Vulcan Tinman Triathlon - TriathlonSprint

I made the decision before hand that I was going to swim the first 50 metres easy. I didn't want to start off in a sprint due to adrenaline. I caught up to the first person in my lane at the end of the first 50 metres. She stopped at the wall and let me pass. I caught up to the next person right after the next wall. I tapped her foot to let her know I was going to pass and started overtaking her. She sped up. I passed her, but then she passed me back. Then she stopped at the wall, so I passed her again.

She passed me again. She was obviously sprinting to pass me, while I was just going slightly faster when I passed her. I decided I didn't want to keep wasting energy playing this game, so I just drafted her. I touched her toes pretty regularly while drafting and every time I did, she would speed up a bit. I'm not sure why it was so important to her to stay in front, but if she wanted to use that much energy, she could go ahead.

She got out when I had about 150 metres left, and I felt great for that time. Really got into a rhythm and was nice and smooth in the water.

(swim time includes time to get to my lane, as well as about 100 metre run to transition.)

I think I would have gone fast to get past her as she did slow me down overall. I really held back on both the swim and the bike because this was my first tri. I didn't want to burn out. Having said that, we've worked on variable pacing in my tri swim program. I did most of the swim at an easy/moderate pace. I could have gone at a moderate pace throughout, and still done a short sprint in the middle.

Both transition times were included in the bike time.

I should have practiced my transitions a couple times, and I didn't, so I was slower then I could have been. I ran past my bike, and had to turn around and slow down to find it. I forgot to open up my bike shoes beforehand. Not a big deal, but something to remember next time.

Run along the row I'm in a couple times prior to the race and practice locating my spot.

I came out of transition and was very careful to clip into my bike without falling over. Didn't need to do that in my first tri.

I'd been warned that you can feel a bit disoriented getting on the bike, but I was doing fine, and found my rhythm almost right away. It was a short ride out of town and then we rode on the highway for the rest.

Going out, I thought I was heading into a bit of a headwind. I figured it wasn't too bad though and it would be easier on the way back. When I turned around, I realized that I obviously wasn't going into a headwind before. On the way back it was definitely a combination of headwind and crosswinds.

I just kept pedalling along. I felt good, and was going faster then I do in training, but I really didn't push that hard because the course was way flatter then what I normally do. I didn't want to burn out before the run and *ahem* I haven't actually done any bricks yet, so I wasn't sure how hard I could go.

I've often thought my bike is my weaker point, but I think I've underestimated how challenging my regular training routes are. I don't get great speeds in my normal training, but I do serious hills and frequently have a lot of wind. Having done that in my normal training made this seem easier, and a lot of people afterwards said they found it challenging.

Get better at drinking while riding. I made sure to drink, but I had to stop pedalling whenever I did.

Go faster/harder. I had plenty left in the tank.

Both transition times were included in my bike time, so the easiest way to improve my bike time would have been to execute my transitions better...

I entered transition, and once again went right past my spot. Then, after changing my shoes, I got confused about which way to leave transition and headed back towards the bike exit when the run exited on the other side.

I also just had regular laces on my running shoes, which seemed to take forever to tie. I had picked up some yankz this week, but didn't get around to changing them until Friday, at which point I decided it was a bad idea to change my lacing system.

Maybe get a bright coloured towel for my spot? Seriously, I think I just need to familiarize myself better with transition area beforehand.

Use quick laces on shoes.

I did great on the run! My pb on a stand alone 5k was 29:58, and that was on a course that was short a couple hundred metres. I was thinking I could run it in 32 minutes or so, given it was at the end of a triathlon. Needless to say, I was THRILLED with doing it in less then 28.

I felt great on the run. My legs didn't even feel too jelly-like at the beginning. I was able to keep my pace up, and even though it hurt sometimes, I kept going. I had less left in the tank for a final sprint then I've done before, but if I can cut 2+ minutes off my time by going faster for all of it, I'm okay with not going quite as fast in the final 100 metres.

Nothing. I felt great on the run.

Got some food. Hung out at the finish line to watch a couple other friends come in.


I held back. I held back because I was afraid of burning out, and I could have pushed harder.


The only reason I give this a 4 is that they ran out of some of the food at the finish line. It's too bad the racers in the later heats didn't get some of the stuff that the earlier ones did.