Azalea Triathlon (Sat) - TriathlonSprint

Most (except for 1 idiot)were able to figure out that if they touched your toes, they could pass and the lanes were wide enough to accomodate 3 swimmers if need be. You did have to be aware of who was around you, but I did not find it terribly crowded and it was a hell of a lot of fun!. If a swimmer was right on me at the wall I let these push off first ... at most 5 seconds delay for me.

Nothing - other than the training. But with this being my first event, I'm happy. One thing I would keep the same was I knew I had to run 400 yds to get back to the bike, so I swam at a moderate pace and tried to keep some gas in the tank to get back to the transition area without falling or puking.

Absolutely keep this simple. If at all possible get your feet conditioned to go without socks. Too, I chose to use my MOUNTAIN bike shoes because you can easily run in these. They were just as easy to slide in-out of as a road bike shoe, but I found the sole better for the event. This was especially so when I went to jump on the bike as the hard sole on the road bike shoe would slip off the pedal, whereas the sole of the MTN bike shoe was a bit softer - more rubbery - and would not slip off the pedal.

Wear a Tri-SUIT instead of just the shorts wherein I had to take the time to put on a shirt.

Biking was my strong point and I knew this going in. I'd hoped to go a little faster but, it is what it is. Again, on the transition the simpler you can keep it the better. People ran past me in route to transition only to pull out a stool, sit down and rinse off their feet, slip on their shoes ... I was out of the transition while these were beginning to pull their bike off the rack.

SLACK OFF WITH ABOUT 1/2 MILE TO GO, stand up and stretch your hamstrings, calfs, etc. I spent so much energy on the bike that when I got to the dismount area, I could hardly walk. My legs felt like pieces of pipe. Too, don't let your pride force you to do something stupid ... like speed up to pass the only person that passed you right at the end, only to NOT allow enough time to do the above.

I used my mountain bike shoes, so did not have the need to pull my feet out of the shoes. I did reach down and loosen these where I could easily slip out of these at the rack,

It goes back to the biking wherein I should have allowed 1/4 mile or so to stretch before the dismount as I really suffered with the run into the bike rack and run out of the transition area.

The course was in and around UNCW campus on sidewalks and campus roads. Beautiful day with temps in the low 60's, sunny and clear. There were a lot of volunteers out on the course with water, yelling to keep it up, hang in there and encouragement. Too, after I'd gone a mile the stiffness had worked out of my legs and butt, and I was able to maintain about an 11 to 11-1/2min pace, but at that point I was waaaay off pace.

Not spend so much energy with the bike leg such that the run in-out of transition and ~ 1/2 mile into the run, was at best a walk. Absolutely not fool with one of those belts which hold water bottles. This was really a pain as the water kept flopping around, was heavy and just an overall annoyance. There was plenty of water on the course, but if you must have some, just carry a bottle in your hand; i.e. the simpler the better. Too, I'd not spent enough time with my Garmin and set it up properly. I could see current speed and HR, but I'd not put a clock on the screen which helped me with the run-walk sequence. I'd planned to walk for 1 min and run for 4-5, but with no clock it was a guess.

Grabbing some water, some orange slices and slight stretching and walking around.


Obviously the training, but there was only 2-1/2 months between signup and the race. The biggest limiters were T1 transition, first part of run and the Garmin thing.

Too, spending so much time training on the swim and sooo little time training on the run. This should have been switched as at best swim time improved 1-2 minutes, but the run suffered. The run leg is the greater contributor for the event; i.e. 5-8 minute improvement in lieu of 1-2 minutes.


Great fun for my first event. The weather could not have been more perfect. Best part of the whole event was having my daughter run along with me on the run. We had great fun with this and was a fathers very good fortune to experience the event along with my daughter.