Terramuggus Sprint Triathlon Series - Race #3 - Triathlon

Goggles broke when I came in from warmup and was fortunate to have my backup pair.

Planned to try to start out strong this time, as my last report noted that I thought I could swim faster. Ha! What a joke. I am not a swimmer and am even more undertrained than when I did this last year. What was I thinking?

Started off quickly and tried to hold onto Kevin's feet (yes, the fish from Master's), which lasted 2 strokes. Then found someone else and tried to hold a strong pace. Well, after about 2 or 3 minutes of this, I was seriously breathing hard and was quite uncomfortable. Slowed down, did backstroke and actually was keeping up. Someone even swam behind my feet. (I wonder if he noticed they were upside down...) but my breathing was still uncomfortably fast so I flipped over and just went r-e-a-l-l-y slow for a couple of minutes until it was tolerable.

Able to be smooth again for the last few minutes to the turn buoy and then swam relaxed behind someone the rest of the way in. Much, much better for the second half. Ironically, much quicker also.

Start slowly and just go easy for the first half and pick it up a bit if able on the back half. Find feet and stay relaxed and smooth. Message to self: DO NOT PUSH EARLY!

transition included about 1 minute of the swim time. I was much faster than last year. Breathing was uncontrolled coming out of the water and I was a bit dizzy and probably overheated. Planned to drink some cooled G2 that I had iced on the bike.

Nothing really

Tried to go out hard and catch as many faster swimmers as I could. I was still mad at myself for messing up the swim and wanted to punish myself. Picked off a dozen people on the first half of the first loop but it was hot and I was still breathing hard. Made a decision to slow down a bit at that point.

Pushed hard on the downhills. Need to train more to hold a moderate intensity up a long, gentle hill. My right calf cramped a bit and I think that was the heat/dehydration.

Overall a pretty good ride.

Try to be more evenly paced. Not smart to burn a few matches early on to try to recapture lost time on the swim.

T2 was included in the run segment and I'm pretty sure I kept it to 30-40 seconds, max. I was quick with shoes-bike shoes off, no socks, run shoes pulled on (no laces). Then off to the run course. Grabbed sports beans which was a good idea to do. Also had put a few cough drops in my back pocket late on the bike to have later-good decision.

Sadly, I saw Kevin the fish on the side of the road and noted that he had a DNF. I presume he had a flat...

Nothing

Started out with a strong cadence and legs felt good. I remembered that it is fairly shaded and has a few tiny rollers before the long downhill. Tried to lengthen stride on the downs and stay quick and light all other times.

Overall went ok. It was hot. I should have drank some during the run and although I wouldn't have reversed the beginning of dehydration, it would have felt good and I doubt I would have sacrificed much time.

Got passed by 2 guys in 'cyclonauts' kits and stayed on their heel. We came up to another younger guy with his head down. I told him to 'stay with me and to pick it up'. We passed the 2 guys and tried to track down the next guy who was about 250M ahead of us. I sprinted ahead of him near the end and he came in behind me but I couldn't quite catch the guy in front of me.

After the finish, the guy in front of me said he 'heard me coming and picked it up!'. The guy I ran with thanked me for helping him hold 'that strong pace at the end'.

Nice
:)

Drink more.

Grabbed the goggles and swam in the lake for 10 minutes. Water was warm!



Started out too fast on the swim.
Need more bike training to be able to push a bit on the uphills in short races and hold a high cadence in a bigger gear.
Need brick runs with tempo running to be able to hold a faster pace in these shorter races.


I still love the venue. Easy to get to. Low key and some good competition.