Mission Bay Triathlon - TriathlonSprint

It seems like my swimming has (inexplicably) improved a bit this year, and in the last few races I've done I have gotten stuck in the pack. This time I seeded myself at the front, and it turned out to be a good choice. I had clear water around me for most of the swim, and very little contact with other swimmers. My swim cap was too small, and I did get a lot of water in my left ear (more on that later). I felt strong and tried to swim fast. My sighting was a bit off at times (as it usually is) but overall this was a good swim.

Nothing

I had my cap and goggles off, and my wetsuit halfway off by the time I got to my rack. I had a little bit of trouble finding my bike, and fumbled with my stuff a bit, but got out of there pretty quickly.

Be less clumsy and less confused.

My bike rack tweaked my front brake, and I thought I had fixed it, but on the run to the mount line I noticed that one of the pads was (again) touching the rim. I took a moment to move the caliper, but shortly after I got on the bike I decided to open the quick release and just use my rear brake, since the course is flat. Periodically I checked on the front brake to make sure it wasn't touching. This was an annoying issue to have to deal with in a race, but at least it didn't cost me much time.

I rode fairly hard, since the course was flat. I took the corners as fast as I was comfortable with, and once I felt my rear wheel slide a touch, but I was able to recover. Since I was in a later wave this year, I was worried that the bike course would be crowded, but it wasn't bad at all. I passed a whole bunch of people, and didn't get passed by a single person.

Check my bike more carefully before the race.

Racked my bike, took off bike shoes and put on running shoes without sitting down. Grabbed my hat and race belt and put them on while running out.

Maybe run in and out a little faster.

This was a disappointing run. I felt sluggish from the start and never really got going. At times I tried to push the pace, but just couldn't make it happen. I saw a handful of women in my age group pass me, including two on the bridge in the last half mile. I tried to catch them, but didn't have it in me.

I'm not really sure what went wrong here. Too fast on the bike, no calories consumed during the race? Maybe... or perhaps it just wasn't my day. Who knows.

Walked to the food tent, picked up an orange slice and fruit punch box, found my spectators, and waited for Tracy, who finished a little while later. Had a crazy rest of the day - went to the Chargers game, drove home late, stopped for dinner with friends and didn't get home until midnight. During this time I developed a case of swimmer's ear - intermittent, sharp pain in my left ear - good times. Finally got my antibiotic drops this afternoon. I blame the tiny swim caps (no ear coverage) and polluted Mission Bay water!


This is the first Mission Bay tri I've done where I wasn't in the middle of half IM training... so maybe I'm just a little bit out of shape. Still, I improved over last year's time by 39 seconds.


This is a fun, well-run race, and I always have a good time. I think this is my last tri of the year - time to focus on some running races before I start training for IMCDA!