Town of Islip Great South Bay Sprint Tri - TriathlonSprint

The swim was awful! When testing the water and waiting for my wave I was pleased that the temperature was so comfortable, but when we started I found I couldn't move in an efficient stroke or catch my breath properly. I freestyled a very little bit and spent most of the swim either dog-paddling, sidestroking, or kicking on my back. There was a strong current, but I think I accounted for that well in navigation, and clearly it helped over the majority of the course if I was able to dog paddle at 2:20 per 100.

I obviously need a ton more OWS practice and experience with the wetsuit / murky, gross open water conditions. Had I been properly prepared the swim could have been quite a bit faster.

I don't have clipless pedals so my transition included tying my run shoes and the rest of the standard moves. It being my second time taking off a wetsuit, I was happy with how it went.

I was happy with it.

After being demoralized by the swim, it took me a couple of minutes to feel good on the bike. However, I started passing people and never stopped, so I felt great. I just bought a new entry-level road bike and I was excited to get it going. I think 1 person passed me the whole time (since I was almost DFL after the swim, I guess it would be hard for anyone to do that, ha ha!). I felt great on the bike, ate a pkg of margarita clif blocks, drank, and targeted people to pick off one by one.

I was really happy with my bike but in hindsight I would have pushed the pace earlier. I was surprised to see my actual pace - I thought I would have gone faster - but I was happy about it nevertheless. I'm still a beginner here as in swimming, so I'm happy to be improving with experience.

As noted, I was biking in my running shoes so i didn't have a lot to do here except exchange helmet for visor and strap on my race belt. I did take a second to direct a confused age grouper toward her rack.

It was fine all around.

It was a nice run. I had a wardrobe malfunction near the start (zippered bra inside my trisuit came unzipped, so I had to stop and discreetly fix that) and walked to drink my water (which was in a plastic cup, and therefore hard to crush & drink, like paper cups at road races). Talked a little to a lady at the beginning before the wardrobe malfunction, and her butt ahead of me became my target for the rest of the run. Kept me going - thanks, Country Music Marathon lady!

Not have a wardrobe malfunction. Although I'm slow, I'm still from a running background, so this is my most comfortable discipline / happy place.

None, really. Ate a lot of fruit and a couple of ice pops, watched the awards ceremony / raffle.


Experience / access to OWS venues and equipment (wetsuit). Now that I have the wetsuit (I"m keeping the rental) I need to incorporate regular OWS practice, because it's a whole different animal than pool swimming, with which I'm fairly (if newly) comfortable. Bike power would be my second limiter. I love my new bike and have been taking it out a lot more than my old mtb bike, but I could probably use a computer to start doing workouts instead of just riding. Improvement here will come with more time / miles / experience.


I had a great time! Props to Event Power Long Island, and especially all of the volunteers & town of Islip. There were a ton of spectators just hanging out in their driveways and front lawns, which was really nice, and there were volunteers and police helping and cheering at each and every turn and intersection. I'm used to huge impersonal NYRR road racing events,and this was so different and refreshing and friendly compared to that! Well done!