5430 Sprint Triathlon - TriathlonSprint

Swim felt really good, and I think it was faster than last year. Dinosaurs went in the first wave with the Pros, which was actually great. Half our wave was finishing the swim before the rest of us got to the start line. :28 faster than last year, which is really pretty good, I think.

Went wide of buoys on return, which made the course a bit longer.

Struggled to figure out how to get on bike. Almost rode off the road and into the weeds. Put right shoe on with tongue mildly messed up. Felt it for full race. Messed around with race number at start of bike, which was silly. :19 faster than last year (didn't stop for the latte this time). Drank one bottle Gatorade on bike, and one gel at mile 14. This transition came in at 26th in AG, so it wasn't very good.

Skip putting race number on until run segment. I really lost time trying to figure out how to ride a bike.

Ride was fairly uneventful once I got started after all the horsing around trying to get going. Mike Ricci passed me on 36, right where he said he would.... This time was 2 seconds slower than last year, but all of it could have been made up easily enough at the start.

I still need to work on speed. Also, didn't feel quite as fast without aero-bars. If I can keep this up, I might earn that new bike....

No idea why this was :10 slower than last year, but it was good to tie for the second-fastest T2 (fastest was :50) in AG (which means it must have something to do with rack position). Didn't feel as confused, and moved through it fine enough. The rack was a considerable distance from the entry and exit points on the run, but that shouldn't have mattered much.

Maybe I should practice transitions.

At the start of the run, I was :35 faster than last year. Fortunately, my wave went out 30 minutes earlier this year, so it didn't seem as hot. Took water at each rest stop, drank a sip, and dumped the rest on me head. Didn't really check, but probably put in a negative split on this, as I put the hammer (in my case it's a toy hammer) down half way through the run. Finished the run :45 faster than last year, and as a result I peeled 1:15 off my time, and finished under 1:30! That's a PB... wheee!

Start the final push a bit earlier, perhaps.

Wandered around aimlessly, shamelessly hugging volunteers who were a bit freaked out by me, I suspect. Tried to kiss Mike Ricci for his help in beating last year's time.


Came in with a bit of a lack of confidence. Also, really need to work up that bike speed. Improvement can be made in swim, as well.


Simply a wonderful race. Barry's really got this fine-tuned now with the new race buoys, and a much more lively Expo. It was really fun to see finisher's faces as they were awarded their silly little medals. What fun, and a personal best! Nothing to complain about there. Already looking forward to next year's race (after a nap...).