Chisago Lakes Triathlon - Sprint Course - Triathlon

I tried to place myself mid pack because that is where I think my swim talent belongs. I always seem to swim past the first 1/4 of the wave in the first 100 yards. with the other 1/4 still ahead of me. It took about 150 yards to get into the groove of things and by the first buoy I made the turn and was able to swim my race the rest of the way.

I keep saying I want to move up to a longer distance but the swim is the biggest obstacle. Planning on masters swim group starting this fall and hope to begin next season as a better swimmer.

Start more towards the front of the pack. I by no means am a strong swimmer but I seem to do well. Maybe I am still a bit timid due to my swim experience. Need to work on bi lateral breathing, weak to the right.

UP the hill kind of killed me as I was still recovering from the swim. My bike was directly in swim in so I was there immediately. I brought my wetsuit to my ankles and placed my helmet and glasses on while trying to kick my legs free. It worked with my right side but my left ankle was stuck with the timing chip. Bent over to pull it off over the chip. I also added 15-20 seconds by putting on my garmin watch. It was nice to have but I will likely save it for T2 since my cycle computer gave me all the info I needed.

I would not put on my garmin in T1. I would like to have it on for the run so I will put it on in T2 in the future.

I did not know how competitive my time was going to be so I was disappointed that I did not hurry and sort of slacked in T1. It is possible I could have shaved 30-45 seconds off.

Put my bike near Bike out, these were assigned racking spots.

Not a whole lot to say. I felt good and pressed hard but not to hard and saved enough for my run. My previous 2 races I consumed a gel midway on the bike and did not on this race. I think my body is comfortable with 0 calories in a race less than 2 hours. I did have about 10 ounces of water mixed with 6 ounces of gatorade. 16 ounces total. worked great.

I maybe could press a bit harder but I am very pleased with my performance

My dismount was flawless. There was a group of 4-6 cyclists not to far in front of me heading to dismount. They all bunched up and were using the traditional dismount by stopping the bike and walking/running in their cycling shoes. There was a large enough gap on the left side of dismount where I took advantage of my flying dismount. I passed all of them and never looked back. This was the highlight of my race. I overheard a guy say "wow look at that guy fly by" I assume he was talking about me. For those of you who have seen my first attempt at a flying dismount. This was much improved.

My tongue on my shoe was not positioned properly so I had to adjust it about 50 feet into the run.

Nothing to really say. Did not take in any fluids as the weather was not hot.

Grabbed a turkey wrap, strawberries, and a banana. Talked with my family and they left. I waited for some results to come out and I saw I had finished 5th in age 30-34 which I was excited about. Then I left. It ended up being 4th with the online results. I think an 30-34 grouper won overall


Overall I though this race went great for me. If I have to say one thing it would be the swim. If you look at my logs you can tell my swim volume has decreased. I have no complaints.


It is always cool to get a finishers medal but only the HIM got them. It would be nice to know your wave assignments the day prior instead of finding out the morning of. I did not stick around for the awards but it seemed like a great event with my very limited experience.