Dare to Tri - TriathlonSprint

To the first buoy, it was an all out dog-fight. 68 in my wave, so there was a lot of jocking for position. I didnt get into a rythym until after first buoy. Being 13th out of 68 in my wave was very good for me. I swam without a wetsuit, and a I feel in this short of a race that I wouldnt see much advantage, and water temp was great.

Not much. Need to work on speed and endurance. I was pretty spent coming out of the water.

I transitioned very well...with one big exception. I leave my shoes clipped on bike and rubber band them into the position I prefer. I jumped on bike and started peddaling on top of shoes..unfortunately, there was a big hill at start. So, I could not put feet until after hill. Once I got on flat ground, I got my left foot in and secured. Started putting my right foot in and veered a little right...hit a drop off between the asphalt road and curb. This sent me flying. Fortunately, only scrapes to my kneees and elbow, but I quickly got on bike and clipped in. I need to reconsider if my shoes are ideal for triathlons.

Practice, practice, practice slipping into and securing shoes.

Leaving out my first mile where I struggled to get my feet in my shoes and crashing, I averaged 19.0 MPH. This may not be fast for most riders, but I am very happy with this speed. I was shooting for 16.5 to 17.0 based on my training in similar conditions. I definitely did not leave anything on the bike course. I will had HR data when I get a chance.

In my young tri career, cycling appears to be my weaknest event. I need more time on bike.

I need to get to know the course better, so I can prepare getting out of my shoes earlier. I didn't do this until the last minute and had to slow down drastically. I actually knocked one shoe off. For some reason, I was bottom third of my age division in T2. Not sure why.

Practice getting out of my shoes and riding on top of them. Know the courses better!

I accidentally wondering off the course at the beginning. Luckily, it was right near the transition area and volunteers got me on course. After pushing it hard on the bike, the first hill almost killed me. I had thought about walking and was wondering how I was going to finish the 3 miles at any reasonable pace.. Heart rate was in T5 at the top of the hill. I fought through the negative thoughts and got into my pace. I felt really good after 1.5 miles and picked up the pace. Extrapolating 3.0 miles to 5K, this would be a PR for 5k!! I was very happy. The endurance and interval training paid off big time, in my opinion.

In the last 200 yards, I kicked it down and passed a guy I met in transition. He had passed my on the bike...tricked out tri-bike worth at least 5k. It was a nice feeling to pass him at the end:0 . I know it sounds bad, but It was a good feeling.

Drink more water!

Met up with my mom! I was very happy my mom got to see me race! I had a couple friends there as well. Unfortunately, I should have done some light jogging and stretching, but I didnt...paid for it later :)


Considering I crashed on the bike and ran of the running course, I had a great race. Biked and ran faster than anticpated. I feel my training paid off and I have to learn to trust my training!