Stone Harbor Triathlon - TriathlonSprint

Swim was fine. Amazingly no kicks in head. I stayed near the rear of the pack on the start but ended up on people's feet the whole time. Feel like I coulda gone faster if I swam over the guys in front of me but probably got a benefit from drafting. All in all, probably time neutral and less energy expended so a that's a good thing. Ended up passing guys in my wave and only got passed by some speedsters in the next wave. Not bad for first open water swim race, but next time faster!

Move more to the outside on the start, have more confidence and push harder. bilateral breathing would help too.

First time in a real race so lots of room for improvement, but all in all not bad. I remembered to roll my socks first and did not do anything dumb like leave my goggles on.

practice hopping on bike? dunno, lost time getting shirt on so maybe a race belt next year, lots of guys went shirtless for the ride and the run

bike felt really good, very strong headwind from the south so it was tough keeping mph up on the south legs. on the north i was able to average 21 mph and south around 17. 18.2 mph is not bad average for first time out but can go faster. It was fun having the whole family there cheering me and my brother-in-law on!

Saw a crash happen. A car was trying to turn right on 94th st and almost took out a bunch of elite riders finishing up their first lap. lots of yelling ensured as they passed. then the car turned thinking they were clear. I heard a sickening crunch as a rider went over their hood. When i passed that point on the return leg they had him on a stretcher, head immobilized. I hope he was ok. They really need to close this course next year or at least strongly 'persuade' people to stay off of it.

Turns are tough. Had to slow down too much for the turn at the end of my 2nd lap to avoid a pileup. As I was coming into the turn many of the elite guys were finishing their third lap and were heading into the transition area. big bunch up and risk of crash. lost time there but at least no crashes. two guys i was leapfrogging passed me there so i had to kick it in on the third lap to pass them again.

first time doing this in a race as well. could have been a little smoother but at least i did not stop fully and look like a newbie

speed laces? I spent too much time getting double knots on running shoes.

I've never been a fast runner so this is not too surprising. I was trying to pace this out and focus on my breathing to control blood pressure and heart rate. The main goal was to not blow up on my first race so i succeeded there. That said, it still sucked getting passed by so many people on the run! It was fun having the whole family there cheering me and my brother-in-law on

more running. I've finally gotten to the point in my training where 4-5 miles does not suck but now i need to pick up the pace. also run some more 5k's

water, walk around looking for my brother-in-law, stretching


Not bad for first time out. I intentionally did not push too hard on the run especially because of some recent issues with blood pressure. I did not want to be 'that guy' who blows up and passes out on the course, or worse.


a great race for a first triathlon, I highly recommend this race and hope i can get in next year. switching to the lottery system was a very good idea this year.