Shadow Creek Ranch Sprint Triathlon - TriathlonSprint

The clydes were the last wave so we had been waiting a while to start.

I felt like I was passing quite a few people in the water. At first I was landing strokes on top of a few people but it eventually spread out.

I drafted for a few strokes on a few different swimmers, but most of them were slower than I so it didn't last long. One must have moved to the side fast because all of a sudden he wasn't in front of me anymore.

Toward the end I caught one of the men in the 45+ wave that went before us.

I thought I did really good at focusing on swimming, rather than the race here. I didn't have to stop to sight at all, and because of the straight course I didn't sight very much at all till near the end.
My wife was watching from the shore and since the other spectators had moved on to the bike I could see her everytime I breathed to the left standing there with her hands on her hips. Later she told me she was telling me to kick because my legs were sinking too much and adding drag.

Kick more. In swim practice it is obvious my kick gives me no forward momentum, so this needs to change.

5th in Ag.

This is my first race with:
1) Clipless Pedals
2) Garmin quick release
3) Halo head band

I took my Garmin out of my swim cap coming out of the water and clipped it on the bike first. I thought about putting it on the wrist, but this was fine. I did forget to press the lap button till I was putting my helmet on though.

I grabbed my halo and put that on it took a second to get it lined up. Then the helmet chin strap wouldn't snap, and when it did it caught my beard, so I had to pull my whiskers out of the strap as I was moving with the bike.

I spent an hour Saturday practicing getting on/off the bike with the shoes clipped in. It helped. I got on the bike with the shoes clipped in and pedaled on top of them pretty seemlessly. No issues getting them in the shoes either.

Again, I didn't hit lap till after my shoes were in the pedals.

Trim my beard. Do a better job of garmin lap hitting... this is not a huge issue.

This is the first race I've done where I passed more than passed me. Maybe that is because I was in the last wave.

Only a few tri-bikes flew past me, one or 2 road bikes and I did trade back and forth. One guy in my AG passed me near the end, but I got him on the dismount. I think he passed me on the way into the run though.

I tried hard to keep my cadence in the 80-90 range, but I did do some mashing as I passed people.

Probably should have backed off a little as I ended up walking part of the run. Drink more.

4th in Ag

I swapped my Garmin to my wrist on the bike before getting my feet out. The dismount was pretty much perfect considering it was my first race with clipless.

Swapped to a fresh Halo for the run, again fiddled with it for too long.

Got my race belt on and headed out.

Again, my timing on hitting the lap for my garmin was way off on the way in, and out, of T2.

1) Put race belt on while running.
2) Put my second Halo in the race belt with my nutrition. Then I can put it on in the run.

I started out too fast. I was already pretty tired. I had forgotten my sunscreen. There was no shade.

This does not make for a good run.

I got through a little over 2 miles then walked / ran the rest. At one point I left the sidewalk and ran on an incline for 10 feet so I could be in some shade.

Durring the first mile I ate a few shot-blocks, didn't seem to notice it much.

Wear sunscreen.
Drink more on the bike.
Carry my own water for the run in this heat?

Using ice rag and water cooled down. Tried a orange slice, but they were a bit warm. No Pizza at this race, but they had kolachies, but by the time I was done they were almost gone... I got one with fruit filling.


The heat and not enough bike miles.


From what I can tell this is the first race from this RD and the first race in this venue.

It went pretty smooth for a first year. I think there is a pretty good chance I will do it again next year.

On the positive side:

1.The bike course was really fast compared to both Tejas and Kona East side.
2.The straight swim was a nice change from circling around.
3.Plenty of volunteers / police.
4.The ice cold towel at the end was a nice touch. Maybe doing that at the aid stations would have helped.
I have a few items to put in the "Improve" category.

1.Really didn't like being the last wave, on a race that started late, with 5 mins between waves. It got really hot and I don't think clydesdales generally do well in the heat.
2.For a place called Shadow Creek there was no shade. The sprinklers at the swim start could have been useful on the run.
3.They were out of water at the second aid station on the run by the time I got there.
4.I think they should have completely closed the road in front of the transition area. I almost got hit going through the second loop by a impatient car.
5.I have a bunch of fire ant bites from the parking area
6.I don't really care about the swag BUT when you advertise the reason to do a race is "Your race pack will be filled with high quality items (And maybe some suprises)." then a cotton blend T shirt, and a drink holder doesn't match the advertising.