Holiday Lake Triathlon - TriathlonSprint

This was my first OWS tri. Also my second tri as well. I wasn't to terribly nervous but, yeah there was some anxiety in the back of my head to try and perform well. I stayed with the leaders for probably the first 100 yards and then got passed by a few people. I was only hit a couple times and also got cut off twice but otherwise I think I did alright for my first ows race. I need to work more on the swim and kick more as well. Swimming in my strength in tri's but, I know I can get this time down more.

Not a whole lot. Maybe just relax earlier in the swim and keep good form. KICK!

Got second overall in the T1 time. I didn't get to good of a jump on my bike and then I had issues getting into the shoes while on the bike. Should have just tried to get them on while going down the big hill and I didn't for some reason.

Get feet into shoes quicker. Try and run a little faster as well and jump on bike better.

This is my worst discipline by far. The hills are what killed me here. I just need to ride more and more and more and more. It would help if I had a tri-bike and not a road with aero clips ons as well. I was passed quite a bit by all the people I killed in the swim. The headwind was strong and the road surface had all these lines cut into it every inch. I dislike roads like this. It was the hilliest road I've ever been on so far with my bike and just didn't have the training to do that great. Overall I did good for the situation though and got experience out of the ordeal. Cheered my sister on twice as we passed each other going oposite ways. She did really well for her first tri!

Get more saddle time and ride more hills/do hill training. Also my seat wasn't as high as I had it due to lowering it to fit in the vehicle otw up to the race. Thought I had it where it was at and turns out I was wrong. Didn't get the full power of my legs due to that.

Get a tri-bike.(wife said I can get one now!!!)

Meh. You have to come up one huge flipping hill right before you get back to transition. Thank god I got my feet out before that hill. You get to the top and don't have much speed or at least I didn't and the whole jumping off while moving just didn't work that great as I could have gone. Got the bike racked and threw on socks and running shoes grabbed race belt and took off. Think this T2 was better than the first tri I did. Decided to run with socks because my first tri I got two blisters on my left feet and decided I would always try to run with socks.

Get more speed coming to T2 and also learn to run with the bike a tad more.

This run course by far is the hilliest I have ever been on. Right out of transition you hit a huge steep hill and from there it's up and down, up and down. There were very and I mean very few flat areas. I don't train on hills like this back home and it showed. I never stopped to walk and boy oh boy did I want to. Some of the hills felt like you could walk up faster. I saw a lot of people stopping to walk just because it was so tough!

Train more on hills. I knew coming into this event that it would be hilly but, nothing like it was. Read a few race reports from previous years and I just thought they were making it sound worse than it was. Trust me this is insane hills. I normally run close to 7:20 miles and I was lucky to stay under 8's on this. God only knows how.

Walked around and drank some water. Hugged my wife and kid. Talked to my sister's boyfriend Jason who was cheering her and I on. Got some munchies and waited for sister to finish.


My bike seat not being high enough which was my own fault. Should have rode around on the bike for a few minutes and I would have known. Train more on hills for biking and running.


This is a tough course. The bike and run are very hilly. The bike wasn't a huge deal but, the run will destroy the average runner. The volunteers were awesome. Lots of people cheering you on and plenty of drink stations on the run with sponges for keeping you cool. I would do the race again. They had drawings for gear and gift certificates which was nice. The only thing I wish they would do is give finisher medals to everyone. I was lucky and got third in my AG and got a bronze medal but, I felt bad for everyone else not getting any hardware :(