Cleveland Triathlon - TriathlonSprint

Water was smooth but there were a lot of people. After getting tangled in arms and legs, I ended up swimming wide of most people between the first and second buoys. After the second buoy, I started catching the previous wave's swimmers and did a lot of fighting. When I was swimming alone, I felt great. When I was in a crowd, I had a lot of people grabbing my feet or hitting me in the back. If I would catch someone, I would breaststroke for a couple strokes to find out the best way to pass them.

Get better at passing/swimming in a group. I don't have many complaints about the swim. It actually felt a little too easy, like I was doing a slow, stretchy 500 in practice. I typically do 1:30 splits, so looking at the time, it was a little slow.

My rack was about halfway down the pier; the racks were all set up by wave. I noticed the Oly racers (who had the first 10 or so racks) had seriously quick transition times, while the Sprint men (who were 5 racks behind me) were generally slower than the women.

I had rolled my socks and put them in my bike shoes. I didn't practice transitions leaving the shoes clipped on the bike, so I ran with my shoes (slippery on the bricks) and hopped on. It was quick and fast, just as planned. Was the first off my rack :)

Absolutely nothing.

Coming out of transition was straight uphill for maybe 1/2 mile, which was a little tough for clipping in and gaining momentum. Then a mostly flat road to the on-ramp to the shoreway. The course is 2 8-mile loops - you are either ascending or descending. There are almost no flat areas! I did very well on the first 1.5 loops but my quads started to tire on the last climb. Overall, I am very happy with the bike...it was only my 2nd ride on my new Guru and I was quite comfortable on it. The aerobars make such a difference! Instead of being passed like crazy, which I was in my first triathlon 2 weeks ago, I was the one doing the passing. It felt great.

Only problem was dropping my water bottle the first time I tried to get a drink. I ran over it with my rear tire and almost crashed. I was a little thirsty the rest of the time...

Get an aerodrink system. Possibly take it a little easier on that last hill? My quads ended up aching on the run, and I suppose I could have gone too hard on the bike. I felt good while I was riding, though.

I got stuck behind a guy who was coasting towards transition in the middle of the lane and I couldn't pass him. He stopped and blocked the lane to get off his bike so I couldn't jump off and run past. I had to wait until about 60 yards later when he finally moved and I could jog past him. Again, first back on the rack :) I put Yankz on my shoes before this tri and it made such a difference in transition time. I also chugged a bit of water since I dropped my water bottle on the bike.

Pass the slow guy sooner :)

Awful, awful run! I don't even know the last time I ran a 10-minute mile. Coming out of transition, we had to immediately run a quarter-mile uphill before getting on the Shoreway. Then it was a mile out to the turnaround and back in, mostly flat. We had to run on the part of the road that had been torn up and not repaved, and I heard a lot of people complaining about the uneven surface. It was completely unprotected, and the sun was just baking the road. I had to keep throwing water on my head. Then it was uphill up the off-ramp and uphill the rest of e.9th. This was, by far, the hardest part of the entire triathlon for me. A half-mile of uphill running 2 miles into the course was just murder. My quads were about to die and I was going so slowly I might as well have walked. Finally got to the top, and the rest of the course was a rectangular .5 mile or so loop to the finish (mostly flat). I got passed by 2 girls about 400 yards from the finish - one of which was in my age group. I just couldn't catch them or keep up with them.

Not sure. I have a hard time with the run, and this was a tough course for me, especially after not having anything to drink on the entire bike ride. Maybe I went too hard on the hills on the bike, I'm not sure (but it felt fine). Considering the amount of water I drank after I finished, dehydration could have played a part.

Drank about 6 bottles of water, ate some fruit, walked around. My quads and butt were absolutely dying. Stretched, ate, drank, and waited around for the awards ceremony.


No hydration on the bike/no backup water bottle after dropping mine. Oh, and the fact that I am a sucky runner.


Well organized and a lot of fun. There was a last-minute course change because of the paving on the intended course, but it worked out well. Volunteers were great and there was no question about course layout even with the changes. Even with my disappointing run performance, I had such a blast! I was feeling incredible until I got off the bike. This race just hardened my resolve to improve my running for the next one :)