Square Lake Triathlon - Short Course - TriathlonSprint

Started out strong and was holding with the lead group. About 300 yards in, chest felt really constricted, but pace seemed about normal. Had to back it down for 10-15 seconds and as a result got left in the dust by the lead pack. Pretty much remained in no mans land for the remainder of the swim. Sighting was difficult rounding the last buoy and just had to guess on the sight line all the way in. Couldn't make out anything to sigh off of. Just went with it and ended up off line by about 30 yards once I got inside the shadow of the hill. Corrected and out of the water.

Don't know where the chest constriction came from, training speeds have been much faster than this. No change in wetsuit or in tri kit. Something just didn't feel comfortable. Once I backed it down I got the rythm back up to the same cadence as before.

I love the T1 at this race. You come out of the water and have to climb about 50 wooden stairs to get up to the transition area. It never feels good, but there is just somehting about it that I like.

Need to work on getting feet into shoes faster, I lost a little time on the bike trying to pull the shoes on. It took until about 1 mile into the bike before I finally got my feet all the way in the shoes and strapped down.

The hills killed me this year, I just couldn't hold pace. Got passed a lot on the uphills. Had some nice stretches at 34+ mph, always been able to pull fast on the false flats and the downhills. Still having difficulty getting into the shoes on the bike. When the I start with me feet on top of the shoes they collapse, I can't seem to get them open enough to get my foot in.

I have never been strong on the hills, but during the offseson I need to focus on more strength training and dropping 15-20 lbs to be more efficent on the uphills. I still question whether or not there is a geometry/gearing/ crank length issue with the Cannondale Slice 5 in the 61cm. After a full season on it, I just don't feel like the power is there. I could have easily held a 23 mph average on my roadie with clip ons. Although it is likley just my riding style that needs to change to match it. I have been professionally fitted on it twice. I will have to do some more reading this off season to understand tall guys and suggested gear ratios and crank lengths and testing on the trainer to get it figured out.

Good transition. Except when I jumped off the bike, my feet were numb. It felt like I had two bricks hanging off the bottom of my legs. Ran to transition space and got out quick.

Nothing.

Once again the hills killed me. It took about a mile before I got the feeling back in my feet. Started out at 7:30 pace. Planned to negative split each mile, but the hills threw a wrench in that plan. Pace bounced around a lot from 6:05 to 8:45 depending on whether or not I was going uphill or downhill.

Again need to probably lose 10-15 lbs this off season to really make any substantial drops in pace per mile average. The run felt good as long as I was on flats or going downhill. The uphills, just simply hurt.

1 mile cooldown with light stretching. Then off to Perkins for the tremendous twelve and the last carbs of the season.


Again need to probably lose 10-15 lbs this off season working with masters at least two days a week and strength training two to three days a week with some two-a-days for run/bike. Already met with the nutrionist and have a plan. Meet with the trainer in two weeks for strength training.


I love this race. Probably one of the best venues for tris in the cities with a challenging bke and run and the water in the lake is very clear. Water temps are on the coolside, but comfortable. This year was a 20 minute improvement on the course in similar conditions from last year, but that was due to the amount of work I put in this summer compared to last summer. That and the amount of weight that I was able to drop this spring.