FIT Triathlon - Sprint Course - Triathlon

While I had a great swim, it was not my favorite. Water was murky and very hard to see. Tried to draft but had a hard time judging the distance to the feet in front of me. Eventually got to the side and ended up passing him. I like the concept of the venue but I'm just not a fan of lake swims in south Florida, however, the presence of alligators seems to motivate me.

Based off the time and overall placing, nothing. Very happy with this swim.

Very short run from swim exit to T1 entrance. Transition was very sloppy due to all the rain during the 2 prior days. Again, there was a very short run from T1 exit to the bike mount line. The transition zone itself was two long lines of racks, 1 for the sprint and 1 for the OLY. Only issue was how narrow it was, racks were parallel to the fences so there was no room to put bags by the fence. Everything had to be next to or under your bike.

NOT HIT STOP ON MY GARMIN!!! Not sure what I was thinking, but I hit the START/STOP button as I exited the swim instead of the LAP button. Fortunately, I realized what I did when I hit the same button as I got on the bike and my watch said to "start swimming." I quickly hit the Lap button twice and got back on track. Really need to find something to keep my sunglasses from fogging up while I'm swimming.

Squirrelly! That's all I can say about that. The sprint was a single loop of a course that had multiple hard 90 degree turns, loose sand, rocks, two way bike traffic on the wrong side of the road, cobble stones, standing water, uncontrolled intersections, and a dismount area that was literally right where the runners were exiting from T2. There was one crash just ahead of me on the two-way section. Almost hit a volunteer when he stepped out in front of me without looking. Had 2 other close calls, one when a rider passed me just before the cobble stone section and then abruptly almost stopped to go over the cobbles, and one later when a car passed just before an intersection then attempted to make a right and entered into the bike lane. This course has some serious flaws that need to be addressed.

Other than redesign the course, not much. Felt very good on the bike. Speed on the straight sections was good, wish the turns didn't kill so much of my speed. Just need to keep riding.

The dismount line was not very well marked and I was almost on top of it before I realized it was time to get off the bike. The dismount line was right near the exit of T2 which created a section of the course where you had cyclists and runners on the same stretch of road at the same time. Transition conditions had deteriorated to the point where it was now mostly mud and grass clippings. Took a few extra seconds to clean off the feet before heading out on the run.

NOT LOSE A CLEAT WHEN JUMPING OFF THE BIKE. Still not sure how that happened, but my left cleat popped off as I jumped off my bike. Had to stop, turn around and go back for it. Luckily, a volunteer had picked it up and handed it to me. My other dumb move was to run back to my bike and drop my empty gel wrapper, DUH!!! There are garbage cans at the water stations!

Course was long. The sprint was about a 3rd of a mile longer than advertised and those poor people doing the OLY ran well over an extra half mile! For a simple out and back, that is unacceptable.

Train, lose weight, and learn to accept the suck.

Tried to find shade but the only place was inside of the registration tent and without a breeze it was too hot in there. Found the beer tent, grabbed a cold one, went back to the truck and used the water they handed me at the finish to rinse off and then changed into some clean and dry clothes. Headed back to the finish line area to cheer on some teammates that were racing in the OLY.


The layout on the bike course and the extra length on the run. Besides that, lack of training and attending 2 parties the day/night before a race.


Although this is a race that has been put on for many years by a local tri club, this is only the second or third year at this location. There are plenty of details to be worked out. I preferred the beach location versus the rowing complex. Not sure I will be doing this one again.