Parvin State Park Sprint Triathlon - TriathlonSprint

Disaster strikes on the swim...again!! Believe I psyched myself out a bit when I took a first look at the course and it looked long, or longer, at least, then I remember it from previous years. I tried not to think about it, but it continued to weigh on me. I managed OK for a while, focusing on swimming long and taking easy breaths, not trying to push too hard, staying comfortable. That worked for maybe three-quarters of the way to the first turn, and then my breathing got shorter and shorter until, sometime after the first turn, I was pretty much panting like a dog straining uphill against the leash. When it gets like that, exhaling underwater and catching easy breaths during the stroke are impossible, turning the swim leg into an unintentionally slow medley of backstroking, sculling, dog paddling, with a smattering of quick, jumpy free-styling thrown in. And of course the time goes through the roof.

Not sure what happened so I will ruminate over this one for a while. It's obviously an open water-related issue, or a race-related issue, because this never happens in the pool. And it's not an open water fear issue; I've been through this enough and swum in these lakes enough now that I don't get worked up over the dark water. It wasn't panic. I've begun to wonder if it might start because I'm stuck in the last wave, doing my best to remain calm, but getting worked up because I see the crowd pulling away while the safety folks hover over me like police choppers over a crime scene. One of them even asked if I was alright.

I more or less walked up the beach to my transition area to allow my breathing to slow. Wetsuit came off pretty easily by stepping on it and pulling hard with my heels. But I wasn't really rushing here, not with how I was feeling coming out of the water.

Having a better, or more relaxed, swim would've made a quicker T1 more likely.

Power graph looks pretty good overall, relatively decent pace throughout. I felt fast on the bike and passed quite a few without being picked off myself. Tried to keep the power pace roughly between 185 and 210, and the effort felt pretty right throughout the ride, but the NP came out lower than I'd have thought. Still, I'm happy with the ride overall as I kept up a solid pace and wasn't too worn out to start the run.

Push maybe just a little harder, especially on the downhills.

Felt pretty quick but time is slower than I expected.

Move a little faster, smoother. Thought I did that but obviously not.

Was very worried about this run because of my right shin. In the end, the run was certainly slower than it should've been (I was hoping for a pace of around 9:30) but better than I could've expected with the shin pain. By laying off it most of the week it had started feeling better on Thursday, but it was still uncomfortable. Not painful, but uncomfortable; the soreness came later on. Walked through the water stops but that was it. Paced myself off a couple of folks for the last half and we all came in together as a group; was cool to come running in with a group like that, hopefully it'll make for a good picture. Funniest thing about this is just after the start of the run a volunteer urged me on by number and instructed me to stay to the left. But she was apparently misinformed because all the people coming back were on that side and I was lumbering through them, like a semi truck on the wrong side of the highway. This was on the tightest part of the course too, winding through the woods. I have to apologize to all those I irked, and send out thanks to the stud that calmly said, "Other side, dude."

I'm pleased with this run because I maintained a good pace, felt good and capable the whole way, and managed my discomfort well. But the best thing I could do differently would be to run the race without an injury.

Walked around looking for liquids. Ran out of cups in the refreshment area...I think I got the last one. So I've at least gotten fast enough to get to the finish line before supplies start running out! One great thing about this race location is the locker rooms with the shower. The water is cold enough to shrink up the ballistics but it's great to have at least a sense of being clean when you leave.


Overall physical effort was very solid, but the result was less than hoped for. Swim problems and injury discomfort on the run being the primary culprits. Again, the biggest of these was the swim. Really struggling with what to do there.


Really like this race. Good time of year, good location, fits well as a "prime" race for my training programs while allowing some time off afterwards before kicking up the programs again for the finish of the season.