East Fork Triathlon - Sprint Distance - TriathlonSprint

Managed to break the nosestrap on my goggles, but luckily my wife had just completed the Girls Tri Too swim and I was able to snag hers. In my first tri the month before I wore jammers and pulled my bike shorts over them in the first transition. I thought a Speedo might make the shorts go on faster. So I was that guy in a Speedo with pink goggles.

I wasn't too clear about the course and never really heard an organizer explain it. Apparently it was supposed to be a rectangle swim, though it seemed that everyone in my group (me included) just rounded the first buoy we saw and headed the other direction across the lake, and then likewise back toward the finish. I just stayed right behind the pack and went wherever they went.

Not a bad transition, it just takes a while to get my bibs, socks, and cycling shoes on. I thought about riding sockless, but I don't want to run sockless and figure I have to get them on during one transition or the other. This was a typical large parking-lot transition area, meaning a good deal of running on concrete in cycling shoes and cleats.

Not much to do different that doesn't involve spending $ on some fancy gear. This season I'm spending all my $ on race fees.

They warned us to have our bikes geared down in the transition area, and the first hill does merit the smaller chain ring but it's over quickly. The rest of the course was flat to rolling with little traffic. I felt that I went too easy on the ride in my previous race and tried to push a bit more this time, with unfortunate effects later in the run.

Hey, remember that hill at the beginning of the ride? You'll have to run up that later. Maybe ease up a little.

Also, cycling with a Speedo under your bike shorts (and running in one, for that matter) is not very comfortable. I'll stick to my jammers from now on.

More running on pavement in cycling cleats. Helmet off, bike racked, shoes on and done. Can't do this much faster.

Didn't want to walk the hill. Really didn't want to walk the hill. Had to walk the hill. Either I gave too much on the bike or the previous night's nutrition had caught up to me. And that was just the "out" portion. The "back" portion I owe entirely to the sinister sriracha sauce, as I walked a good portion *down* the hill while trying to maintain the contents of my bowels. Not pretty.

Bland, carb-heavy night-before nutrition from now on, I promise.

A nice cool-down jog to the port-o-let.


Will a big bowl of pasta the night before improve your race? Maybe, maybe not. Will a big plate of pork dumplings and a generous helping of very spicy asian sauce detract from your race? Yes. Definitely yes.


The only negative aspect of the course itself is the bottleneck that is created at the entrance/exit to the park, which, with the timing of the events, leads to some cyclists bombing down the hill and other cyclists trying to climb it, while runners from every group are either making their way up or down at the same time. A volunteer can only do so much to direct traffic.