Wallis Sands Triathlon - TriathlonSprint

Good thing I got in the ocean the night before, because I have never swum in the ocean or under such conditions as these. Swells, breakers, chop, yowza. Didn't know to "duck-dive" through the breakers so I spent a lot of energy getting out to the first buoy, which seemed quick. Rounded the first buoy, and about halfway to the second buoy I ran out of steam. Did a lazy bit of breast stroke to recover and catch my breath, tried floating and kicking on my back, which was silly because I couldn't see where to go but lots of girls in pink caps were doing the same around me. Then the blue capped wave after me caught up and somehow it gave me a boost. It was hard to sight with the waves, but being surrounded by blue caps helped. I rounded the second buoy (felt like forever to get there) and hauled in with the blue group. Last swimmer in my AG, but I found out some others didn't finish it, so I suppose that's something that I finished it. Getting out of the water I couldn't believe I made it. Between the two buoys felt like survival, not swimming. I felt very little sense of propulsion and little feedback from my stroke, yet I know I was going forward because I finished the swim. I walked out of the water in a mental fog. Seeing my husband and in-laws cheering for me woke me up and I picked it up to a jog into transition.

Duck dive through the breakers, and not waste so much energy getting out there. With more experience, I would have just put my head down and kept going, but that ocean really sapped me energetically and mentally. Maybe I should stick to lakes for now.

How on earth did it take me three minutes to get through transition? I didn't think I took this long. Got unzipped on the beach, pushed it down to my waist, got out at T1, maybe spent a few seconds folding it and trying to figure out how to get it in a plastic bag before I looked at the people around me and threw it on the ground like everyone else. I was at the end of the rack so no risk of getting other people's stuff wet. Dunked my feet, dried them, got them in shoes, rolled on a shirt (clever idea, easier to put on), put on race belt, sunglasses and helmet, grabbed bike and got going.

Zip up the dang saddle bag. I totally forgot to do this and sadly lost some items in the bag that were dear to me. I am seriously bumming hard, as leaving the saddle bag unzipped is nothing new for me. :( Argh.

Seriously though, what to do differently? Hm. Not worry about where to put the wetsuit. Other than that, I thought I did pretty well. I would save time with T1 if I didn't have a wetsuit and wore a tri top and didn't deal with putting something on.

OMG, I got passed by SO many men, maybe only 3 women. I never ride with people so having other cyclists around me was a new experience. Nothing more humbling than having so many people pass you. I hope to be that fast some day.

That foggy mind feeling came back in the first few miles of the ride. I couldn't stop questioning my own mortality. Did I really get out of the ocean, or was this like The Lovely Bones and I didn't realize I had actually died in the water? Crazy. This mood eventually lifted and I started to enjoy just how flat the ride was, and got my mind back in the race.

Overall, I took in a lot of scenery, had a even paced ride, enjoyed riding on such flat roads, drank enough water, and enjoyed passing other people! :)

Not much, it was a good ride, and until I get a feel for pacing, I think I did myself a favor by not getting overly excited about the flatness and pushing too hard.

Helmet off, hat on. Bike shoes off, running shoes...hard to squish on. Feet still kinda damp?

Felt like I got through this one okay, although I didn't exactly know which way to go after I had my shoes on. This is the second time this has happened, so I should really take note of where to go for the run in the future.

Shoes were a bit of a bother. I should try speed laces!

The run felt good. Weather was great, although I appreciate some overcast skies over sunny skies. Had an even paced, comfortable run, and I'm surprised at my speed. I felt like I could have pushed so much more on the run, and only at the end of the race right before the finish line when someone said, "sprint!" did I pick up the pace.

I would have appreciated some mile markers, but I guess it's an out and back so DUH. Somehow, mentally I like to have mile markers.

Push it. 5 km is no biggie, I could have pushed a lot more for a faster time. I can't believe I ran under a 9 minute mile...I can't imagine what I would have done if I just pushed a bit more. What was I thinking? I think I was enjoying the scenery too much.

Walked around the food to see what was available but didn't feel like eating at all. I grabbed a banana and a cookie, had two bites of the cookie and didn't want any more. Got back to the hotel for a super quick shower and barely stretched before heading out to lunch with my in-laws. Walked around Portsmouth to stretch the legs which felt good.


Nothing physical or nutrition related, it was all mental. I could have pushed more on the bike and definitely on the run. The swim took it out of me and I definitely need more experience in the ocean before doing another ocean tri swim.


All the volunteers were fantastic. Packet pick up, registration, body marking, etc were all timely. Lots of portapotties and not a lot of queueing time for them. Fantastic transition area restricted to "athletes only"! Well organized, fantastic race. Only downer was one corner where there were lots of cyclists not in the race heading in a different direction, with a volunteer shouting, "pursuit racing, north". I was a bit confused because I didn't know this was a pursuit racing event. "Wallis Sands Tri" would have been better. I rode the next bit a bit slower, and the further I went without seeing anyone with a race number, the slower I got, thinking I'd have to turn around. Finally, someone came by with a number, mumbling to himself about how confused he was by the last volunteer at the corner. Otherwise, fantastic race.