys who were blatantly cheating. Two guys were side by side in front, and a couple of other guys hung off to the side or in back. But still.

Loved the bike leg otherwise. Loved it. I was new to tri last year, and did this on a mtb, so this was a quantum jump for me. Felt comfortable, strong and fast.

Good ride, no problems.

Here we go! The legs were working off the bike, and I made it through T2 efficiently. I lost about 3 seconds when I considered taking a short cut to the next aisle.

This one was fine.

This was a huge improvement over previous runs. PB by far. It felt just like my practice runs last week, I had a good kick, and quick cadence. Perhaps the best part of T2 and the run was that I left the drafters behind.

Loved this. Beat my goal by quite a bit.

The usual: a pass by the snack and drink booths.


Not enough to mention. I was hoping for 1:15, and beat it by two minutes, only 6 minutes back from nationally ranked ag'ers. Last year, this would have been a podium time for the ag, but I'm thrilled to have been in such a fast, competitive field.

The surprise for me was when I looked at the partial results and saw that my friend Gil had raced and placed 2nd. I was only expecting him to race on the International distance. By my count that knocked me off the podium, but there was also another fast guy I wasn't aware of, a nationally ranked guy, so it didn't matter.

No limits here except for planned improvement.


This is a really great race, and an iconic SoCal event.

Official results:
http://raceresults.eternaltiming.com/index.cfm/20110305_Desert_Tria...

http://tinyurl.com/4bgfztv