Long Branch Sprint Triathlon Series Race #1 - Short Course - TriathlonSprint

What a cluster f%^&! I think I might have been last in my wave. The ocean swim featured 3 - 5 ft waves and a lot of up & down movement, which resulted in my complete freakout. I didn't swim more than 10 actual freestyle strokes. The rest was survival doggy paddle - breaststroke hybrid. A kayaker stayed by me to make sure I was alright, but it was a mess. I think the wave motion made me feel disoriented, scared and sick.

More ocean swimming, more regular swimming, not freaking out, etc.

This was fine. For my first transition with clipless bike shoes & pedals, I think I did well.

Move faster from the beach

Good effort on the bike. I felt like I should have pushed it a little more at the time, but in hindsight I think it was just right, given that I felt good on the run. It's kind of a boring course. There was a bit of a headwind on the back portion, which you would think would mean we had a tailwind going out, but I didn't feel it!

Bike more, more hard efforts in training

I thought this might have been a little longer since some lady was trying to chit chat with me, but it went fine. Tried new Yankz, love them, but shoved the tongue of one shoe down while trying to place it on.

Not shove tongue into shoe

Felt great, especially considering I had a hamstring injury about a month ago and hadn't run more than 2 miles since then. I wanted more water on the course (there's one stop that you hit 2x. with little dixie cups). This is my 2nd time doing this race and I've found if I JUST. KEEP. RUNNING then I beat people who are actually a good bit faster than me but stopped to walk.

Grab more water at T2 exit, get 2 cups at each stop, try to negative split (this was definitely a positive one).

Nothing to speak of


Limited training, weight gain compared to last year (but I was still 1st Athena! Yay series points!) Also, that swim really messed me up. I had a moment in the water when I felt like I had no business being there. I need to make a concerted effort to get the swim in shape with OWS training or turn into a duathlete (although, that said, that only impacted my time by 2 or 3 minutes. Hard bike training might serve me better.)


Sandy Hookers put on a great, unpretentious little series on the Jersey Shore. I love these races; I just wish they were a little closer so I didn't have to wake up at 3 am!