Indianapolis Sprint Triathlon Series #1 - TriathlonSprint

Last year in this race, I decided that I needed to get to know one of the kayakers because I went so far off course due to my poor sighting before the first turn. This year my sighting was much better, even on the last leg swimming into the sun. It really works to not stand until your fingers touch the bottom. So many around we were stopping in chest deep water and trying to walk in. It’s several yards to the timing mat – I took my time because it was slick and I’m clumsy!

Nothing really - I was a little slower than last year, but certainly wasn't gassed at the end. Maybe I'll just say I paced it okay.

This was a really good time for me. Actually, the best I’ve ever done in T1. I’m trying to have less ‘stuff’ in transition which seems to be helping. I made sure I took an extra second or two to hydrate beyond what I had on the bike.

Keepin' it simple is the way to go!

I’m definitely not a jump on the bike and get the shoes on kind of guy. I slipped off a couple of times trying to clip in. I think I was pushing too hard to get going that I didn’t do first things first. I’ve ridden my bike a ton over the past year, however not on hills. They were really beating me up in the Park. In case you’re reading this report and do this course some day – no foolin’ – they REALLY mean it’s a sharp 90 degree turn at the bottom of the hill about a mile or two into it. There were several bad wrecks this year, including one fast guy who broke his bike in two! My breathing was far faster than I wanted – I’ve read enough reports here on Beginner Triathlete that a Sprint Distance should hurt the entire way, and I was doing my best to honor that. I recently read Chris McCormack’s “I’m Here To Win”. In it he said something I really liked (paraphrasing), “I don’t care what level you are or what distance you’re doing. In EVERY race you will want to quit at some point.” My point came at Mile 4 on the bike which made no sense since it was out of the Park and on the relatively flat road. I was glad that I had read and remembered that because I was able to push through it. The rest of the ride went okay – just slowly as you can tell by my time! Safely back into transition while I internally yelled at myself for not practicing hills!

More riding, and riding, and riding......

This was also not shockingly fast, but good for me – second fastest T2 in my history (I’m a big data geek as you may have guessed).

Not much- just get faster!

Just out of T2, there is a major mountain that must be scaled. Okay, it’s just a bit of a hill, but it hurts nonetheless! It took a while to get my legs moving, but I felt okay. It was getting a bit warm, but not bad at all. I just kept pressing as much as I could and kept watching my watch – I really wanted to break an hour thirty minutes. I sprinted (a relative term in my case) when I got close to the end.

Just keep working at it, and maybe someday, I'll enjoy running.

I briefly thought I would puke when I got across the line – I didn’t, so I must not have pushed hard enough! I missed the one hour thirty minutes by seven seconds. I grumbled about that for a while, even though I was more than six and a half minutes faster than last year. Lots of food and hydration – Tuxbro always puts on a great race! I hung around for awards- my wife was fifth in her age group which was awesome. My older son also did this race as his first tri (his report is on here too!). My younger son, daughter and her husband also came out to cheer for us which was much appreciated!


Same thing I always say - 1. My brain. 2. My brain. 3. My brain.


This is a fun race that is VERY well run. They offer three of these a summer - hope I can do at least one a year for years to come!