Celebration Sprint Triathlon - TriathlonSprint

This was my second time doing this event and the swim is my best leg. I placed high in my AG last year, so my expectations were high. Still, at the start I wasn't sure how I would do. I got behind a few people and had somme trouble fighting my way through them. Once we made the turn at the first buoy the field had thinned out. Ended up just behind the second place AG finisher for the last third of the course. I just couldn't get past him.

Make sure I am in the front row at the start to clear the field easier. Train more, work on my form to see if I can cut some more time off.

I don't worry about my transition times too much (although maybe I should). My biggest difficulty was getting my tri tank top on. It sticks to a wet back. I ride in socks and MTB shoes, but I had them prepped as much as possible for putting them on quickly. My other issue is with the height of the bar that holds the bike. Since I'm tall, I have to unhook my seat from the bar, back it up and raise the front of the bike almost 90° so the seat will pass under the bar.

Figure out a better way to get my shirt on so I don't fight with it. Overall, I just need to work on getting through transition faster.

I added clip on aero bars to my road bike recently and used them whenever possible. Without shifters on them it was tough to adjust to the seemingly constant elevation changes while on the aerobars. I rode on the hoods for the up hills and in the drops for most of the down hills. My pace was nearly 1mph greater than last year, so I was pleased.

Train more for the bike. It's the long, gradual hills where I lose the most time. Also, I may look into re-gearing my bike. It's a triple, so the middle chainring is geared pretty tall. I may look into getting a smaller one.

I have the same trouble racking my bike as I do taking it off. I took my time in T2 because I was worried about a calf injury I got last year. I made sure my shoes were tied to my liking and took some time to stretch my calves and hamstrings before starting out.

Look into some method to speed up my shoe change.

I was apprehensive about this. Last year, my right calf seized up on the large, steep hill at the ~1.5mile mark. I was nervous about this happening again. I think I identified the root cause a couple of weeks ago as poor form in my biking. I tried to have better form during my bike leg for this race. To start the run, I had a stitch in my side and was very worried about my calf, so I took it very slow to start. I walked up the biggest hills to try and feel out my calves. Once the course flattened out at mile 2.5, I was able to pick up my pace. Even with walking the hills, I still improved my pace over last year when I limped for 2 miles.
Overall - better than expected.

Get my calf soreness under control and add more run training time.

Cooled off, got some fluid, ate a bagel and some Oreo's. Took a nap when I got home.


My apprehension about my running ability and my lack of power on the bike.


I'm looking forward to trying to go faster next year.