Tri the Parks - John Tanner State Park - TriathlonSprint

Terrible swim. I was not prepared for this race at all but I never thought I am so mentality not focused. I am pretty sure I am one of the last few in my wave group to complete the swim leg. The wetsuit did not help my stroke at all since I swim breaststroke. It was the longest agony I spend in water. I constantly repeated that I will do fine in the bike and run -- just keep on swimming.....

Must prepare my mental focus. The swim is my weakest and hardest leg. Must hit the pool more often. This is get better. I know I will struggle at Fort Yargo in May but I should be fine after that May race. STAY FOCUS!

The wetsuit and time chip -- bad combo! I had to struggle to pull the suit off. Other than that the transition was fine.

Lubricate my skin better with PAM so the suit would slide off easier.

First 3 miles was hard for me as I needed to regroup my mental focus back to the race after the horrific swim. It took some digging on my part -- it was nice to see the pack in front of me on the hills. I knew I could catch up.....

Keep my training schedule as is -- my hill climbs are better than last season and I am biking faster. I have to drink more to ensure proper hydration. Next race keep peddling hard.

It's always nice to be in the last transition safely...

take a quick refueling...

I always felt good in the run. I was upset that my stop watch stopped and I have no idea how to gauge my pace. I could had race faster if this did not occur! It's so nice to catch up all fast swimmers here. I should start accelaration sooner. It was a great run considering my bad start in the morning.

Trust my legs and go for the kill! Still a tad conservative on my run strategy.

Hydrate and walk off the pain!


Mental preparation -- I need to swim better in my own pace and not let the excitement to "poison" my focus.


I was nervous about this one since I was not able to train properly due to work schedules. I had terrible butterflies driving to the race site till close to start time. I was in a state of defeat before the swim and I knew I am in trouble. I was told a number of swimmer quit just after 25m of swimming -- and I am almost of of them. I kept ensuring myself to stay calm and finish the swim safely no matter how long it takes. The race will not be decided with the swim... I was glad I see land (found out later I got a splinter on my toe from running to T1). The bike was fine. After digging in, I got into a rhythm and finish the bike in decent time. The run was automatic. Next time, I should spend 30 seconds to hydrate myself and zoom out to the finish line. It feel so good to overtake other runners -- ego booster after the horrific swim. I must accelarate my pace to 6:45 pace right after the 1.5 mile marker to build up distance. Then slow to sub 7 and take it home with what is left in me. I must trust my legs -- the legs will tell my body and mind to to in sync and go for the kill. Today's lesson: Don't allow a slow start to control the outcome of the race. My goal is to finish in 1hour 10minutes range and I am off 8 minutes. 7 minutes was from the swim and I know if I DON'T CHOKE in the water, my goal is a realistic one. Keep on tri'ing!!!