Caesar Creek Sprint Triathlon - Triathlon

Had a very good swim and passed a number of other division swimmers. After the third buoy (with no one left immediately in front of me to follow) had some trouble figuring out the last length. It's a rectangle. Duh.

I always say I want to see and understand the swim course before the start, and with whatever else is going on that morning (nerves, portolet, didn't arrive early enough, etc) I never manage to do so. Really had no excuse this time, just forgot.

Thought I had a good spot in the transition area as a benefit of arriving earlier than usual. As it turns out, I had to run the length of the transition area in my shoes and cleats both leaving and coming back. Nothing makes this transition faster than money spent on a tri-suit and velcro bike shoes, and at 27 seconds slower than first in my AG I'm not all that unhappy with it as-is.

If I had really looked I might have understood that my choice spot was not so choice. Maybe.

Did an elevation plot of the route and knew there would be at least one fair-sized hill about 3mi in - turned out to be much less steep than I expected, and generally spun up the hills well. Felt like I was keeping a decent pace and was only being passed by dudes in full aero kit, until my friend spun by me on a mountain bike! Water wasn't going down very well, but never got too uncomfortable. Bike remains my weakest leg of the race, but this felt like a decent effort compared to some previous.

Bike lots.

The only thing worse than running in cycling cleats is running in cycling cleats AFTER the bike leg.

Find a better place to park!

After injuring myself in late May, this was literally the first time I laced up a running shoe in more than a month. Took the run nice and easy uphill at a 9 min/mi pace with plans to push more on the return. Muddy singletrack for half the course was difficult, but everyone else had to run in it too. Got passed a LOT on this leg.

I took it easy with my injury in mind, and now several hours after the race I feel pretty much fine. Eager to get back to road and track running again ahead of the next race.

After trying to kill myself in the last 0.1mi in previous races (not really warranted at all with 24-25min finishes) I made a point not to "finish ugly". Had a couple slices of watermelon and a couple cups of water along with some stretching in the shade.


I took it easy on the run and look forward to my next race at a typical 5k pace.


HFP puts on an excellent (if not sometimes overwhelmingly well-attended) race. The weather was near-perfect, overcast and cool - the only tradeoff being wet roads and wet, muddy running. With the less-than-hour away location and time of year, I look forward to doing this race again.