JCC Tri By the Sea - TriathlonSprint

This did not go as well as I had hoped. I felt out of sync with my breathing and winded before finishing 50m - and I can swim 50m no problem on a normal day! I had to do the side stroke and some breast stroke, and it felt soooo slow. But whenever I tried to resume freestyle, I felt so out of breath. I think I was at least partly psyched out by the thought that there was someone only 15 seconds behind me and I could not stop (although I did stop to let someone pass). Also, with all those people flailing around, the chop was really high.
Also, the time includes the time to get out of the pool, walk through the building and get outside.

I really need to push myself in training to not rest on the wall frequently.

T1, bike, and T2 times are all in one, so I don't know for sure what my T1 time was. Your time starts after you exit the building that the pool is in. I know it wasn't fast. I decided to change out of my wet tank top and into a dry short sleeve shirt for the bike. Then I had to change my pony tail from high to low so that it would fit with my helmet. Then I had to get socks on my wet feet. Then I had to drink some water and get my water bottle into the cage. Then I tried to put my gloves on, but decided to skip them because this transition was taking forever!!
Then, you have to run with your bike down hill, cross the street and down half a block and THEN you can get on your bike. That was actually fairly tiring :-/

Get an outfit that works for all phases of the race. Try wearing hair low with swim cap to avoid "restyling." Practice cycling without socks, maybe I can skip that step. Get an insulated water bottle that I can leave in the cage so it's just there.

This was a nice course. It was also nice to do 3 loops, because for the second 2 I knew what was coming and how much I could push on hills. I do think I could have written harder/more aggressive, but I was afraid of wasting my legs for the run. I think I rode the hills and downhills smart and shifted smartly. I tried to maintain a fairly high cadence (unfortunately I didn't have the cadence sensor hooked up), because I tend to ride in a too hard gear and make my legs work too hard. Overall, I think the bike went very well.
I REALLY hated having to get off my bike down the street from the transition area, run down the street with it and up a hill in bike shoes. It was exhausting.

Now that I have a better sense of what my body can handle at this distance, I would push harder on hills and the flat. But, this was my first race and I just wanted to finish strong.

I think this transition went as well as it could. I had a little trouble getting my helmet off and then I had to put my hair up again, because I don't like it on my neck when I run. I also took time to drink water and gatorade, because I didn't drink much on bike because it slows me down.

I need to find other times to get fluids, not stand in transition and drink.

I think the run went well. Between the slight uphill grade and biked-out legs, the first mile was hard though. Also, I was thirsty so I brought a mini gatorade bottle with me, and I got very tired of holding that, very quickly. Also, there wasn't much air movement so it felt kind of hot.

Not bring a handheld drink. Bad idea. Try to push a little harder through the quicksand legs. But overall I was pleased with the run. My goal was to do it in less than 35:00.

None. Celebrated accomplishment with family and friends!


Fear of burning out too early, mostly. But overall, I am pleased with my pace for bike and run. Swim...well, I knew there was a chance that could go awry.


I did this race because it is known as a good beginner's race. I agree, it was. It is small, not highly competitive, well organized, lots of friendly volunteers. My biggest complaint is the bike mounting/dismounting. You have to run with your bike in your cycling shoes a fair distance, and it's time consuming and tiring. But the course itself is not too hard.