Jordanelle Triathlon - Sprint Distance - TriathlonSprint

Because of my awesome pre-race time management, I had to dive in the lake and start at the back of the pack. I had a really hard time passing people and wasn't able to swim fast at all until I rounded the first buoy. Then the main pack started heading toward a boat instead of the buoy, so I was pretty much free to swim on my own. I made up a bit of time, but still didn't end up with the best swim.

Note that the timing system wasn't working properly for the swim. I hit 20 mins right before I ran into transition, which included removal of the wetsuit, putting on running shoes and running the 1/2 mile "Trail of Tears."

As I came out of the water, a friend announced that I was in the top 25. This was a surprise to me, considering that I felt that the swim was pretty lousy.

Warm up and start on time. I'm fast enough now that I can start out in front and sprint the first 1/3.

This transition went pretty well. I pretty much blew through it.

This was a very interesting bike ride. I left transition and flew by 5-6 guys in the first couple of miles, then had the road all to myself until after the turnaround, where I met up with the Olympic athletes who had started an hour earlier. I had forgotten to move my speed sensor from my training wheelset, so I had no idea how fast I was going, but I knew that I was flying. I finished the difficult part of the course and was just getting to the fast part, where I knew I had an advantage, being a heavier rider.

Just as I was starting to hit the downhill, I came upon a support 4 wheeler that was moving rather slowly down the middle of the road. I didn't want to pass on the left for fear of going into oncoming traffic, and because he was mostly to the left of the lane, so I came around the right. I yelled "Passing on the right" as I came up. I apparently spooked the guy, because he veered sharply to the right of the road, forcing me off onto the soft, gravelly shoulder. I managed to barely stay upright through the stuff and slowed down almost to a stop before I had full control again. I stood up and cranked as hard as I could to get up to speed and pass him.

Not long after I had done this, a big monster truck (Ford F350) pulled right out in front of me at the top of the big hill. I had to hit the brakes pretty hard to avoid hitting the back of his truck as he sped up. Last year, I broke 60 mph on this hill. I was looking forward to seeing what I could do in aero position on the tri bike, but it was not to be. I had to ride the brakes all the way down the hill at about 40 mph. I was then stuck behind the guy for the remaining 3-4 miles of the race going 8-10 mph slower than I would have solo. I figure I lost a good 2-3 minutes because of these two incidences. It was kind of a bummer, because that would have put me at the top bike split of the day. It's a good thing that I've got one more sprint tri this year to try again.

Nothing. I had a GREAT ride that had a few elements that were out of my control.

This transition was pretty good, although someone left their bike on the ground right in the middle of the pathway. I was running along next to my bike, pushing it with my hand on the saddle when I had to stop and pick it up to jump over the other bike. This was relatively minor, but still an annoyance.

Nothing. This is the first time I've actually removed shoes prior to coming into transition and run barefoot. I'd do it again next time.

I felt like I was running in slow motion, but that's mostly because the course had a lot of uphill. Overall, I placed better than I thought on the run. Yet I think I could improve on the run by Ogden.

I did get passed by one person while running. I had blown past him on the bike before my slowdown, but he didn't quite catch up until the run.

I really wasn't feeling too tired when I finished. I probably should have picked up the pace a bit.

I walked around a bit, ate some food and rehydrated. I talked to a few of the top competitors and some friends as they finished.


The business trip that ended at 1:00 AM the morning of the race was certainly a limiting factor. Overall, I feel that I need to keep the speedwork up for a few weeks on both the bike and run. My biggest weakness is still the swim, though. I may need to get some one on one lessons over the winter or something.


I really enjoy the venue. TriUtah always puts on good events. The only downside to this race is the 4 mile shuttle ride in from the parking lot. If you ride it out on the bike, you have to climb the BIG hill when you've just finished racing.