Lake Marion Triathlon - Short Course - TriathlonSprint

I can't believe how well this swim went considering I only swam maybe 6 times all summer. Got off to a good start and was out in front of my wave with a few others close by to my right. Was passed before the first turn and was able to draft for a while, but he then slowed and I passed him again. Was passed again about the time we were catching up to the earlier wave before the second turn. A bit of argy bargy as Paul Sherwin would say, but was able to do a little more drafting as we made our way in. Slowed a little bit, but kept up a good pace

Train more. The swim went well, but I know I could be faster.

Felt good going into transition. Went down the wrong aisle, but as my bike was very near to the end, going around didn't waste more than a second or two. Sunglasses on while removing the wetsuit, but as I am still getting used to the aero helmet, that went on in it's own time. Only realized I forgot to put on socks as I was half way to the mount line. It was a pretty fast transition, all things considered.

Practice my transitions a little as I'd only practiced once in two years.

This is a fast course. Maybe it was slightly downhill for the first few miles, but I was flying along without too much effort it seemed. I kept up a strong pace passing people regularly from the previous wave. Was passed two or three times by people in my wave, but I wasn't sure whether they were in my AG or not. Kept pushing pretty well the whole time. With maybe 1/3 of a mile left, I started pulling my feet out of my shoes, but my right shoe popped off my pedal, so I finished up the ride into T2 with only one shoe.

Nothing. More training would have made me faster, but not too much.

Good fast transition, but had to put my socks on since I forgot before. Seems like getting socks on was easier than it would have been in T1 'cause my feet were dry.

Nothing

I felt better than I anticipated on the run. I was far from fast, but I was steady and was running instead of plodding. My pace was surprisingly steady the whole time. I slowed a little bit after maybe 2 miles or so, but not by much. I passed a couple people and was passed a couple of times. Hearing "1/2 mile to go" from a volunteer was heartening. I picked up the pace a little at that point. I picked up the pace even more with 1/4 and 1/10 mile left so I felt that my finish was strong. I don't think I could have pushed myself much more on the run than I did, so despite the slow time I was pretty happy.

This is what I need to focus on for training for next year. It is clearly my weakest leg and where I can make up the most time. Considering how little training I did this summer, I am satisfied with this run, though.

Sit. Breathe hard. Drink some water. Eventually stretch a little bit. Got a massage later on.


Limited "training" this summer.


This was a very nice race that I'd be happy to do again. The distances were strange though with a short swim and long bike for a "sprint" course. There were lots of volunteers and great spectator support. Aside from funny distances, about the only thing I would like to see different would be one more water stop on the run. Thoroughly enjoyable race, though.