Iceman Sprint Triathlon - TriathlonSprint

I really need to learn how to swim. This was a huge improvement compared to Athens, maybe not in time, but how I felt afterwards. Felt like I had a decent rhythm until around the 150-200 lap when I caught the guy in front of me. I tried to pass, to no avail. We got to the wall together, and I was thinking he was going to let me go. I mean, obviously I'm swimming faster than he is. But he just kept going. The lanes were wide enough that a pass wasn't difficult, but he didn't exactly stay in the right half of the lane too well. But I finally made the pass, only making contact twice. The timer to measure your swim finish was outside, so I think I can shift a few seconds from the swim to T1 and feel justified doing so.

I just need to learn how to swim I guess. I really dont get too tired anymore, I just can't swim fast. I'd like to get a coach, but I'm wondering how expensive that will run.

I'm not concerned about this transition at all. The fact is, it was cold, I was wet, and I wanted to put my clothes on while I was dry. I put on leg warmers and a long-sleeve undershirt, which didn't want to go on at all because of my skin still being a little wet. Not saying I took my merry time, but I was much more concerned about getting warm than a good time. I do have a complaint. It doesn't seem very fair for slow swimmers to be so far in the back. If you're a top-flight swimmer, your rack is right there when you exit. Me on the other hand, I have to run all the way to the back to get to my bike. I guess it will be different in open water, so not that big of a deal.

I feel I have really made a mistake by not practicing transitions. I intend on making at least 3 or 4 practice runs before playtri. I'm also going to see how it feels riding and running bare foot. We'll see how it works out.

This was my first race with the new pedals and shoes. It felt good, despite the cold. I complained already about being screwed in the first transition, but being in the back of the pack is kind of cool because you get to pass countless people on the bike. I probably passed 40 people, and was only passed once, which happened to be Aaron on his second while I was on my first. Of course I passed the girls on the swim team frequently, so I guess that shouldn't really count. Ha! I'd have to be a prick to boast over passing the girl's swim team. But I really felt like I shifted well to maintain a cadence of 85-90. And I think I attacked the hills well, granted there were few hills. It really would've been nice to find a stronger bike to ride with. That probably would have helped me pick up the pace. Just didn't find anyone.

I'm thinking I need to train at higher speeds for as long as I can, rather than trying to put in large amounts of miles. We'll see how that goes.

I wasn't too impressed with my time here. I threw on my tri-top, since I only biked in the undershirt. I had placed a power bar in my tri-shirt, which fell out really fast during the run. Pretty useless. After changing, I took off the wrong way. Had to turn around and go back. Lost probably 7-10 seconds doing this.

Know the transtion area. Stupid mistake on my part. As stated before, I need to practice these, and I plan on doing so before play-tri.

This could've been better as well. My shoe came untied within the first half-mile. I didn't want to stop, so I ran the rest of the way untied. Again, because of my slow swim time, I'm passing people left and right. Got passed once by an Aggie. Looking back, I wish I would have ran with him. I know I could have, but I was concerned about conserving energy. That is the biggest thing I learned from this race. More on this later. I reached back for my power bar early, and took a bite. Man, it was like a rock. The thing had frozen! Managed to chew it off. Didn't go down well, but I didn't choke at least! Got a drink at the aide station. Took a little swig, swished and spit. Reached back for some more of my power bar, and it was gone. I don't know when it fell out, or maybe I never got it back in when I tried to put it back. Oh well, I felt fine really. Just kept running. I did have some people yell for BT when I passed by. They must've seen my sexy BT tri-shorts! Haha.

I should've ran this much faster. I had alot left in the tank when I finished. The experience is good, because now I know I can pace myself harder. Need to carry some sort of stopwatch so I know how fast I'm running.

Walked for a second. Tied my shoe finally. Found out about the pancakes at the natatorium, and had a couple.


Poor transitions, poor swimming technique. Need to learn how to give it all during the run.


This really was a good race, and it had a terrific turnout considering the weather conditions. I still can't believe there was a little snow and I was racing in a triathlon! I really viewed this as a stepping stone to bigger and better things. The learning experience will be very valuable, and I now know a few things I need to work on to compete with the higher tier triathletes. At Athens, everything went by so fast, and I was too overwhelmed by racing in my first triathlon to really analyze what was happening. Now I feel like I know what to expect, and that should help my with my preparation. Really, really looking forward to the playtri. I do regret not meeting any fellow BT people at the race. I'll definitely have to catch up with some at play-tri.