Crystal River Sprint Triathlon Series #2 - TriathlonSprint

I usually hang back at the start to not fight for room in the water. It worked good out until the first turn. My sighting was excellent in that I did not have to make corrections. At the first bouy, I got behind someone doing the breaststroke and could not get around him. I followed him the rest of the way onto the beach. Swam a slow steady pace throughout the course.

Pick up the pace. I swam slow and did not push myself. I felt good coming out of the water.

Everything went smoothly. Put on headband, put on sunglasses, put on helmet, put on Garmin, put on shoes, take bike down and head out. I think my time is improving in T1

Practice, Practice, Practice. I have not been practicing the transition and only do it at the race.

The bike ride went well. I was in the aero position most of the time. When I turned around and was drinking, I would sit up. The traffic was fairly light which made me happy. Sometimes the people pulling boats take up a good bit of the road. I also noticed a couple times my calfs seemed to cramp.

Spend more training time on the bike. The previous three weeks I was traveling with work so I didn't have a good bike fitness level.

I got off the bike fine and racked my bike fine. Then things fell apart. I took off my helmet and reached down to take off my shoes. My calfs cramped. I streatched my legs and then sat down to take off the bike shoes and put on my running shoes. When I tried to put my foot into the running shoe, leg and foot cramps! I stood up and stretched more and drank water. I then was able to get my feet into the shoes but my legs were still cramping. I started to walk out from the rack but it was not going to happen. Turned around and went back to the bike rack and strecthed more. Fortunately, there was room on the bike rack. At that point, I seriously considered my options. I could call it a day, or stay longer in transition until the calfs stopped cramping so much. I drank more water and stretched for a few more minutes and finally felt that I could at least walk the course. I walked out of transition at (I am sure) the longest transition time of the day.

Pay attention to hydration the week before the race. I did not pay any attention to hydration the days before the race and I think that was the reason that I had leg cramps.

I did start running the first portion of the race and then scaled back to walking before the water station. I ran some and walked a lot. About a half mile before the end, a runner came up from behind and said lets go. I started running with Gail and we finished together. I know it was very helpful and we had a good conversation. Even though it wasn't my best race, I am satisfied that I stuck it out and finished the race.

Try to run more during the race. I was 10 seconds behind the next finisher in my age group. The previous race I was 3 seconds behind the next finisher. I have to pay attention to the runners.

Walked around and drank water. Also ate fig newtons, bananas, and grapes


Amount of training in the previous three weeks


DRC is very organized and I look forward to this race series. Since you get your race packet the morning of the race, therre is no need to travel extra miles just to participate. The race series also gives me a chance to see how well I improve (or not) because all the races are held at the same place.