Tri to Make a Difference - TriathlonSprint

The swim was a floating start. Had to tread for less than twenty seconds before the gun went off. Since this was my first tri and fisrt group swim I treaded for another fifteen or so seconds so that I would have some clear water to swim in. I quickly was back in trafic and wasn't comfortable putting my head in the water due to the amount of people around and having to negotiate the crowd. Even after waiting for the mass of swimmers I was well in the top third of my wave out of the water. I felt a little dizzy coming out of the water but felt good otherwise.

start with group

I walked quickly in to transition and to my area. First thing was goggles and cap off and glasses on(the swim was all pretty fuzzy) I went to dry off my feet and found that the bottom off feet were covered in wet sand and gravel from walking across the parking lot in transition. This put a big kink in my plan as it took me far to long to get my feet clean enough that I was comfotable putting my socks on. Once my sock and shoes were on jersey and helmet went on fine. I walked the bike to the line and mounted and got on my way with no trouble.

not sure except be more prepared to wipe of my feet or HTFU and roll out with the gravel(several of the people I talked to after the race said they just put their sock on over it) OUCH!

Out of transiton I was quickly up to a comfortable pace and cadence(95). In the first 1.5 miles I passed about five riders and was pass by two. My stratigy for the hill was to give my best with out pegging my heart rate so bad that I would be shot for the rest of bike. I made it up 2 tenths before deciding while I really wanted to make it it would be better for my overall race to hop off and walk. I was only passed by one rider while I was walking(less than 40 percent made it w/o walking) I passed him back about 200 yards after getting back on my bike. The rest of bike was uneventful until the down hill finish. And even that was uneventfull except in my brain as I had never done 46.5mph on my bike before.

Not a thing. next year I will be in better shape and a good bit lighter so maybe I can get the award for riding the hill!

I walked my bike to the rack trying to lower my HR after the fast down hill rush. Everything went like I practiced. I didnt get in a hurry and took an energy gel on the way out of transition.

Go faster!

I finished last in my group and nearly last overall, BUT I ran 2 minutes faster than I had done in any of my training runs on a flat course. I walked for about 100 yards after the turn around and enjoyed the cold wet towel that was provided there. I knew I was going to be slow and had to resist pushing harder as I was getting passed on a very regular basis.

My running base was low intentionaly due a weight loss goal that I set for my self to prevent undue abuse. I might have been able to go a couple of minutes faster but am very happy with what I was able to do.

Bottle of water at the finish and walked around with my wife and checked in with my friend that had done the race also.


Time invested in run training


This was my first race and was part of my plan to be more healthy and active. I strated trainging the middle of january and weighed 300# on race moring I weighed 228. I could not think of a better way to celebrate my new found fitness. It was a great day full of proud mouments.