Sylvania Triathlon - Sprint Distance - TriathlonSprint

The swimming course seemed shorter to me than the previous 2 times I've done this race. However, I've been terrible in the swim in my previous attempts, so I decided to stick to the outside. This strategy worked really well for me. The only issue I had was swimming away from the first buoy about 100 yards into the race. I corrected that and did a better job of sighting the rest of the swim. I passed a lot of people who went out in front of me, but I still have a lot of work to do in this area. It went well for me, though. There is a run on the beach after the water and I ran through the sand. I was happy about that.

Not much. My strategy was to stick to the outside and I did that. I just need to keep improving my breathing and technique.

I was really happy with my transition time. This was my first race using cycling shoes. I'm not comfortable having them on the bike and just jumping into them, so I put on socks and shoes after the swim. I didn't dry off, I just threw on the shoes, my shirts, helmet, and sunglasses and went. My water bottle wasn't secured betwenn my aero bars well enough and fell when I took the bike off the rack. I just left it because I didn't want to waste any time.

Secure my water bottle!

I was happy with my performance on the bike. The course is very slightly uphill on the way out, so it's downhill on the way back in. I tried to keep it around 17 mph on the way out, and I was around 20-21 on the way back in. The hardest part for me is staying positive while people are blowing past me. I just tried to remind myself to just race my race. I didn't get to cycle much outside, but I took a lot of spin classes. Those helped more than I thought they would, but I need to get on the actual bike more.

At some point, I'll purchase a road bike which should help here. I used a hybrid, which is fine for me right now.

The only problem with this transition was switching shoes. However, it was still pretty good.

Not much, just get quicker with everything.

This is where I need to improve the most. I'm a hefty gentleman (about 245 lbs), and this is where my weight really caught up with me. However, I'm down 20 lbs from last year and plan to be closer to 215 for next year. I did well for me on the run, but I definitely need to get better. I felt pretty good and had some kick at the end, but I need a 3-4 minute improvement here.

Continue to lose weight and improve fitness. I will also do more speed work in preparation for next season.

None.


My weight and overall fitness. However, these are vastly improved from last year (I improved about 18 minutes) and will continue to improve.


This is the only triathlon that I'm done (3 times). It's really great, though, and I look forward to it every year. I'll be back for a long time.