6th Annual Hawk Island Triathlon - TriathlonSprint

Started in middle of the pack. They started ages 39 and lower rather than splitting up the 20 year old group. So it was packed. To first buoy, got bounced around a bit, but was able to remain relatively relaxed. Definitely helped that I was wearing ear plugs, two swim caps, and had acclimated to the water prior to the swim. It was hard to get in a rhythm due to all the people jockeying for position.

After the first buoy, it opened up and racers were more spread out. I had just started to get in a rhythm and ran into two guys doing the breast stroke. Had to stop, reset, and change direction. Got to second buoy, made a good turn, and headed in. Got out of the water at around 7:00, so I was happy with that, but the run up to the transition area was a bit slow as my legs and blood needed to catch up. Seemed like my HR spiked once I started trying to walk. Felt like all the blood was rushing to my legs, making them heavy and my lungs gasping for air. Once recovered, I wasn't too tired and felt I had lots of energy left after a pretty decent swim time.

I would try to get to the front prior to the race starting and then get a better lead out front by swimming faster. It was difficult to establish a rhythm with the mass of people. Also, once out in the open, I need to relax more since I know my legs were dragging below, my head was coming up rather than rotation, and my catch/pull wasn't as effective. Definitely need to practice more open water swimming.

I did pretty good with T1. Was 6 in age group. Only trouble came from getting strap of helmet connected. Seemed like it took forever.

After getting on bike, I should have gotten up to speed just a bit more before trying to get feet into shoes. But there was a hill coming up and wanted to be in prior to it. Right food difficult to get in since shoe collapsed, like it did in practice. But body glide did help. Never really connected strap of right shoe, but it was tight enough for the entire race.

Practice connecting strap on helmet so it is smoother and quicker. New shoes?

Wind was out of the WNW at 10-20 mph. Going north at beginning of course, the wind wasn't that bad since it was in town. Then we turned east, so had a tailwind. I passed a few people (some even on Cervelo Tri Bikes!) and felt really good. Then I got in a grouping which would pass me, then slow and I would pass, then they would speed up and pass me, then repeat all the way down Mt. Hope. Also, the lane got narrower and some of the pavement was horrible or had debris on it.

Once I turned the corner on Forest and headed West the wind was like a wall. However, that group that was continually passing me and slowing down, passed me once again. So I just settled in behind them and drafted all the way. They were side by side in the lane, so it was hard to pass anyways. Plus, I wasn't expending much energy going into that headwind.

Turned corner to go into home stretch and felt good.

My cadence was good the whole way, mostly 95 rpm. Legs rarely got tired or burned. Never got out of breath either. Shifting was good. Held aero most of the way.

I think I would have pushed it more on the course. I think I could have been faster, though I did feel like I had lots of energy once done, unlike the practice rides I had during training. The wind out at the MSU farms is notoriously evil by being 10 mph stronger than anywhere else in Lansing. So I was very glad to draft in a group. I just wish the group I was stuck behind was going a bit faster. Forest road is generally a very fast section since it is a gradual downhill. But we weren't going as fast as I would have like.

I need to practice turns in aero position. Not as comfortable with this. Though, most corners had an assortment of potholes to dodge, so maybe it wouldn't have been wise to be in aero.

T2 went smooth. I was racked right at the entrance/exit of bike course, so I was right at my station once off bike. Took a drink of my gel/water mix, which probably wasn't needed. Ranked 17 in age group.

Things went reasonably well. Maybe I could have ran a bit faster after getting shoes on.

I managed to hit my minimum target of 8 mph, though my overall goal was to be at 7:00 min/miles. Still, I was happy with it.

The run was in the woods and shady. It was a nice, sort of calm experience. Quiet and could focus on breathing and pace. Legs didn't get tired and pain in ankle never creeped in. Felt good most of the way with moderate exertion. By the last mile though, I was getting anxious to finish. I did sprint across the finish line, but should have started a running faster earlier during that last portion.

Probably run a few 5ks just to get a feel for racing and how to pace yourself. Didn't want to go too fast at start, only to be out of energy at end. However, I could have ran faster and still finished strong. Being my first race ever though, I was happy with my time.

Just walked over to family and friends, drank water and gatorade, talked about the race.


General experience with managing pace, effort, and distance.


My goal was to finish at a max of 1:06:00. So I was very happy with my performance. I never felt totally out of breath or in need to rest and catch up. I felt that my entire race was smooth and controlled (except the swim, which was chaos).