Manitowoc Two Rivers Triathlon - Triathlon

The swim was interesting. The water was so shallow during most of the swim course that people were walking/running the majority of it. I started off running as did the rest of my wave but was the first in my wave to dive in and begin swimming because I figure swimming in water is faster than running. Then... everyone in my wave kept passing me because I apparently swim slower in water than most people run in water... SO, I stood back up and started running again until we were close to the second side of the triangle!! Once I started swimming, I was having trouble regulating my breathing and the wetsuit felt too constricted around my neck. I've never experienced that feeling in a tri. The cold water freaked me out. The lifeguard volunteers were all standing in a row along the second line of the triangle, about 6 yards apart from each other. They appeared on the left which is the side I generally breathe on so it was a little bit freaky to look over and often see a face so close to you, just staring. I rounded the second side and swam about 10 more strokes and then it got so shallow I stood up and ran (probably walked...) the rest of the way out of the water.

Spend a little more time in the water before the event getting acclimated to the temperature.

This wasn't stellar. I removed my cap and goggles then unzipped my wetsuit. I took my arms out of my wetsuit and kept my goggles and swim cap in hand, hoping they would stay inside the sleeve of my wetsuit as I took it off. They didn't. They fell out of my sleeve and into the sand and I decided not to go back to pick them up. I hoped a sweet volunteer would find them and I could claim them later. Which is exactly what happened! I ran to my bike and removed the wetsuit as quickly as possible. I put on the bike shoes, then sunglasses and helmet and ran to the mounting line. I'm glad I chose the wetsuit. It cost me a little time in T1 but it was nice to feel comfortable instead of frozen exiting the water and mounting the bike.

Hold onto my goggles and swim cap.

This was an easy and fun bike course! I never had to get out of the large chain ring in the front. I got a decent clip going from the beginning and tried to ensure I held onto a 20mph pace or higher. I kept an eye on my average speed on the bike computer and never bothered checking distance because I wanted to get that pace and decided I'd worry about the run later! At this point in my training, what's a 5K, right??? I took one Gu at the halfway point of the bike. The legs were feeling a bit tired but I was able to make passes and was pleasantly surprised that I barely ever had to get out of the aero position. I did on the first couple turns and a two of the "hillls" but on the way back to transition, I took the turns in aero and lost little speed on them. I was about one mile from transition when I was coming up behind a girl biking in her swim suit. Major kudos for her courage!! But... I couldn't let her beat me in. I passed and then was coming closer to transition. I was about 20 yards away from transition when I realized I hadn't even attempted to or even thought about getting my feet out of my bike shoes. So I quickly released the velcro on my shoes and tried to pull a foot out and unclipped the entire shoe and ain't nobody got time to mess with trying it again, so clipped back in and decided I'd run my bike in with my shoes on. Sigh... Head was not in the transition game. This course was long. Marked as a 16-miler but my computer read 16.57 and everyone we asked after the event had computer and/or Garmin readings between 16.55 and 16.66. Grrr!!!!

I should've hydrated a bit better on the bike. Also for training, I need to do speed work on the bike. This will be more of a focus this fall and winter.

This was bad. Exceptionally bad. Laughable. I made a series of mistakes. I didn't get my feet out of my shoes and didn't even THINK to do so as I was approaching transition. So I had to run in my bike shoes. I didn't HAVE to run to the wrong bike rack. But I did anyway. There weren't even that many racks and mine was marked with an orange flag... Then I racked my bike from behind and had to run to the other side to get to my running gear. Then I had a very difficult time getting my socks on my damp feet.

Probably everything. Should've cut about 40 seconds from this transition.

The run was good! I chose not to wear a Garmin as this has been an effective strategy for me in running shorter distance races this year. This way, I focus more on my breathing and effort instead of worrying about my pace and I think my pace is better because of that. I saw swimsuit girl ahead of me as I began the run. How could she have beat me out of transition????? I also was surprised to see as many walkers as I did along the run course. It was still cool at that point in the morning. I just kept trucking along at a consistent pace and was anticipating a pass from T-Bod, whose wave went out after mine. There was a water station at the halfway turn-around and I took a glass and drank it while running. Maybe I could've walked for a couple seconds to drink because I didn't hydrate very well on the bike but I figured I could get by being slightly dehydrated for another 1.5 miles. So I took in what water I could. Because all of the men started before the women (and it was a very small triathlon field...), nobody passed me on the run which was fun. I ran into the finish and hung with Mike for just a couple minutes before T-Bod flew in and ended up beating me by 4 seconds overall... damnit! :) 7:04 pace

I could have pushed harder on the run. I wish I had picked it up a bit more when I reached the halfway turn-around. I had a lot of kick left at the end and was a little too conservative with my pacing.

Drank some water. Chatted with friends. Made some new friends. Packed up the car. Went back to the finish for the awards ceremony. Collected some hardware. Was grateful for a small race field and speedy people in my age group staying away.


Since I competed in Ironman Racine 70.3 on July 21, my training focus has been on the run as I am preparing for my fourth marathon on September 22. I didn't have my mental game on triathlon and didn't think through race strategy or transitions AT ALL!


Loved the race and had a great time!!! It was a small, low-key, but well-organized race! It was fun to get in one final triathlon and break up the marathon training with a short, fast event! Mike convinced T-Bod and me to race this because it was his birthday weekend, and I'm glad we did!