Island Lake Triathlon - TriathlonSprint

I think I had a pretty good start. I was feeling comfortable with bilateral swimming, and I was satisfied with my sighting. There were a ton of weeds in the first 100m or so though. Like, I literally felt I was swimming through weeds, and even dragged some along with me. But after that it was quite fine. Then, once I rounded the far out buoy, I'm not sure if I was headed towards the beach straight shot. Also at this point I was now only breathing on one side and I didn't really think I was sighting efficiently, but I still felt good through the end. And, once I got near the beach and started running through the water, I checked my watch and saw that I had a shot to break 17 minutes, so I literally sprinted towards the timing mat!! :D

Also to note... there was something about my wetsuit that forced my back into an awkward position for the duration of the swim... it caused me to have a sore back...

I really just need to swim straighter/sight better.

A little trouble getting the wetsuit off one leg.
Overall this was fine.

I just need to move faster. I didn't think I was moving at a slow pace, but I didn't think it was fast either.

This started a little weird for me. I felt like people in front of me were starting slow. But I felt awkward passing them because they were on their aero bars, and then there was little me on my hybrid, so I just stayed put behind them while they got up to speed. After that I guess I was just coasting. Shortly after the turnaround point, there were a couple of slower girls in front of me who I wanted to pass, and I looked behind me to make sure no one was coming. There was a guy a little further back, but I didn't want to wait for him to come, so I decided to pick it up and pass the girls immediately. Well, that's when I realized that I felt comfortable at the faster speed and could keep it up (at least for a little while longer :D). It made me think I wasn't really putting in the effort in the beginning! Then it must have gotten back to the same old.

As I was nearing the end, I looked at my watch and became disappointed because it looked like I was going to have a bike split that was basically the same as two years ago. (It turns out it was slower! By two seconds, but still.) That was annoying because I felt like I put in more bike time this year leading up to the race than I did back then. I was thinking I better have a good run to follow!!

I had a couple sips of water at the aid station, which was near the turnaround point. I also had a few pieces of cut up apple bits I brought with me.

I just think the execution wasn't there. I think there were times I knew I was coasting, but I didn't do anything about it.

This is the messiest transition area I have returned to. I feel like people's stuff from both sides of my spot were in my area. After I put on my one shoe, I couldn't find my other shoe. (It was under my towel... I guess I could have done that myself during T1?! But I don't think so...)

I'm not sure if there was much I could do about my disorganized transition spot.

Although I had even splits the first two miles it wasn't consistent pacing. I guess I was slowing down and picking it up equally though. :D A couple of "major" (to me!) hills, including one at the start of the run on the grass, up a steep hill. The other being on the way back from Kensington, under the bridge and up the hill! Whenever I was on pavement and it was relatively flat, I tried to run at what I felt was pretty comfortable (or rather, comfortably hard), but I was feeling like I was going quite slow. (Heavy legs.) It felt like most of the last mile (maybe 2/3?) was on grass. Last half mile or so I really tried to pick it up and started passing many people. In short, I finished strong. :)

Throughout the run, I felt like a side stitch was coming on, but luckily, it stayed put!

I had a couple sips of water at the aid station.

hmm... maybe I would try to pick up the pace throughout the run? I would have liked to seen a faster split, but given the course profile, I think I can be happy with this...

Went to the food tent and grabbed pieces of turkey/swiss wrap and rice krispies treats. And water of course.
Walked around and watched others finish.
Randomly did some dynamic and static flexibility exercises.


Overall this went pretty well. Just need to remember to keep pushing on the bike.


A few weeks ago I wasn't sure whether I wanted a May or June triathlon, and I was actually leaning towards June... I'm glad I chose this one! This was my second time doing the Island Lake Triathlon, and I find it to be a friendly atmosphere. I didn't feel like there were too many or too few people, both on the course and before/after the event. Also lots of volunteers around. Oh and I like the t-shirt. That is important. ;)

Island Lake Triathlon:
2010: 20:16 - 2:21 - 43:15 - 1:14 - 25:47 = 1:32:52
2012: 16:57 - 2:01 - 43:17 - 0:53 - 23:45 = 1:26:50