Smith Point Triathlon - TriathlonSprint

Waves went off every 4 minutes - I was in the 4th and final wave (blue hats). The initial 150 yards to the first turn bouy was pretty physical. Banged it up good and had my feet slapped - I couldn't find anyone to draft and just went. After rounding bouy 1 we started catching some guys from the last wave (purple hats). I swam into someones crotch who was doing the back stroke and headbutted his balls and he turtled onto me. I swallowed some salty bay water and barreled on. Caught some yellow and white hats as well and felt really positive as I came out of the swim and saw no blue hats near me. When I got to transition one of my rivals was heading out and it appeared a few bikes were gone. One guy came in seconds behind me who happened to be on my team so I gave him a "Go Sunrise Tri!" as I ran out.

Try to find one of the three guys that killed this heat and ride their draft. Get more OWS experience.

This was my first non-wetsuit attempt and my transition was still somewhat slow and it is partly to do with my helmet, and partly due to my disbelief that I was in a good position coming into T1 - maybe I relaxed? I put on my Rudy Project Seyton Open Helmet and had the Roman ear flaps on - in practice if I went fast the flaps would fly off so I took too much time with this. I have one more race with this helmet and then I am switching to a Giro Advantage 2.

HTFU

I drank nothing and ate nothing - it was a sprint and I needed to boggie. In hindsight I should have taken a few pulls as I think I may not have had my legs fall off if I had. On the out the only guy that passed me was a team mate from Sunrise Tri (the same one from T1) ... I caught him as we headed back and I yelled at him that it was our time to hammer the course and ruin dreams ... he agreed and we tore it up. I counted 87 passed cyclists for the course. I honestly thought I was faster than this but I will take it.

Hammer it harder and take a few sips. No one passed me but James and then I caught him. I felt certain I had caught at least one of the guys ahead of me (I hadn't) ... a slightly harder effort on the bike and a better effort on the run still could have notched me my first podium.

I suck at T2 ... as I rode into the area right before T2 some kid yelled and pointed at me that guys face is covered with snot ... when I hammer the bike I just go and riding into the headwind my nose just leaks. I got into T2 racked my bike and wiped my face off with a towel and while I was doing it I said to myself "what the hell are you doing!" Took off the helmet put on sunglasses and my hat and then one sneaker (first time with no socks in a race) ... tried to take a swig of eFuel and immediately got nauseous ... wth? Bent to put on my second sneaker and got a charlie horse - straightened up immediately and ran thinking "I am in trouble ... on a sprint"

If it is hot and humid like it was today - drink something - anything on the bike - my bottles were full I opted not to. Do not ingest sea water from the bay - after 30 minutes of it in my stomach my belly was flopping around. Leave the snot on my face - I have a few miles to rub my hands on my nose. HTFU.

I plodded along to the cul-de-sac ... this was around the 1.4 mile mark - I had actually past some people but my heart was racing and I was hot and feeling off. I had a hand held fuel belt bottle (the 10oz one) with water and took a sip and immediately retched. WTH!! Walked the 10 yards to the turn around and my team mate caught up to me and yelled "Come on Sunrise Tri - no walking now." I tried to giddy up - dumped three cups of water on myself and threw some gatoraid in my gullet. Started running again but as I neared the bridge I stopped again. This time an older guy was my pusher who said to run with him so I did until he crested the bridge and I could not keep up. I was honestly shocked that only a dozen or so runners had passed me and none seemed to be in my division. I had some hope I still had a shot at top 5 and I tried to run hard to the end but couldn't pick up any speed at all and just came through on the heels of the guy I was behind for the last 300 meters.

I need to run ALOT more in heat and humidity. This summer I had given up and taken to running on a treadmill ... that just does not correlate to real life conditions. My training runs outside have been misedrable and slow but at least I never stop - stopping twice (might have even been three times) on a sprint is a travesty.

Chatted with other finishers. Ate a plain bagel. Drank some water and then some gatoraid. When it was obvious I could keep it down I ate three peices of watermelon. Just walked around socializing.


It's all in my head. I am lighter (18 pounds lighter than last season). I am faster on the bike (despite my bike wreck in May that crushed my clavicle). My swim is not terrible compared to the other Clydes (I lost 7 weeks of training due to the clavicle so I feel ok to be at the same point I was last year). My transitions can use ALOT of work - figured I would be much faster without the wetsuit to strip - doesn't seem I was. My run is just plain lousy and I have no one to blame but myself for taking the short cut of treadmill runs rather that sucking it up and suffering in the heat. I have three weeks to get it right before my next sprint.


Eventpower LI puts on the best races around here - bar none. They have the best volunteers and an enthusiastic and dedicated race director. Do three or four races - or volunteer for one - and people remember you.