Wallis Sands Triathlon - Triathlon

1.5 miles, 13:14, 8:49 pace. I went waaaaay too slow on this run. I started out towards the back because it was the biggest wave of the day (Clydes and 44+ I think), so I figured I'd just settle in. I could have gone a lot faster, it was drizzling and nice and cool, I just didn't throw it out there.

Go faster and learn my pace. I was cautious because of the run/bike/run setup since I've never ran before the bike before I didn't want to cook my legs too early.

Took my shoes off, but my bike shoes on and walked my bike to the line. I didn't want to have wet feet during the bike, but my shoes were soaked anyway even with a bag over them, so I should have saved the time and just kept the shoes on the bike.

Not much I could do. Never practiced it this way before.

I was very cautious on the bike because it was so wet out from the pouring rain before that I didn't want to slide or crash. Of course one of the guys was talking about how brutal the bike would be, etc, etc because of the rain. I didn't think it was slippery at all so I'm kind of upset at myself for not pushing more on the bike. I had a lot left. I don't think anyone from my div passed me and I ended up passing lots of the women AGers from the previous 2 waves and some of the males from 3 waves ahead. I was back and forth with one guy who just had a very uneven stroke on the bike, so after a few exchanges of place I thought I could just drop him with a good 20 second haul. I passed him at a flat and figured that was that, but he came huffing and puffing up behind me telling me it was his goal to keep up with me. He was in tough shape and asked why I wasn't breathing hard so I just said something like I'm saving it for the run.

I'd like to say I should have gone faster and pushed more, but my first ride in rain on roads I'm not 100% familiar with, I'll take how I did it. I was over 20 mph and felt like I kept a good pace with others around me.

Decided to take my feet out and put them on top of my shoes into T2. Hell, my feet were soaked, it didn't matter, my only option was if I wanted to change socks or not. I went against changing socks once i saw what looked like 2 or 3 other big guys (possibly clydes, clydes aren't labeled) a few seconds behind me.

Not a lot. Felt quick, the Yankz help a ton with the shoes. Love them.

Heading into the run I didn't know if any clydes were ahead of me. I passed 2 right away at what I thought was just a smooth pace. I ended up behind 2 other guys who seemed to be moving well so I just stuck with them. I messed up my watch so I didn't have a good idea of pace, so I just based it on effort which I felt was a little low on the way out but I was still doing all the passing and not getting passed. At the turn the guys slowed to a walk to grab water but I just grabbed two cups real quick, splashed one and drank one and took the turn. I found another guy who had a much faster pace and stuck with him for a lot of the way back in. If I had to guess I was more 8:30-45 on the way out and 7:30-ish on the way back in. It felt good though.

I probably could have kicked it up if I saw any other clydes near me, but it turns out one finished only one minute ahead of me and the other was actually 7 minutes ahead

Pizza, water, gatorade, I felt good so not too much. I went and checked the results and saw that I was 3rd and was kind of surprised, I figured there were a bunch of guys in front of me I didn't know about. I went to the awards table and they said no, then I went back later and confirmed I was 3rd. My first podium, so that was cool. I'll probably always be a clyde, so I might as well do it for most races. I would have placed 11th if I raced my AG (30-34). All in all I took over 10 minutes off my time from last year, and that was with no swim and a slippery bike. I had fun.


After looking at results I was kicking myself for not going harder on the first run. They were both 11:XX on the first run but I slacked off at 13, that would have put me in second and probably on the leaders heels at the start of the bike. Our 5k runs were all within 30 seconds. I also really wish they had the swim. I'm not a strong runner in an overall way, but for a clyde I think I do ok now that I've put in so much time, so I think I would have been in a better position out of the water than I was off the run.


Even with the rain cancelling the swim it was still a good race. This was my first repeat race and I see no reason to ever stop doing it. Great venue, great directors, just really like the race.