Eureka Springs Multisport Festival - TriathlonSprint

Swim was only 300 yards, so even a bad swim would go reasonably quick. I started toward the outside with a good friend. I took a line toward the buoy and got mixed in with the madness. The pulling and hitting and tackling was ridiculous. I should've known better than to get in the middle of it. My friend stayed completely to the outside and never touched or was touched. I wish I had done that, because even swimming a longer distance would've been faster. Still, I got out of the water with a faster per 100 time (by far: 2:16 vs 2:58) than my last sprint.

Get to the outside and stay there!

Reasonably quick transition. No real complaints. Big benefit by using my new tri-specific bike shoes.

Learn how to get in the shoes with them already on the bike.

Short but very intense ride with some nasty curves and constant elevation changes. Had a bit of trouble getting my legs going again coming out of the swim. I'm obviously using my legs too much in the swim. The start was a bit uphill which added to the problem. Very sharp curve about half a mile in. It should've been marked better or had someone there slowing people down. I locked up my brakes and barely stayed on the road. At least one rider went down pretty hard. Ultimately it is the rider's responsibility to know the course but the race director has a responsibility to keep people as safe as within reason.

My swim once again put me behind a lot of folks, so I started passing people constantly. My strength is cycling and specifically hill climbing, so this was a well-suited course, although a difficult one. Some of the roads were very rough chip-n-seal with some loose gravel, so that cost some speed.

I had the 3rd fastest time out of 156 people, so it's hard to complain.

Might have gone a bit too hard because my run hurt a bit, but it was worth the risk.

Probably my best transition to date. Bike racked quick. Shoes swapped fast.

Nothing.

The run started on the same start of the bike course. Then at the sharp turn I mentioned earlier the run course moved to the golf course cart path. It was hilly. Way hillier than I (or anyone else I talked to) thought it would be. My calves were hurting a bit when the run started, but when we moved to the course my hamstrings really started to lock up on the first hill. I had to really shorten my stride to keep from seizing.

I had caught up with my good friend on the bike, since he beat me on the swim. We are pretty close to the same pace on the bike and the run, so we ran with each other until the last hill about quarter mile before the finish. I got a small gap on him and finished just four seconds ahead of him.

My time was 10th best overall and 2nd in my AG. My first triathlon podium! I couldn't believe. It was a short but intense triathlon.

Don't know really. I went hard but not all out on the bike, but I cramped on the run. The hills were the issue and I didn't take them into account enough.

Got some water and a little stretching.


Swimming was better but still needs a lot of work.


This race was part of a 3-day multi-sport festival. It was the kickoff event with a 100 mile bike ride the following day and a 10K run the third day. That's the reason it was so short.