TrySports Battle at Buckhorn Triathlon - TriathlonSprint

I'm really looking forward to the swim clinic in July, because this is where I give up the most time! I felt pretty good taking off with the crowd. I'm not fast, but I'm confident I won't drown. But it seemed evryone else was angling to the left too much and that made it very hard to get in a rythym. I got kicked in the chest one time by a frog kick.

As the crowd pulled away I probably slowed with no draft. I tried to push my head down more and get more streamlined, but no idea if it was working. It's hard to judge speed changes out in the water.

Rounded the 1st buoy fairly well, but then started swimming to far out in the lake. The 1st woman to catch me went even farther out, but still blew by me.

My zipper strap kept getting wrapped around my shoulder. I even thought I saw the rescue people taking a close look as I struggled to get it out of the way.

The crazy thing is, this swim was average for me. And I didn't feel too wiped out by it.

Swim clinic, training, go with the crowd even if they go a little off, and secure my zipper strap.

I don't know where the time went. I struggle a little to get my suit off and I lose a few seconds trying to think straight. Maybe I just don't run fast enough to and from T1. My son was trying to find me, so I took a few seconds to make sure he saw me waving at him. That's worth it.

Cooking spray was a big help.

Run faster.

I took my bike computer off (no battery anyway and I want to switch to my other one with cadence) so this was all on feel. Tried to just keep the legs near buning.

Took a gel after climbing out of the park area and off the part with the cones for runners later. 2nd gel was 45 minutes later near the end. Drank my entire aero bottle of water and half my G2 bottle.

Tried not to work too hard on the downhills but still take advantage of them. Some day I'm going to learn to hold onto that momentum up the other side. Felt like I was on the edge of cracking on some of the climbs and dropped to the small chain ring and had to grind up the rest of the way. Sometimes it feels like I hit the breaks when I down shift on a hill.

I didn't dominate the big hill the way I did last year. Last year I was pumped up by a climbing success. This year I had to slow down while descending toward it. The climb started horribly. I was trading with a lady who kept passing me on climbs and I passed going down. Just as I was about to sit back down and give up passing her on the big climb, she said something about doing well and I felt like I couldn't give up now. So I stayed standing and pumped it out for a minor victory at the top. But I paid for it with slow acceleration after that.

Came in to T2 feeling fairly well. Good dismount right at the line with the back wheel popping up and me not even close to falling down.

I think I prefer to have speed and distance available on the bike. Other than that, ride more. Oh, and change my tire so I'm not worried about my cracking sidewalls blowing out.

Struggled to get my bike racked. I use the nose of the seat before the race, but brake levers in T2, but the guy next to me didn't leave me enough room so I had to intertwine with his. The rest was fine. Grabbing the hat and race belt connected together and gettingh it on during the run is working.

Nothing

That 1st hill is cruel starting out, but it didn't feel as bad as last year. I got some unexpected encouragement when Jen, I didn't see her until she yelled.

Didn't need to drink much but dumping water on my head worked perfectly. I started getting shin splints pretty quickly and had to fight through them the entire run. My lace locks had loosened up. Once I stopped to tighten them at the dam (1st lap) the shins started to get a bit better. The fire ants are so bad one was on me as soon as I stopped running. I'm allergic to them, so was not willing to stop moving anymore.

I was worried I was going to have a very slow time, but seeing I had a respectable (for me) 9/mile going at mile 2 I felt better, especially since the shins were feeling better. I think that extra boost, and the downhill finish, helped me the last mile.

I could have sprinted near the end and almost did when Scottie cheered me on, but remembered my son wanted to run in with me and I told him he could if I wasn't in a group. So I settled into a strong but not all out finishing speed. Slowed to let my 2 oldest run with me to the finish line.

Do something about my lace locks. I may just have to replace them. These were cheap, but Yankz held much better. I could try tying the elastic laces and using the locks.

Just walking around and stretching my calves with the boys copying me.


Lack of training.


Nice cookout after the race. But what happened to the bounce house they were going to have?