Little Pepper 2007 - TriathlonSprint

My swim was generally mediocre. I got caught up in the washing machine a little in the beginning, so I couldn't really get into a groove right away. My goggles were also fogged up basically from the start, so by the time I rounded the first buoy, my sighting was awful. It's been a few weeks since I swam, so I guess I shouldn't be surprised that my time didn't improve from last summer (it was nearly identical), but I was still disappointed.

More strategic position for the start, find a way to keep my goggles fog-free. Spit doesn't seem to do the trick. I'll have to experiment with baby shampoo, etc. in the future.

T1 went ok. I didn't feel great out of the swim, but it went smoothly except for the fact that I had forgotten to open up my bike shoes when I set up my transition area. So I had to waste a few seconds to open up the velcro, but in the grand scheme of the day a few seconds were nothing.

Remember to open up my bike shoes in transition...

I had a bit of a rough start to my bike leg. I didn't feel particularly good off the swim, and when I went to mount my bike I was on the opposite side I'm used to being on. So I swung my left leg over the bike and put it on the ground, clipped in with my right, but when I went to pedal my wheel was turned and I ended up hitting my clipped in foot on the front wheel. I stayed upright, but it wasn't a great start.

The first few miles I had a bit of a mental battle with myself, wasn't moving too quickly either. After mile 3 or 4 I got it together and had a pretty strong ride considering the past week. I didn't start my bike computer until about a mile in, so my average pace for the last 14 miles was 17.3 mph. Obviously this doesn't matter in terms of placing, but if nothing else it showed me that minus my little struggle getting on the bike, I have still improved from last year.

The upper part of both my hamstrings also cramped almost immediately once I started riding. I'm sure this is due to my lack of activity in the week preceding the race. I was able to ride through it ok, but it KILLED my run.

Run with my bike on my right, so it's easier to mount (or just practice mounting on the other side...)

Being less prepared this year than last year in terms of details, I didn't have speed laces on my running shoes, so I took a chance and just tied them at the right tension and trusted that I could slip my sweaty feet into them. Luckily, it worked out just fine.

Nothing, it went smoothly enough.

Where to start...my run was absolutely MISERABLE, if you could even call it a run. By the time I got off my bike my hamstrings were cramping so badly I could barely jog. On the bright side, my shin didn't bother me at all.

I probably didn't get a quarter of a mile out of transition when my legs decided they didn't want to move anymore. I walked a little while, and very quickly made the decision to walk any uphill, and make a desperate attempt to jog the flats/downhills. Even walking was incredibly painful. I made it to the finish line, but I was pretty much reduced to tears by the time I got there.

My poor performance in the run was not too unexpected, considering my significant lack of run training in the past three weeks. However, it went far worse than I could have imagined.

I wouldn't have done anything differently in the run portion of today's race, because it was really all I could muster up.

I do have my work cut out for me though - I really need to get acclimated to running in the heat before my August race.

Drank water, walked around a little bit, although my legs weren't willing to move.


My body wasn't prepared to handle racing after the past week's sickness and general exhaustion. A solid week without training, in addition to being on my feet for up to 11 hours at a time for work, left my muscles incredibly tight. By halfway through the swim I could tell that my body wasn't happy to be racing.

Inconsistent training for the past three weeks was also part of the problem. The transition from school life to home life changed my priorities a little bit, and I spent more time trying to secure a job, see a couple old friends, etc. My erratic work schedule also reduced my motivation to train, so my performance suffered accordingly.


Even though I wasn't happy with my personal performance, looking back I still had a good time. The volunteers were fantastic and the race was well-run.