Carmel Sprint Triathlon - TriathlonSprint

This is where I screwed up. I should have remembered to go feet first despite my concerns about the wet step. It was my turn and we had to step up on this wet step and then jump into the pool. I was worried about that step and just took a step on it and jumped forward, but the problem was I was leaning forward too and ended up belly flopping into the pool which counted as a dive which you aren't allowed to do here. So I stopped and looked back at the ref and sure enough he said I was DQ'd, but after I got out of the pool I went and asked him if I could still finish and he said yes. So I jumped back in and finished the race. Good part was that there wasn't anyone in front of me until the very end when I caught the guys in front of me.

Jump in feet first. I had trouble with motivation the rest of the race. I couldn't decide how hard I should swim because I didn't know if I was even going to get a time.

My helmet on my areobars were gone when I got to my bike. I didn't know what to think at first and then a fellow competitor saw they were in the next row over. It took me awhile in transition to convince myself to finish the race, especially after not seeing my helmet.

If it is windy out I need to put my helmet down on my shoes. Speaking of shoes, I really need to learn how to ride without socks and with the shoes clipped to the bike. I would save a lot of time without socks to worry about.

I could have pressed harder and probably should have. I just wasn't racing for anything so it became sort of a training ride. The winds were pretty tough, but my new aero helmet seemed to really help and i just tried to stay low. I needed to attack the small hills harder by shifting up and getting out of the saddle. I didn't have any problems really staying down in aero but it would have been beneficial at points to just get up to push harder.

Not get DQ'd. I also let a guy pass who I shouldn't have because it took me awhile to repass him because of traffic and the fact he slowed down after passing me. I had to soft pedal for a little bit to stay away from drafting him. He passed me while I was taking a gu packet, so I need to learn how to maintain my speed and still eat. I also need to drink more on the bike even though I don't think I do. I was dehydrated after the race and it was because I wasn't drinking on the bike. The wind made the heat very deceptive.

I lost most of my toughness here. I had fun on the bike because it is my best part, but I HATE to run. I'm not fast and it takes a ton of mental energy to run that first mile off the bike and I didn't have it today. I just trotted along through transition.

Force myself to pick up the pace in transition so that I can get the blood flowing back into my legs sooner.

I couldn't convince myself to start running. I just didn't see the point. I knew that I would probably be able to see my time at the end I just didn't see a need to push myself that hard. I wanted to be able to have energy for my family later in the day and didn't want to kill myself out there for no reason. Then, after trotting along at 10 minute miles and alternating between walking and jogging, I got bored and mad. I realized that the quicker I went the sooner I'd be done. That lasted for most of the middle part of the run, but when I started to feel tired at the end I couldn't summon the energy to just keep going and finish. I don't know why I didn't just keep running as I was feeling bad walking and running, so I should have just kept going. I could feel my heart rate going up and I used that as an excuse to walk. The last quarter mile I ran it in as I saw my family and they cheered me onto the finish.

Screw the results I should have pressed it because I was out there to do my best. I need to find a way to control my breathing over the first mile and just push through the pain because a sprint is just not a very long time to race.

Got some cookies and hung out with the my family who were really supportive. I got some post race food and got something to drink. I wasn't even tired at the end of the race. I could have gone out and did the whole thing again.


I was in a pretty dark place in my head for most of this race. There were some thoughts there that were not very nice at all. I didn't realize how competitive I am. I knew it was there, but when I knew I couldn't win, I mostly gave up inside. I was talking with my fellow competitors before the race when I should have been thinking about exactly what I was going to do. I should have walked through each step mentally. How I was going to get into the water, how I was going to start my stroke and how I was going to deal with traffic. I need to stay in each moment and keep my mind thinking about what exactly is coming and how I'm going to handle it. I lost focus and it cost me first place in the Clyde division.


Race seemed less supported than it did last year, but that could have just been my attitude. I'm planning on coming back to do the race again next year and hopefully do it right. I'll have to compete in my age group though because hopefully I'll no longer be a Clyde.