Ballantyne Triathlon - TriathlonSprint

I got held up behind a swimmer in front of me and wasted all my energy trying to pass. Wound up sucking in water after started the next lap. Lost all rhythm and never did recover. Would have been disaster in an open water swim or a longer pool swim. The lifeguard looked like he was concerned about my wellbeing since he was standing over me each time I reached the far wall. I couldn't even muster up a slow jog after the swim. That's how out of breath I was.

Swim a LOT more. It was my weakest event even though I thought the run would be. Keep my goggles in a pocket instead of being shut out of transition and not being able to get to the ones that I know work.

Terrible, horrible, no-good, very bad transition. It was the first one I had ever done but I could tell where I went wrong and I need to practice transitions a lot more.

Practice, practice, practice! Improving my swimming would help me be not so winded in T1 and maybe speed things along a bit.

A little more time in the saddle beforehand. Next time I think I might go with a Speedfill or similar hydration system since I had some issues getting comfortable while drinking and not turning my body into a drag chute in the process. Pay more attention to cadence. Actually ride the route instead of driving it or looking it up on the Internet. It is a night and day difference in perspective when driving versus pedaling.

More time in the saddle. Don't go so hard so early. Ride the course on the bike beforehand.

Had trouble getting my leg over the top tube to dismount. Kicked a water bottle out and some nice volunteer picked it up for me. Couldn't decide if I want to wear glasses or not. Decided against. Glad I didn't wear them since it was totally unnecessary. Was able to get into my running shoes without collapsing or knocking anything over (I was surprised).

Be a little more flexible than I am.

I think I forgot how to run coming out of T2. My legs were not doing what I thought I was telling them to do. Had to do a good bit of walking but got into a nice series of intervals and that made it an enjoyable run for the most part. Got back to the last little bit and put it all out there. I wasn't crossing the line with anything left in the tank. I made a little goal of passing at least one person and wound up passing 7 people. Turned down the sidewalk and gave it the last little bit of oomph and crossed the line. I didn't know if I want to smile, cry, or puke. I decided to smile. I feel I chose wisely. That could have been a really bad finishing picture.

Run more in training. Increase distance to the actual race distance.

A couple bottles of water and a few pictures with the wife and kid. A bit of stretching but not much.


Smoking. Drinking the night before. Poor diet the past couple weeks. Not training nearly enough.


I will absolutely do this race next year. I'd also like to give a big thumbs up to those who stuck around to watch the last couple of runners finish. It was odd to have random people cheering for me since any competitions I've been involved in rarely had anything like that. But, if it is the norm, I can see why so many people love triathlons. The only thing I would think to change would be actual signs marking the Mount and Dismount lines. They were spray painted onto the ground and could have been made a little more visible.