Brigantne Island Triathlon - TriathlonMini Sprint

Made a tactical error by starting on the far right on a clockwise swim. everyone collasped to my side and the result was a phyiscal swim the whole way. Lots of bumping and jostling. Was bracketed the whole way it seemed. Was right on the first buoy and took it easy cause the current was driving us along. Got trashed going around the buoy, but stayed calm and got going again. Same thing happened at the second buoy. As we turned into the current I started pulling harder and pushing it and moved past most of the folks i had been with. I did drift a bit to the inside (and almost into he start line for another wave. Had to come right to make the last buoy, and cut the buoy very tight. I actually dragged the rope. Then I came close to hitting the corner of the dock (current kept pushing you towards it). Swam until I was in about 1 foot of water, got up and was done.

Start on the outside of the first turn and work inside as things spread out. Don't need to get put in the washing machine and lose my rhythm and momentum at each buoy. Was almost in the top quarter for the swim overall, so it was a pretty good swim despite the slow time thanks to the current.

Slow and steady, not very fast but better than the last two attempts.

Keep practicing with the bike shoes, maybe dry off a bit more (2nd towel).

Got going pretty good and got into a nice rhythm. Got passed by two folks who seemed to be at my ability level and the race was on, went back and forth with those two the rest of the way, one guy passed me twice, the other passed my about 5 times. Each time I picked it up and came back. Felt like I was giving a good effort the whole way, but obviously I must have been letting up once I felt like i put thse two away and they would be right back(off cousre they visibly did the same in front of me.) I got past them both and finished just ahead of both. I was a little surprised the time was so slow. Felt like I was working hard, but I was about a MPH slower than last week over a much harder course. Still I was happy with the effort. 20 secs slower than last year but better overall rank. (can't figure this one out)

A nice steady sustained effort, instead of the hercky-jerky pace I was making on this ride. Need to focus better.

Was the first one back to my rack, so racking was easy. However from there on it was Very slow. Passed someone just finishing the swim (there were 11 waves), and found myself listening to another guy talking to his family about the swim instead of taking care of business.

Focus, practice transitions.

Not a terrible run, but no where near as good as last week's. Felt good coming out of T2, let legs settle into a nice stride the first mile, then started to slowly increase the effort. Got passed by a guy in a red #38 shirt who was in my age group and found myself holding the gap to him constant at about 15 yards the whole way. Ran a negative split (16:34/16:06) but didn't have the same intensity as last week. Had way too much left at the end. Guess I settled into a long haul mindset instead of the sprint racing mindset. 4 second slower than last year, but felt good.

Focus again. I ended up drifting along instead of racing to the finish line. I know I am working towards an Ironman, but i wasn't running one today.

Drank 2 bottles of water, went back to transition, got changed, packed up and loaded up the car. Went early to the post race and got a burger, hot dog and fruit and lots to drink. Left before the awards ceremony cause had to be home for when the kids got back from the YMCA.


The current, the wind, and the heat slowed me down, but my transitions really stunk. Was 2 minutes slower than last year, the transitions and the current accounted for 80% of that. Can't explain why the bike was so slow, but I guess I wasn't in a racing mindframe. However I was in the top 40% overall and top half in all three disiplines(and 26% in the swim, a PB)


A well established race with lots of community support. Sold out 2 weeks in advance. Nice course, definitely could race, lots of beginneers. Lots of nice volunteers, and a good post race party. Another plus is Shark Park is a good place to watch the bike and run and the kids can run around and play instead of "being bored waiting around for Daddy."