Pain in the Alleganies Triathlon - Short Course - Triathlon

This year all the sprint racers started together, meaning that both men and women started at the same time. On my way towards the first buoy it was very crowded. There were men and women swimming on both sides, in front and behind me. I decided to swim breaststroke until I had more space.

Once I felt less crowded I did freestyle for a while but the water was very choppy and I swallowed a big gulp of water. I coughed and sputtered for a few minutes but managed to keep going forward.

I felt slow and cold during this swim. I got to the first buoy and remembered that from buoy 1 to 2 last year was shallow and full of seaweed. While it wasn't shallow this year, the seaweed was still there! I felt like I was swimming with a cargo net around my legs, arms, and neck.

At this point I was close to the end of the pack of swimmers, my arms were cold and all I could think was, "Just keep swimming!" I could hear swimmers behind me breathing hard and could see swimmers ahead of me doing the back stroke.

I finally came to the 2nd buoy and made the turn towards the shore. A guy swam by me on my right but I was able to catch up and pass him. Once I could reach the bottom I half swam/half ran towards shore. The crowd was cheering the swimmers on and shouting words of encouragement.

From the beach to transition you run on the sidewalk and it was freezing! I pulled off my cap and goggles and unzipped my wet suit. I had it halfway off by the time I entered transition.

I'd like to be able to swim freestyle for the entire swim portion of a triathlon. I know that I can swim 1000 yards of freestyle in the pool without any difficulty. Once in the cold lake though, it's like I panic and resort to breaststroke. This is definitely an area that I want to work on for next year.

It was cold and I was wet! I had a hard time putting on my long sleeved shirt, I think due to the fact that it is fuzzy on the inside and I was dripping with water. I had a much better time with my socks and shoes for this transition that ones earlier this year. I had also gotten speed laces for my bike shoes which helped my time. I chose not to put on my calf sleeves in order to save time.

Not sure, this transition was okay. I would probably have been faster if I had chosen to wear a t-shirt, but I get cold so easily that wasn't really an option for me.

I felt good on the bike. I rode the first 4 miles with my husband and then went ahead. There was a woman doing the duathlon who I played leap frog with for the duration of the bike course. On the way back down the hill my husband passed me on the bike course, but I entered transition just a couple minutes behind him.

Looking back on my efforts, I probably could have gone faster, but at the time, I felt pretty good.

My feet and calves cramped up as I was changing from bike shoes to run shoes. This likely added 30 seconds to my transition time.

Not have cramps?!?!

I felt really good on the run portion this year. I had no issues with transition from bike to run. I kept a good pace and was able to relax and enjoy the run. I actually finished the run feeling like I could keep going. This was encouraging since I plan on moving up to the Olympic distance in 2014.

Not much, this run felt good.

I grabbed a water at the finish line and walked around while I waited for my husband to finish.


The coldness, my lack of confidence in the water.


Once again, this event ran smoothly and there were lots of volunteers.