Mountain Man Triathlon - Sprint Distance - TriathlonSprint

After warming up, I thought I was all set, but after taking off fast the first 50 m, I had to pull up and catch my breath. This happened one more time at about 150m before I settled in, slowed my pace and swam smooth. More bumping going on early than I have experienced at bigger races, which to me is just a roll of the dice (bad place at a bad time). Many people were talking about having to pull up and get O2 during the swim, so I was not alone, but I still would prefer to overcome this.

Need to swim at altitude a little bit more to prepare for the thinner air.

Not a bad T1, but not great, either. I could have been faster getting my wetsuit off, but I managed to get into my bike shoes and get going in fair time. Running up the boat ramp was challenging as my feet were pretty numb.

A bit faster getting my wetsuit off. This would shave off a few seconds (perhaps :10), but if it was noticeable to me, then it is room for improvement.

I am pretty happy with the bike portion of the race. I kept a good pace, and pushed pretty hard throughout. With an average of 23mph, I do not think I could have gone much faster than this.

Nothing that I am able to do as of yet.

A good, average T2. Nothing special, nothing that slowed me down. I went sockless on the bike and run for this race, and everything seemed fine, and it surely saved me a few seconds in transition.

Perhaps learn to dismount on the run, but that is not too big of a deal for me.......yet.

It is surprising to say I am disappointed with my run (8:11 avg pace), but I am. For a 5K, even after a swim and bike, I should be sub 8min/mi, probably closer to 7:40. So I "gave" the course an extra 1:30 due to this, and although at the time I thought I was pushing, I think back and realize I could have gone harder.

Push harder, get the mental game straight in my head that my legs have the juice to hold a faster pace.

Relaxed and hydrated for about 30 minutes, watching athletes come in to the finish, then made our way and grabbed our bikes for a 26 mile ride.


I held back (not intentionally) and need to get over the mind games that go on in my head during a short race. I can go harder and faster, and just need to do it. I managed to do that on the bike, but it did not carry over to the run.


I was ok with the water stations and support (did not grab water anywhere anyway on a short course), but I heard they ran out of finisher medals, and that means the people who really cherish them (first time athletes) did not get them at the finish. BOO!

Mountain Man events is a good organization - a bit smaller than Red Rock, but they still manage to put on good, consistent events every time.