TOBAY Triathlon - TriathlonSprint

Rough bang up start. The race announcer said our wave had the most people at 158? people. Banged and bullied out to the first bouy and was in the lead group of 5 as we turned. Shortly after we caught some pink hats from the heat before and the next bouy seemed to keep getting farther away. Myself and a few others went after it with gusto until a kayaker yelled to turn right - a bouy had come off its weight and was floating off ... damn it I was off course YET AGAIN. Now we swam directly into the sun - thankfully I had goggles with tint but still it was rough - all I saw was light and white churn and I just pushed forward as hard as I could keeping the bouy's to my right. Seemed to be alot of colors around me as well as a bunch of light greens from my wave as I hit the beach - I was mad - I think I had a solid swim in me today.

Not rip the leg off my wetsuit as I got ready. Two more races for the season and now have to make some choices in regards to that. I went out aggressive and strong and drafted as I could and felt awesome until I went off course and had to swim into the sun. Stay on course - don't get mad just get through it.

Had to tear off electrical tape to get my leg out of the taped up wet suit. Should have done that before rolling it down. There was a 100yd run from the water to transition that was calculated separate for everyone (which I though was strange). Did that in 1:58 which while solid in my group was also lousy for the top 400 in the field.

Quick removal of wetsuit would have shaved maybe 40 seconds? I have no idea I took a drink also since I hate the sea water taste - maybe I should skip that also. Went sockless on the bike.

On the bike I believe only 4 people passed me (permanently) some got me but I reeled them back in. I passed a ton that I assumed were from earlier waves. Was way to the left and pretty much hammering it and yelling except on the one tough hill that I spun up in a granny gear. Not a USTA sanctioned event so I guess I could have latched onto one of the guys that went past me and tried to glue to their rear wheel.

If I do this race again (and I may since it was fun and I made podium) - I can and will push harder on the bike - if I get the opportunity I guess I will draft since it is not illegal. I should be able to shave some time off by hammering harder on the downhills but since I broke my collarbone I am slightly more tentative. Happy to have a top 200 bike time against this field, and that I crushed my brother by almost 2 minutes.

My rack was on the far side of transition and I had to double back to the run start. Took bike shoes off and had socks/sneakers on quickly. Already had race number on (I put that on when I put on my helmet). Left sunglasses on, took of helmet put on my Road ID hat and grabbed my single fuel belt bottle.

Could have saved a few seconds by skipping socks. This is actually one of the best T2 times I have ever had (unfortunately) but in this case I am pleased.

Flat out of the park and then a steep uphill ... people walked I plodded on. The road turned and then progressed steadily uphill for a mile and a bit before turning back down. I was able to yell to teammates (encourage them in both directions - "Go Sunrise Tri!") I was chugging down the downhill portion and saw Yusuf about two minutes behind and encouraged him to catch me. Was getting fatigued as I hit the park and my brother was there screaming for me to kick it. I gave it all I had with a sprint and someone was right at my shoulder. We passed 5 people with a hard sprint finish and he got me by .01 ... another teammate who had WAY better run than I did and nipped me at the finish.

I ran steady to the turn and then pushed it hard on the return but basically blew my wad before I hit the park. If my brother had not been there encouraging me to kick it up a notch at the finish I don't know if I would have given it all I had - I did - and nearly vomited at the end and needed a few minutes to compose myself. Looked at my time and figured I had missed podium by about 1:30 ...

Dumped a water on my head. Dry heaved and bent over for a few minutes. Stayed at the finish to congratulate TST guys in and around the finish.


My weight - I need to get lighter. My main focus from October to January will be to do core, a round of P90x, some Bikram yoga and longer distance running. My goal will be to get more flexible, stronger and lighter while at the same time building stamina before the new training season starts in January.


There were a ton of volunteers and surprisingly I knew a lot of them! The race started on time and the waves went off like clockwork. I did not take anything on the run course but there were 3 aid stations for the short distance. The post race food, ice cream, beer all made for a nice party atmosphere.

My best TRI to date because I hit a podium but next year when I hope to be an AG'er and not a clyde my run fitness must be way better to even dream of thinking of another podium finish.