Historic McKinney Kiwanis Triathlon - TriathlonSprint

I thought the swim was going to be a fiasco with people swimming BOTH directions in the same lanes but it wasn't too bad. I had to let 1 person pass me at a wall after 1 lap and then I was pretty much alone the rest of the swim. I need to remember to try and keep my form since all the race excitement got to me and I don't think I focused on my pull and keeping my body balanced. Still my fastest pace I've ever swam at a tri and starting to get close to my goal of being 'average' in the swim.

Focus on form and concentrate better. Continue to consistently swim 3-4x/week and see some improvements.

I got through T1 ok. I made 2 mistakes - first one was to not unclip my racebelt earlier so I had to unclip it before clipping it back on, and the 2nd one was leaving my helmet upside down so it collected water. I also had issues getting it over my ears smoothly. Had about 10-15 seconds of opportunity for improvement. First time I had a rainy T1.

See above

This was a story for the ages. Strong crosswinds, rain, wet roads, and then having to go through the country road section after a storm with all sort of debris, mud, and gravel on the road just took a lot of the aggression from me the first 6 miles. I also made the mistake of leaving my Zipp 808 wheels on, and at the very least, should've gone down to a 404 front. The conditions completely neutralized my strongest event as this was also probably only the 2nd time I've ever ridden in the rain/wet roads ever and first time on my TT bike. All I was thinking about the first few miles was to keep both hands on the horns and take it very gingerly through the corners. It was so dicey on the country roads that I couldn't stay in aero very long as a gust would hit and I'd move at least one hand to the horns.

Have more experience riding in the rain and at the very least, I should've had something less deep on the front than my 808. I can handle the winds/gusts on a dry road, but not those kind of winds in the wet given all the other stuff on the road. I also need to learn how to go harder in the shorter distance. It seems my pacing gets used to longer distances (like 40km or more) that I'm not as good pushing it hard over 13 miles. I'll focus on that in my next few short rides.

Well, this was probably my worst T2 ever. First of all, with the cold conditions, my feet were numb when I got off the bike. That was a new feeling for me. Secondly, I learned that my Saucony Mirage shoes don't work so well as a triathlon shoe in the wet. The insole sits on top of a very smooth rubber surface, which grips well when dry. When wet - it slides and the whole insole is so thin that it just folds up and bunches in the front. It took me 3 tries to get it on without bunching - I even gave up and sat on my rear end fiddling with it.

Use another pair of shoes - something that works better in T2 in wet conditions.

Probably the highlight of this race for me. That's my fastest run pace ever, including 3 tris with shorter runs last year. I started off with some crazy cadence (96) - my legs just wanted to keep running and I probably should've opened up my stride more. My pacing was good though I ended up with side stitches the last 1.5 miles. This was my 2nd tri where I ran better overall than my bike! The cool weather also helped but I think all the run training I've been doing is starting to pay off. I also think I need to learn to push harder on the bike and will work on that over the next couple of weeks.

Probably could've pushed a little bit harder sooner and gone below 7:00 pace for about 1.5 miles instead of just last 0.5 miles. Probably had another 15-30 seconds in me without too much more effort.

Not much. Just had my recovery shake and then they let us take the bike out of transition quickly as another wave of rain/storms was coming in.


Weather and road conditions. I feel that I easily left 5 minutes on the bike if conditions were better. The bike is my strongest event and the conditions somewhat neutralized it. Probably could've finished 1-2 places higher in AG.


Except for the crazy weather, this race would've been great. They were able to manage the time trial starts in the pool very well and I was surprised that I didn't run into too many people. 1 person passed me and no one around me the rest of the swim. With the rain, perhaps it would've been better to plan for a 2-loop bike route that ommitted the rough country roads. Worrying about debris, loose gravel, mud, etc. was just a bit tough. There were a lot of crashes and a lot of DNFs for this race.