Lake Sammamish Triathlon - TriathlonSprint

Start was quite a washing machine! I kept getting ran into from the side as people were veering off course. I am a very straight swimmer, so that was SUPER annoying. Sun was absolutely blinding to the left after rounding the first buoy. That is my dominant breathing side, so that was tough. After the second buoy, I could see NOTHING. Blinding sun + foggy goggles = no sighting. Just swam as straight and hard as I could. Shore was rocky. Run up from beach to transition is included in the swim time (~32 seconds added to my actual swim time). This was the best swim I have done tho!

Go to the outside of the group and angle swim to the first buoy. I was just so irritated getting T-boned by people. This was the biggest group I have ever started with (60 women), so I was not prepared for the amount of collisions. Definitely threw my breathing off.

First transition with wetsuit went surprisingly well. My stupid sunglasses were all fogged up BEFORE I even put them on. Had to hand them to my husband as I headed out of the transition. Other than that, things were good. I even remembered to eat a Shot Block as soon as I came to my spot. That was a really good idea. Shore and beach were very rocky and rough. I found a chunk of gravel embedded in ball below my big toe the evening after the race. Obviously did not notice it during the race. Thank you adrenaline!

Nothing! Maybe get some Cat Crap anti-fog for my glasses?

Some strange corners in this one (the wrong way around a round-about?). Very sharp cornering which I am not good at. Definitely lost some time there. Hills were fine - I am a pretty good climber, but have a hard time carry speed down. Not afraid of the downhill, just a fact of physics with my smaller mass. Played leap frog with three other women for 3/4 of route. They were good pacers for me. Had plain water in my bottle, much better after being in the lake than the strawberry electrolyte stuff I had last time and could not stomach.

More time in the saddle. Always my goal. Work on cornering skills.

Very short run from dismount to bike racks. Loved that! Had a tough time racking bike. Racks were up so high that when I finally got my saddle nose hooked, mu front wheel didn't touch the group. Woman next to me had left very little space for my bike. Got sun glasses back from husband, grabbed belt and hat and was off!

Get some Yanks! Stupid shoe laces were hard to tie.

Trail run is right! Wide mowed path through fields. Very rutted and uneven - tried hard to keep pace while not rolling ankles or getting attacked by blackberry bushes. Also got very warm and humid back in the trees. Also, only one mile maker (at mile one). I do not have a Garmin, so I wasn't sure where in the race I was. Felt like I could have kicked it up a bit at the aid station since it was only about half a mile from the finish. Oh well, will do that next year!

Push it a little more. Legs were feeling very good.

Wandered a bit. Was very pleased with my performance!


Aggravation turned to panic in swim, need to learn to run faster :)


Beautiful venue! Lots of parking, very well organized, easy access from freeway/Seattle. I will be back next year!