MotorCity Triathlon - Sprint Distance - TriathlonSprint

Ran out to the buoys trying to stay in the middle pack. When the water got thigh deep dove in to start swimming and immediately got kicked pretty hard. Had to stand up to recover from that one. Looked for some open space and tried it again. This worked for about five strokes until I caught some people in front of me. I don't know if it was intentional or not but everytime I tried to pass they swam into me. Didn't want to swim over someone, so went way wide to get around them.

Found a little swimming room but kept drifting to the right so I had to site and course-correct quite a bit. Things got violent again at the turn around buoy; got kicked several times and had to knock the arms away of a guy who kept trying to swim over me.

Eventually, found some room to swim again. Was still drifting to the right so I had to site often. When the water got knee deep, got up and started running in.





Things just haven't "clicked" in the swim portion of the two races I have done this year. I am not swimming bad (for me), but not great either. Not sure what I need to do different.

Good transition. Didn't bother drying my feet off this time. Just wiped them on my towel and slapped on the shoes and socks. Worked good--no problems getting socks on wet feet. Grabbed my helmet (a little problem getting it buckled), race belt, and nutrition and headed out. Picked up a few spots here as I am sure I got out of transition before some people who beat me out of the water.

Nothing, this was a smooth transition for me.

Pretty uneventful ride. Course was crowded (300+ people on a 5.5 mile loop), so had to do some weaving in and out to get by some of the other riders. For the most part though, the slower riders were staying to the right and I never felt like I was being blocked and never witnessed any blatant drafting.

Goal for this race was to push hard enough be a little uncomfortable on the bike. Was definately pushing when the wind was against me, but I could have gone harder when the wind was at my back. A solid ride though, I think I passed more people than passed me.



When we had a tailwind or a beneficial crosswind should have moved to a harder gear and hammered a bit more.

Got a little agitated as I entered transition and saw that someone had racked in my spot. There was no gray area here, his/her front wheel was in my shoes. Shifted that bike over changed shoes and headed back out.

Nothing, the only problem was something that I had no control over.

Felt a little winded coming out transition. Wasn't too worried as every brick I have done this year I have gotten stronger as the run progressed. Skipped the aid station that was close to transition as I had finished a full bottle of gatorade on the bike. Did the first mile in a little over 8 minutes, a little slower than I wanted but I was starting to feel good. Sucked down a gel and grabbed a water before the next aid station (even managed to get some of the water in my mouth).

Right as we entered the woods I started feeling great, so I really picked up the pace. I passed a lot of people in the woods including two guys from my age group. Had to slow down a little when the path diverged and I didn't know which way to go. Lucky for me there was a runner behind me who was on his second loop of the Olympic race and yelled to stay to the left (thanks!!!).

Was still feeling good and steadily passing people (including one more in my age group) as I exited the woods. Right before the aid station, got passed by two 20 somethings who were absolutely flying--wanted to stay with them but knew I would blow up if I tried. Tried to get water at the aid station but they did not have any ready and I wasn't waiting.

Right before we entered the finish shoot I saw a guy in my age group. Really wanted to take him so I started sprinting for all I was worth. He must have heard/felt me coming because he started sprinting before I got to him. I was gaining on him but I just ran out of room.

Start my kick earlier, think I could have taken the guy if I had another 15 yards or so. Overall, I still think I can push harder--not fully trusting my run endurance yet, especially in the early stages.

Found the guy that beat me in the sprint finish and congratulated him. Walked around a bit trying to get the heart rate under control. Grabbed some food and cheered on the other competitors. Waited for the preliminary results to be posted (took forever because they were having problems with their Champion Chip system).

Couldn't stay for the raffle/awards so I picked up my bike and found my cycle computer missing. Went and checked to see if it was at lost and found (it wasn't). Took another look for it in the transition area and bike-in. Couldn't find it, so just waited in line to get my swim gear and then headed home.


In short, the swim. Very happy with how I am biking this year and ecstatic with how I am running. Think I need to work in some more OWS as part of my swim training.


Only a so-so race. They didn't have enough people doing body marking so the lines were exceptionaly long. They were handing out chips at T1 but wouldn't give you the chip unless you showed them your number; so people were having to go back to T2 to pick up their race belts (this was corrected later). Backup/manual timing had to be used do to problems with the ChampionChip system.

Also didn't like the two transition areas. Prefer having all of my gear in one spot and not having to wait in line as they unload the swim gear from the truck.

This is the only second year at this venue, and 3 Disciplines normally puts on a great race, so I am sure it will be better next year.