Racing for Recovery - TriathlonSprint

Prior to the race, the last open water swim I had done for time was about 20 years ago at Boy Scout Camp! My training prior to the race was limited to a 25m pool. Based on my times there, I was hoping to complete the swim in around 20minutes (I finished in 22:30). The initial run into the water and subsequent sprint to the first buoy really exhausted me. I alternated between freestyle and breast stroke. I found that using freestyle I would quickly catch others, but would start to get winded and had to switch to breast stroke which caused me to start fading back.

I felt the swim would be my strong suit prior to the race and felt I did pretty good.

Relax and buy a better swim suit. Prepare better for the initial run/sprint portion. Train on ability to swim freestyle for longer durations.

I jogged from the lake to the transition area and removed my cap and goggles with no problems. I had a water bottle on hand to rinse my feet off, but found it was too slow a process getting the mud/sand off. I had pre-positioned my socks, shoes, sunglasses, gloves, and helmet earlier, so I didn't waste time searching for my gear. Before leaving I was feeling good energy wise, so I drank about half a bottle of Gatorade/Propel.

Get a tupperware dish to clean my feet off. Practice donning my gear (shoes/helmet/etc.) to speed up the process.

The bike portion was the part I dreaded the most since I had not ridden a 'real' bike for several years. Due to some personal laziness, I didn't get around to getting my bike fixed/tune-up until a few days prior to the race. On top of that, I have a mountain bike which, despite road tires and an aerobar, is just not made for a road race.

I was passed several times, and it seemed like they were all in my age group! To add insult to injury, a gentlemen in his 60s made a comment about how much work I was having to do on my bike when he passed me. I was able to pass a few people though, so it made me feel a bit better.

Muscle fatigue crept up on me several times, but changing my posture or shifting gears helped. At the turnaround point I drank some water and had a PowerGel (strawberry-banana). The PowerGel gave me a good energy boost, but I found it too thick to eat and ride at the same time.



Practice practice practice! Get a real road/tri bike and start training well in advance! Get more comfortable with using aerobars and being in the 'tuck' position.

Since I wore my running shoes while biking, all I had to do was ditch my gear and bike and move out. Since I was feeling tired by this point, I finished the other half of my Propel and had a PowerGel (tangerine flavor w/ caffeine).

Nothing - I felt good about transitioning from the bike to the run.

I don't consider myself an excellent runner, so I was a bit concerned about how I would do on this portion, especially considering I had just finished swimming and biking. I liked the run because it was through a residential area with lots of turns. In high school I ran cross-country and always hated runs that had long open stretches where you could see a long distance.

Coming out of the transition area I felt sluggish as my legs made the switch from biking to running. However, I was more than surprised that I ran so fast (for me). A part of me feels that the course was a bit short of 3.1miles though...

Overall I felt good about my run time, but I can always train more.

After crossing the finish line I walked around a bit in an effort to cool down. I also had some water. I started to feel my lower thighs cramping up, but heading over to the food table and eating two bananas took care of that right away.


Not training enough before hand. I didn't register for the race until about 3 weeks prior to the race. Consequently, I really had a short time to get my act together. My intensity levels during my workouts were good though.


The Racing for Recovery and 3disciplines volunteers and staff did a great job for my first triathlon. I had a great experience and talked with several nice helpful people. I will definitely be doing more triathlons!