TRI for FUN Triathlon #3 - TriathlonSprint

Tried a different strategy this time. Now that I'm fairly confident in my swim I decided to try a more direct route. I still hung back at the start and let most of the field get out ahead but I started from the middle instead of off to the outside edge. I swam at a good steady pace and had to pass other swimmers on both sides. There was more contact during this swim than I've experienced before but it wasn't bad at all. There were a couple of times were I caught a "wall" of other swimmers and had to swim off my line to get around them. There was more wind chop on the water in this race than I've dealt with before. I did inhale a bit of water on a couple occasions but a few coughs took care of it and I was back to rhythm. Overall I felt like this was a good swim in the traffic and wind conditions.

I was 18 seconds slower in this swim than the last race. Given swimming through traffic and some wind chop I'd say this was a successful swim. I'd probably like to be a little more aggressive to start my next race and see how I do.

Ran up into transition to my spot. Pulled the suit off but had a little trouble with the suit sticking on my left heel. Dried my feet with the extra hand towel that I brought. Sprayed on some sunblock. Helmet, glasses, socks, shoes all on. Grabbed the bike and ran for the bike mount line.I forgot to put on my bike gloves.

I'm not fast in T1 and that is something I need to work on.

I went out a bit slower this race hoping to save a little more for the run. Some pretty strong cross winds at times made this a tougher ride than last month's race. I traded places with a couple of guys more than once on the course. Just after the halfway point I had a Vanilla Bean Gu pack, same as last race. I think I drank a little too much water near the end of the ride. Took it easy spinning while approaching transition. Took my GPS watch off the bike and put it on my wrist during the last mile. There was quite a traffic jam at the dismount line and I had to dismount a bit short of the line.

Just need more seat time to be able to increase my performance and still have energy for the run. For this event I think the effort level was just right.

This transition went very well. I'm happy with T2

If I was at a level where a podium was a possibility I'd switch to speed laces of some sort to speed things up, but for now I'm happy.

I was able to set and maintain a pace I was happy with for the first 2 miles of this run. I did slow a bit during the final mile because my stomach felt a bit like I'd drank too much water. Even mile 3 was at a better pace than any previous race though.

More run fitness to maintain that pace for the full distance

Walked over and got water. More walking and then got some fruit and cookies.


Bike and run fitness. Lack of T1 practice


A PR for this course by 11 seconds. Slower on the Swim, T1, and Bike. Faster on T2 and the run. This was a great race for me and I feel really good about it.

I also got to take pictures of my wife as she finished the bike and the run portions of the race. We had a great time.

This was the 3rd race this year of identical distance on the same course. I've learned a lot about triathlon and myself through these events and while I hope to do some different events next year I hope to do at least one of these 3 again next year.