Sportspectrum River Cities Triathlon - TriathlonSprint

Well, I was hoping to be the first female out of the water, but I will have to be content with the 3rd!

I would try to build the first few hundreds better and then come backa little faster. I was in striking distance of one girl- I should have stayed tough and passed her the last 200!

I really need to learn to race transitions with shoes already on the bike. It is a work in progress and I am ok in training, but I am not race ready just yet!

I would have had some water before leaving transition.

Almost DNF- I thought I was going to have my first one yesterday in my race. The hills at mile 5 and 8 were brutal- I looked down and was only going 8 MPH and people were just zipping by me! It was not like the first few miles were smooth sailing either; Durning the first couple of miles my legs were on fire! I thought I had to be going 18-19 MPH by the burn in my legs, but when I looked down at the speedometer- 14.5! By the time i reached the top of the hill at mile 8 I was so disappointed and frustrated at this point I was not sure if I could finish. While I was thinking about the possible DNF and all the excusses I could come up with, cruising down the first down hill in what seemed like an eternal climb, I passed a guy on the side of the road. As i passed him, in all my frustration and self pity, I could see that this guys head was hanging low. His entire left side on his back was bright pink with road rash and his left shoulder was dripping blood from his split open shoulder. The bike he was leaning on looked almost as bad, though I did not get a clear view of it because I was distracted by the wounds on the man and the wounds on my pride. I thought, here is a guy that will have a DNF- a ligitimate DNF. Not one full of excuses from frustration. I decided, after seeing this poor guy, that I was being a baby and I thought that I needed to toughen up. Of course I could (and should) finish. There was nothing wrong with me other than the fact that I hate hills and I was not performing on them like I would have wanted to. I am thanksful for the man at Mile 10, though he was injured and possibly DNF because of what looked like a pretty bad fall, his hardship was a revelation and an inspiration to my thought process. The last 8 miles were faster, more focused, and positive.

I would have had a better attitiude on the first part of the ride. I need to go out and train on hills if I am ever going to be comfortable on them. Over all it is one of my best rides (MPH average) ever, It is still just so slow compared to everyone out there. I would love to be competitve on the ride.

I am trying to learn how do dismount barefoot with petals still attached, Maybe I can try in Texasman. Other wise it was a good trasition- pretty fast.

The run yesterday was one of my better runs. I think I have been faster only a couple of times in tri's. I think that I started out a little slow in the first mile. I felt pretty good cardio wise, but my legs were pretty tight. I should have forced them out more in the first mile and I probably could have finished in a best run time. The second mile was run well and I built into the last mile. I walked through all aid stations for water and a cold towel.

I think I probably need to train a few more bricks so that I can pace mile 1 a little better.

Does a 5 hour car ride home count as a warm down? After the race, we went back to the hotel, I took a shower, pack up and left. My legs were aching most of the ride home. I had a really bad headache when I arrived at home and all I did was lay down on the couch for the rest of the evening! I am very sore today!


I think that my mental breakdown on the ride (mile 5-9) limited my ride potential. Otherwise, I think I need to practice better transistions and a few more bricks (one a month is not enough to be comfortable from ride to run).


I really like this race! I think it is set up to be pretty fast. There are plenty of volunteers and race staff to help along all courses and in transition.