Splash-Mash-Dash Sprint Triathlon - TriathlonSprint

Mix up right before the start as there were already three people in my assigned lane so I had to jump in a different lane at the last second (which probably screwed up those two guys as I think they had worked out that they would swim sides rather than loops). Stayed right with the "fastest" swimmer in my heat. Managed to swallow not a lot of water.

More swimming, technique, and get lessons. I swam about 6 times before the race and had got my longest swim up to 900 yards. Not good enough. I also completed these "long" swims with a stroke medley; why just swim freestyle when you can "mix it up" with eight different strokes. But today I swam about 95% of the distance freestyle and felt pretty good and relaxed. Must have been the adrenaline and race setting.

Not knowing what to expect but apparently this is not a good time. Didn't really feel like I was in there this long...

Probably don't need to dry off as much as I did. Consider no socks.

Felt pretty good on this. I passed a lot and was never passed. The wind started picking up as the morning progressed so the entire second half of the course was into a headwind. Think I took in too much hydration/nutrition though and was uncomfortable towards the end.

More miles. Again, my lack of experience showed. I'd done about six rides total before the race and my longest ride was 12 miles. But I enjoy riding and don't think it will be hard for me to get into longer rides and more hill work. I'll get bike shoes and pedals soon, think about an aerobar, and hopefully these things will help me out as well.

Just had to drop my bike, helmet, and gloves and throw on a hat as I was already wearing my running shoes.

Adding bike shoes will surely change this a bit so I'll have to work on this.

Finally, something I know how to do. My legs actually felt fine coming off the bike though my stomach felt like it had a brick in it. I clipped along at 8 minute miles, picking off lots of other runners (and walkers). At about 2.5 miles though I got a killer side stitch and couldn't shake it. The hill at 3 miles was tough but I've run all of those trails a lot so I knew it was coming. I also do lots of hill work (can't really avoid it around here) and am confident in my running. The course was obviously long as it took me 12 minutes to run the last "1.1 miles" and I had picked up the pace at the end.

Just more bricks. I have a lot more room for improvement in the swim and especially in the bike and T1.

Walk, stretch, lay flat on my back. This thing wiped me out but I LOVED it! I think I ended up racing with a fever as I felt hot and now my kids are sick...


Experience and training. I've always wanted to get into triathlons and as I'm getting older, the running is catching up with my knees, etc. Swimming and biking are low impact and feel great. For about 4 weeks of training, I'm pretty happy.


It's a first time event so all in all, it was well done. The distance errors affected everyone so that wasn't a big deal but it did screw up times (I also didn't need to go any farther that I needed to on my first triathlon). Post race nutrition/beverages were lacking. There was only water to drink and nachos and cheese from Qdoba. No gatorade, bananas, bagels, etc. Plus, I really like seeing a table full of beer at the finish (this is the best thing that has happened to running races).

Will definitely do it again next year and plan on doing at least three per summer. Now I just have to figure out this open water swim thing...