Terre Haute Triathlon - TriathlonSprint

I was in the first wave. All men 30-39. Lots of fast swimmers. :)

I was at the front, got horizontal just before the start, and when the gun went I just hammered. I got out front, and there were just a few people in front. I managed to find someone's feet to follow, which was a nice bonus. This is such a short swim that drafting is hard.

Followed him around the buoys, and then on the way back we were into the sun. A group of the few people in front of me, missed navigation and went about 45 degrees off course. Whoops! I navigated correctly, with about 3-4 others, and we made a beeline for the finish. I had two guys in front that I drafted off of, and both stood up too early. I swam a few more strokes and came out of the water in front of them. Heh. Gotcha!

Nothing. This was a faster swim than last year, on the identical course. My swim is kicking ass.

Includes a couple hundred yard run from swim exit to transition area.

I was a dunce. In my pre-race setup, I forgot to dump my water bottle into the aero bottle. I realized this as I was running up to my bike from the swim. I had to stop and dump it in while in T1. This cost me probably 30 seconds or so. This was important, as I'd find out later.

Fill my stupid aero bottle *before* the race starts.

Power-Tap #1:
Duration: 1:03:35
Work: 883 kJ
TSS: 112.8 (intensity factor 1.032)
Norm Power: 238
VI: 1.03
Min,Max,Avg
Power: 0,848,232 watts
Heart rate: 144,169,158 bpm
Cadence: 30,141,88 rpm

I taped my powertap over so I rode with only cadence and mph showing. I think I self-regulate with power numbers. On oly distance I can afford to ride my legs off, so I didn't want anything telling me to go slower. I just did my best to ride hard, and keep the speed as high as possible.

I was in the first wave, and was one of the first people out of the water. There were only 6 people ahead of me on the bike. I caught and passed two of them fairly quickly. A few of the really fast collegiate guys in the 2nd wave caught me and passed me, but not until after the turnaround. So I took that as a good sign that I was smoking the bike. A check of the watch showed I was around 33 minutes and a bit at the turnaround. It's a bit of a net uphill to the turnaround, so it's a good negative split course.

One collegiate guy passed me just by the airport, and one of the few turns on the course, he put his head down and charged ahead, straight through the turn we were supposed to make. I yelled after him, but he was on a mission. I made the turn, and kept on hammering towards T2. Rolled into T2 and there were hardly any bikes in transition. Kind of an eerie feeling, but I liked it.

Hammer even harder!!! :)

Fast T2. I had a little trouble getting my bike racked as I had to rack it by the brake levers, and my aero bottle was getting stuck. I finally slammed it home. Got socks on, shoes on, grabbed visor and race number and hauled red bike for the run out. I was alone in T2 the whole time. Nobody was near me. I managed to ride away from everyone else in my wave.

Since I was near the front, the crowd was really awesome.

Get bike racked faster. That can't have cost me much more than a few seconds though.

Mile 1: 0:06:55.7,159,156
Mile 2: 0:06:58.4,163,160
Mile 3: 0:07:01.0,163,161
Mile 5: 0:14:11.2,173,164

(stopped HRM after I crossed and walked around a bit, so the last two laps were both sub-7)

I got passed in the last 1/4 mile. I'd checked spacing at the turnaround, so I figured I had enough of a lead, but still managed to crank up the effort the last 2 miles or so. Last little bit included an uphill section, my legs were on fire. Came into a trail section, saw the 1/2 mile sign. Pushed a bit harder, to get done, as I thought I might still go sub 1:52. I come out of the woods, and hear footsteps right behind me as I get passed. I've got nothing to answer with, so the guy goes past up the last little hill. I surge, but he's too much faster, and there's not enough room to catch him.

Run faster? I dunno, my legs were burning pretty good. I focused on form, keeping up a good turnover, good stride, staying relaxed in upper body. I really was able to "step back" and observe myself objectively during the run. I felt like I ran smoother, even if I was on the verge of crashing.

I'd check over my shoulder and not get passed in the last 1/4 mile. Doh!

Stagger through the chute.

Walk around a bit, grab some water and heed. Walk back out on the course to cheer in the rest of the club.

Checked results, discovered I placed in my AG, so stuck around for the awards ceremony. I thought I had 3rd, but one of the guys placed overall, so I got bumped up to 2nd.


Hmmm, not much. I knocked about 3 minutes off my time from last year.

That guy who passed me? Ended up finishing 4 seconds ahead of me. And he took first in the M30-34 AG. Doh! He's a solid runner though, as he finished about 5 minutes faster on the run, the 12th faster run split of the day.

4 seconds was the difference between first place and second place.

If I'd filled my aero bottle, would I have been 4 seconds faster? Probably. Every little thing really matters. Seconds *do* count. Lesson learned.


It's a small race, but it's been running for 22 years, so they know how to do it. Lots of volunteers, everything goes on time, and always fun.

It's a long drive, but it's a fun race. I'll do it again next year, if someone else drives. :)