Cape Henolpen Triathlon - TriathlonSprint

Apparently, last year's swim was brutal. After check-in on Sat., we went out to the beach. My friends, who both entered the race last year, said the conditions looked better than last year's.

I milled around at the run start chatting with some other first-timers in my wave. I was reassured to find that many were as nervous about their first race as I was. Run went really well. I found a small group of people who ran at a moderately fast pace and stayed with them. I usually train alone, so it was fun to run in a group and it definitely helped me to run faster. I ran shoulder to shoulder with a woman for almost the entire last half. Finished at 13:11, an 8:47 pace, which is pretty fast for me.

Currently working on a weather-control machine. I'll keep you posted. I think I could have run a little faster, although 8:45 is fast for me. I usually run around 9/mi.

No problem with the transition. I think I jumped on my bike a little early, but no penalties.

I'd leave my fuel belt behind. Didn't end up needing it. Just the bottle on my tube and the gels in a bento box would have been fine.

I vacation in Lewes, so I'd ridden the course before. I was on a borrowed road bike with tricky shift levers and the bike probably doesn't fit me as well as it could. I hardly shifted at all. Still, I passed more people than passed me. I was really saving energy for the run, so I didn't push that hard. Borrowing the road bike was smart, I think. At one point, the headwinds got pretty strong, and I was passing one mountain bike after another.
I had a gel and about 3/4 of a bottle of accelerade on the route.

Get a better bike, and I think I would push harder.

As I was braking into the dismount, I heard a CRUNCH coming from my back wheel. When I started to run with the bike, I realized that the reflector had slipped off the spoke, gotten caught in the gears, and ripped out the spoke, jamming the wheel. Had to carry the bike on my shoulder into the transition area. That sucked, but miraculous that it happened when it did and not 10 minutes earlier.
Once I racked, I sucked down a gel and had a few sips of accelerade.

Once again: get a better bike.

Felt terrible at the beginning, but that went away quickly (caffeine in the gel kicking in?) Found a small group to pace with and felt really good. Passed several people on the hills. At about the 1.5 mark, I caught up to my friend who had started 3 minutes ahead of me. We ran together for about 1/2 mile, until she said, "if you want to pass me, go ahead". I took off and ran the rest of the way. I had the urge to walk a couple of times, but resisted. Running the last stretch on the muddy grass was tough, but the crowds definitely pull you along.

I would have kept running past my friend instead of running along with her at her (slower) pace.

A few bottles of water, and I finished a bottle of accellerade.


Inexperience. I think I could have even run a little faster than I did, and I might have been able to pick up some time on the bike if I'd pushed a little harder.


I think this is a great first tri. Very laid-back, very diverse crowd, from really hard-core pro's to lots of people just looking to have a good time.