Massachusetts State Triathlon - Sprint Course - TriathlonSprint

80 other racers in my wave. Not knowing how I stacked up, I positioned myself mid to a little front of group outside-ish. Didn't seem to be any good spot, really, except the front. First 100-150m was chaos, face kicked a few times, no rhythm, just sort of survive and try to find a place. Ended up pulling outside and went really wide around the first buoy. The next leg was the longest and I fell into a nice stroke, but started fearing I was way too far outside, kept looking inside on my left and seeing swimmers quite a bit inside, but I felt I was starting to drop a good portion of the pack so I started crossing laterally a bit to hit a better turn at the last marker, which I did.

I think I might start a little further forward in the pack, but not much else different. Got a little excited towards the very end, maybe wasted a bit of energy but I think that was the nerves. Oh....I would certainly not wear TWO pair of shorts under the wetsuit again!

Pretty happy with T1 all in all. Wesuit at my waist and cap, goggles, earpulugs out, arriving at my bike. Wet suit came off ok, maybe a bit of a hangup on one heal. Shoes on quickly, sunglasses, helmet, race belt. Did a walk-run mount...just wanted to be under control. Started in the small ring mid cog in back. clicked in after a couple revs and started

Not sure? maybe practice the mount a bit more. Starting with my shoes clicked in...probably, but my MTB shoes make that hard and I don't feel like buying new.

As I was getting up to speed I looked down and realized I was still wearing the shorts I had OVER my trishorts pre race. DoooooP! Had to chuckle a bit at that. Flat to slightly uphill start quickly got on the big ring and started pumping. I was stuck between two gears... one had me in the mid 90s and the other in the low 80s. Can't recall what I decided on...I think the easier gear, since I knew the hill was coming. Passed three guys on regular road bikes. Then a couple really fast guys on sweet looking steeds blew by me (not together) Could not keep pace with them so I settled in, passed a guy on the first short climb, then I hit the bottom of the main climb. Felt really strong here and closed to within 100m of the fast guys, but they crested and off they went. I came out of the saddle for the last 50-75m to stretch and pick up some speed. Lots of potholes then and backed off a bit on the decents. Final flatter bit with good road I just got down in the drops and made myself suffer.

I have a pretty pedestrian setup.... 6061 aluminum Motobecane CycloCross with 36/50 12/26 gearing, stock wheels (Alex R500s), Sora/Tiagra comps, 25mm gatorskins, cheap shimano spd mtb peddles and Shimano mtb shoes...cheapest cateye wired I could find with cadence. Next year I might get better wheels, but definitely faster tires. I love my gearing though, esp in the hills. Maybe go faster downhill but I was really worried about the conditions. Certainly need to hydrate better. I was carrying one bottle of regular H20, which would have been fine, but I only drank a couple times. I planned to drink more....rookie mistake as the heat was building.

Clicked out with left foot, but was a little late with the right. Pretty much stopped, had my left foot down and THOUGHT my right was out. Nope. Still in and brought the back of the bike up a foot or so. Quickly unclicked. Good run to transition. When I got to my spot the guy beside me had tossed his wetsuit where my bike was supposed to go. That sort of threw me off. Then I forgot to rack the entire wheel. (It wasn't a traditional bar rack) Transition helper yelled over to remind me. Thank you! I ran with socks which were rolled up....no problem getting them on or slipping my running shoes on (used bungy laces). Started to head in the wrong direction and another volunteer was yelling "Run Out Here" About the 3rd time I heard that, I realized they were taling to me. Thank you....AGAIN! Most importantly I didn't run out of T2 with my helmet on!

Work on the dismount for sure. Might try to build callouses to run without socks. Not going to worry about putting my bike on top of other people's stuff if it's in my space. Know where I am in the transition area.

Legs were heavy and I was really thirsty from not taking in enough on the bike. My PB on a stand alone training 5K was about 23:00 so that was my goal here...but I was secretly hoping for better. Don't think I passed anyone, but was passed by a few guys I had passed on the bike. Got chicked by the women's overall who started 4 minutes behind us. Boy did she look fresh. Wished I could feel half as good as she looked! Started thinking, "no freakin' way I can do OLY! Passed a volunteer "I hate this part," I grunted. Tried to take water at the turn but couldn't get much down, spit most of it up and poured the rest over my head. Hit the 2 mile marker and gave it everything....which wasn't much! I kept thinking, look no calf pain etc, just push, but there was really nothing much left in the tank. Sprinted (in my mind anyway) through the finish chute.

Hydrate better on the bike. I seem to be stuck at this pace regardless of distance (to a point of course), so I think to get faster at this distance I think I need to start some speed work, intervals etc.

Grabbed a bottle of water from one of the awesome volunteers, hugged my family and headed straight for bladder relief. Then just walked around and stretched and enjoyed the HIGH!


Things I don't need money for...Better hydration, more practice in the "Washing machine", speedwork for the run, practice dismounting....lose a couple more pounds.
Speed I can buy....just about anything related to my ride...tires probably being most bang for the buck. Jet packs for my running shoes.


My best race ever! My first of course. But it was really well run, tons of great, helpful volunteers, super racers. What an awesome high! Great to have the family there cheering me on with cowbells. What a blast! And to beat my goal AND podium...think I'll just quit now. Nahhhh, still too much work to do and fun to be had! I know that extra pair of shorts slowed me down.....