Oktoberfest Triathlon - TriathlonSprint

Tried to relax at beginning and swim slowly and smoothly. Felt good for first 100m or so, but as usual I ran out of air and had to start doing breast stroke and fundamental backstroke to keep going. Wetsuit helped tremendously. Shocked by final ranking and had no idea I was in the front of my age group during the race.

Train more - haven't really swum in months.

Thought I'd save a few seconds by putting shoes on in T1 but cinching down the straps on the bike. Mild mistake, but it didn't cost much time. Won't be doing that again. Got out of wetsuit relatively easily compared to previous tri's. Had no issues connecting to insulin pump.

Time is estimated, btw, as many of us obtained no T1 time.

Eat more (see T2 notes).

I was probably 8th on the bike but reported 10th b/c 8 and 9 had separate transition times but I didn't. Bike positioning didn't feel very good as I felt really stretched out and weird - I felt like I didn't have a good angle over my pedals (I recently lowered my bars to be more aero but that contributed to the poor overall body positioning, methinks). Had a good split, nonetheless.

Don't stop pressing, carry sports drink on the bike (and drink it).

Did a blood sugar test and reading of 100 freaked me out b/c of pre-race high blood sugars (~240-280). Ate two gu's and dug into the race bag for a third to carry on the run.

Use sports drink on ride.

Felt rough coming off the bike (what's new?). Took about the usual mile to get the breathing and heart rate under control. Worried a bit about the blood sugar but it all worked out fine. Pleased with the pace - can't really expect much more at this point.

Should have stretched more before the race - calves felt really tight at the beginning of the run.

Not much - drank water and put a cool towel over my head and waited for Shane and Hal.


Blood sugar issues and overall conditioning.


I thoroughly enjoyed this race. The only real nitpick was the lack of water pre-race. Once the race started, however, I thought things went great, the course was excellent and the conditions really couldn't be beaten. The course was well marked and easy to follow. I was a bit nervous about it b/c the website wasn't very good and there were a few mild course changes at the last minute, but again they were well marked and easy to follow. The volunteers and the police did a great job controlling and directing traffic, as I had no issue bouncing out of and back into the neighborhood across traffic.