Crawfishman Triathlon - TriathlonShort Course

DNF'ed the swim. Waited for my wave to start, let them get about a minute ahead, and went out behind them. Kept running into some guy who was struggling, got way off course in the first 100 yards, tried to correct, hit the same guy again, tried again to correct, and by this point lost my rhythm and motivation to swim. Rolled over on my back to try to rest when a race official offered to pull me in via YOLO board. Thought about it a second, knew I was doing this race strictly for experience, and said "F it" and let him pull me in.

Be better prepared. I knew this was a strong possibility, so it wasn't some major disappointment. I will be ready for my next race at the end of the month though, but that swim is only 400 meters.

Since I bailed on the swim, I took a leisurely time in my transition. The timing official said to just wait for my swim wave to go out on their bikes before I go out on mine, so I geared up for my ride and patiently waited until about half of my swim wave was out of the water.

Easiest. Transition. Ever.

Nothing.

Wasn't prepared for the hills, though in all reality they weren't that bad. Had a great tailwind on the second half of the out portion which was also a net elevation drop, so I was flying through that part. 24-26 MPH was easy. Turned around, headed back up the hills, and had some nasty headwinds. Felt strong coming back, but not comfortable on the bike. I debated using my road bike because I knew this area was hilly, but decided against it. Probably wouldn't have been a bad idea. Though I don't know that I could have held the pace I did early without the aero advantage. Uphills+Headwinds=Not much time in aero. Shut down the last 3/4ths of a mile to loosen my legs up for the run. Dismounted too early and almost dropped the bike when my wife yelled to me. Duh.

Spend more time in aero, push harder through the tougher sections, not dismount 500 feet before the dismount line like a dork.

Almost dropped the bike running to transition. That was smooth. Racked the bike easily, removed helmet, put on socks and shoes, tied shoes, took a big swig of water, ran out.

Ride to dismount, get feet out of shoes before dismounting the bike, ignore the wife.

Felt strong off the bike, as I expected. Wasn't completely prepared for the hills, but they weren't an issue. I'm not used to running without knowing my pace, so I didn't go out aggressively enough. Probably left 3-4 minutes on the course, but because of the swim DNF, I'm not beating myself up over it.

Consider getting a Garmin so I can see pace/splits while I run so I'm more aware of how my pace is and if I need to push harder.

Walked around a bit, drank some water, drank a beer, ate some red beans, walked some more, talked to some friends.


My inability to swim. :)


Fun race, great location and course, friendly volunteers and competitors. Good way to spend a Sunday morning.