Cooper Fall Sprint Triathlon - TriathlonSprint

I definitely messed up on the swim. I thought I seeded myself correctly but I guess I swam it to easy! I was cruising along and passed one person on the 2nd length then another person on the 4th length, but also got passed by a couple of people. I ended up drafting the people that passed me but didn't realize that they weren't really swimming all that fast...I really just need to start getting more comfortable at exerting a bit more effort on the swim.



Swim harder/faster. I am consistently right around 6:40/400 yds which is 366m - 16m longer than the distance for this try (though it was at at 25yd pool. I would expect to be slower at a 50m pool due to less wall push-offs, but not almost 50 seconds slower! I think I just don't want to push harder on the swim (especially a sprint) as I'm worried about getting too tired for the bike/run. I think that preparing for my next sprint, I will swim more 500 yds at a faster pace just to get myself more used to that feeling.

Comparing results over the first 4 races on this course (since the swim course was the same):

2010: 9:28
2011: 7:34
2012 (summer): 7:08
2012 (fall): 7:28
Delta from last race: 20 seconds slower!

I forgot to rubber band my shoes so took a few more seconds to get them on. Also needed to get used to twisting the boa lacing system. Overall, it wasn't a bad transition as I was 4th fastest in my age group!

Rubber band my shoes and practice getting straight into them vs pedaling with feet on top (at least for the first shoe). I may even need to start learning how to jump on the bike next year.


Comparing the last 4 races (since I was racked about the same):

2010: 0:54
2011: 1:04
2012 summer: 1:08
2012 fall: 51
Delta: 17 sec faster!

I was able to average my target watts (226W) which was about 8W higher than the race during the summer. Average HR was only 137bpm though - way too low for a race. I think I was a bit too conservative and really should have pushed a lot harder. I didn't look at HR at all when racing and if I did, I may have tried just a little bit harder because I should've been closer to 150-155 bpm for a sprint. I think I unwittingly did a Half-iron bike split. Something to fix for later.. My HIM bike split earlier this year was 144bpm so this was 7 bpm lower today.

I need to do a HR check also as I was just way too comfortable on the bike. While this gave me energy for the run, it's not how you race a sprint.

Comparing my last 3 races on this course:

2011: 31:28
2012 summer: 31:41
2012 fall: 31:46
Delta: 5 seconds slower!

I also probably should've calibrated my powermeter. I forgot that and was wondering what the effect would be of not zeroing. Last time I zero'd it was probably 20 degrees warmer so I wonder if that made the power numbers lower or higher?
I was also reading about recommended tire pressures for my tires and I have been slightly under-inflating my tires. They need to be right around 120-122psi.

I had a very clean T2. I saw the dismount line pretty clearly, and didn't have anyone around me. Did my cyclocross dismount, and remembered to unbuckle my helmet as I entered transition. Racked the bike, put on shoes with no problem, grabbed cap and racebelt and I was off and running. I put on my cap as I was leaving transition and had my racebelt clipped on as well!

Nothing. This was pretty clean and I was 1st in my AG!

Comparing the last 4 races:

2010: 0:45
2011: 0:50
2012 summer: 0:56
2012 fall: 0:35

Delta: 21 sec faster!

I thought this course was a tiny bit short but I'll take a new 5K PR (either Open or tri). I'm confident I can break 20:00 at a stand-alone 5K now. I just need to do more speed workouts as I have been focusing on training for the marathon and this was not an "A" race for me so I didn't fully taper. I ran the first half-mile a bit too slow compared to last summer (about 10 sec slower) so could've picked it up there, but I ran the rest of the splits faster!

Pick up the pace on the first half mile by a little bit. I probably could've also gone a little harder - HR average was 156bpm which is close to my half-marathon effort! I think more speedwork leading up to sprints at least in the last 4-5 weeks before a taper would be good.

Run course was the same the last 4 races:

2010: 24:01
2011: 21:48
2012 summer: 20:41
2012 fall: 20:11
Delta: 30 sec faster!

Not much - just walked around, cheered people on and got a massage.


Didn't fully taper and was training for marathon distance. I think I need more threshold work to get used to efforts at that level both for swim, bike, and run. Fitness is definitely improved as I was faster than 2 months ago at less effort. The cool temperatures helped, but I just wasn't mentally executing well at threshold effort.


I still think the Cooper sprint triathlons are the best sprint triathlons in the DFW Metroplex in terms of venue and organization. This was smaller than the summer but still attracted 300 people!

I was very happy with this race as I got a Top 10 overall finish, but my AG is just so competitive that 6 out of the Top 10, including the overall Masters was from my AG! I need to drop another 1:30-2:00 minutes to be competitive on next year's podium. I think that is doable and I believe I have the fitness to get that now, but just need to have the mental experience to race at threshold. I left about 20-30 sec in the swim with poor decision-making and too easy of an effort, and the low effort on the bike was probably another 30-45 seconds at least.

Last 3 races on this course:

2011: 1:02:46
2012 summer: 1:01:36
2012 fall: 1:00:48
Delta: 48 sec faster!