Square Lake Triathlon - Short Course - Triathlon

Great morning for a race and a beautiful lake for a swim. The course is set out nicely with an ankle deep start. Again I lined up in the back mostly because of the distance of the swim and again was running all over traffic the first 100-200 yards. after 200 yards or so I was able to draft off someone and it felt easier but I was not sure if I was going slower or faster because of it. I pushed hard for a bit and passed him. From there I felt alone with great navigation until the turn buoy. There I ran into a few people but made the turn fairly well and turned in. There was a small line of people and I managed to get around them on the inside. The rest of the swim I was all alone. I struggled with sighting because of the sun. I trusted that the splashing about 20 yards in front me of were other swimmers and I followed them to the shore. I am happy with my performance as all past races have shown that this is my race swim pace. I am hoping to improve that in this off season. The run up the stairs is killer!

Start more towards the front, again! Put in more swim time!

The run up the stairs is brutal. I passed a few people going up while they were walking but I felt like I was about to explode when I got to transition.

Nothing I think it went well

Hills, friend or foe?

Hills are my weakness and this course caters towards my weakness. I would often get passed on the climb but pass that person back on the descent or in the flat. One of the roads is in terrible shape. Speeds as slow as 11 mph with a max of 34. I ran out of gears on some downhills. I felt aero with my new aero helmet!

Work on hills or sign up for a race with little climbing.

T2 went extremely well nothing to really say about it. Ran with bike racked it removed helmet put on running shoes visor was was gone. put my race belt on as i crossed over the timing mat.

There is no way it only took 13 seconds, looking at the results there are several T2s under 10 seconds, How can that be?

Hills, friend or foe?

The hills killed me again and my race time reflected such.

Work on hills or again sign up for a flat course.

Grabbed some water and some salted nut rolls and went in the lake to cool off. I changed out of my race gear and came back for awards but they were running late. I waited and finally decided to leave.


Hills


Square Lake is an ideal place for a triathlon swim and the stairs to T2 offer a unique experience. The bike course is in rough shape in a stretch and made the race less enjoyable. The race events were late. The biggest let down of the day is crossing the finish line and seeing water and chex mix. Thanks to Gear West we got a hot dog.