Tri the Pee Dee Triathlon - TriathlonSprint

AWFUL!! I made the mistake of starting towards the back of the wave. I've improved my swim enough that I should've been in the middle or so. I tried to swim around the slower folks and got pummeled. I got kicked in the face about 150 yards out which knocked my goggles AND MY NOSE CLIP OFF. That was just lovely. I got the goggles back on and tried to swim as normal, but since I don't swim without my clip, it made for an extremely long swim. I basically would swim 50m like normal, then breaststroke while I spit out all the water that I inhaled through my nose, then repeat. And I never could get my goggles to reseat, so they basically leaked the whole time back. By the time I got to shore I felt as if I had a cold or something as my sinuses were shot.

1) Start more towards the front.
2) Carry extra nose clip.
3) Learn how to swim without clip.
4) Practice more OWS.

The transition was ok. It was in a grassy field, so I put on socks for the ride and run. I ran out to the bike mount line and my chain popped off - more fun for the day. Took just a few secs to get it back on.

Go faster.

Ok, the first and last mile of the race were on a dirt road. That's right, a dirt road. In an effort to improve the road conditions, the RD had the road scraped, but on the day before the race. Having lived on a dirt road for the first half of my life, I know that's too close to race day. The piles of soft dirt hadn't been rained on or packed down enough, so sections of the road were like riding through a sand trap. Lots of folks hit the dirt (literally). It was hilarious and scary all at the same time. I basically just rode at 17mph down the dirt road and hoped I didn't bite it. I did pretty well, but some sections I almost came to a dead standstill because of the soft sand. I was able to pass a good number of people on the dirt sections. The rest of the bike was decent. I don't know what my paved road section average was, but I spent basically the whole time in the 20s. Felt good to be going faster, but oddly, I was bored by not having any hills.

Umm, not do a triathlon with a road bike on a dirt road.

More sand and bike fun. I was able to see my wife and baby boy while in transition. Chatted them up while I changed shoes.

Go faster.

Another bad run for me. I started the run and after about a minute hit a 50 yard soft sand section. Digging in the sand to run triggered a painful calf cramp. So I spent the first mile basically hobbling trying to get the cramp out. I settled in for the last two miles, but since I had no idea how fast I was going, I didn't push it near enough. I must lack the killer instinct or something.

Oh, and that whole don't try anything new on race day? Yeah, I screwed that one up too. I wore my new FCA-Endurance tri top that I just got on Thursday. Well, it ended up chafing my underarms while running so now I have 2 more race souvenirs (that stung like the dickens when I got home and took a shower).

Wear my Garmin so I can see my pace - I know I can run way faster than I do in a race, but I just don't trust myself. I've got to learn how to run with pain.

Grabbed 2 water bottles and mixed up my Recoverite shake. Wandered around and cheered my brother-in-law in to the finish (he did great for his first tri!). Played with the kids and hung out for a bit. Chatted up with the FCA-E folks some more. Checked out other folks' bike bling. There were some high dollar machines out there on the dirt road today.


Me. Plain and simple, I don't know how to push it come race day. I can go fast in training because I know that I can just stop at any time if need be. But for some reason, in a race, I hold myself back and keep way too much in reserve. I guess that'll be good for long distance races, but for sprints, I suck.


The race organization was ok - I'm just not a fan of the dirt road bike/run setup. I knew it when I signed up, so I'm not complaining. I just don't think I'll do this race next year because of it. I still think Set Up Events puts on good races.