Lake Delavan Triathlon - TriathlonSprint

swim was hardest part of the triathlon. went out too fast and felt myself start to panic when I started running out of breath. Navigation was horrible; probably added 50 yards at least to my swim. Couldn't get myself to exhale with my face in the water; water was kelly-green from the algae content; kind of gross. I'm not a very "peevish" person, but the water was not good. The overall time was very good, but I felt really bad in the water.

spend more time in OWS and the wet suit. Train harder at faster speeds; my 2:00 minute per 100yd averages while training were a little too easy to help in the actual race.

a little tired after the swim so this transition could have been faster, but overall OK.

In retrospect after looking at the T1 times of other competitors, my time is horrible. Dump the wetsuit, forget the socks for the shoes, maybe even get a pair of pedals with cages so that i can wear my running shoes. My transition times were the difference between 7th place and second place in this race.

bike was the most fun; it was great to "open up the bike" without worrying too much about traffic or stop lights, stop signs, etc. Kind of hilly in parts, but that was where I passed the most people. Was only passed by one guy who I caught up with at the end of the bike course, he stepped across the timing mat about second ahead of me.

Would like to get my average speed up to 24mph+

see T1 comments above...best transition of the 2 but still bad, but wasted time trying to fumble with the race number paper clipped to the front of my tri shorts; need to get a race belt so that I just clip it on.

get a race belt and some zip laces; double knotting the laces was tough after the intensity of the bike.

tough run for the first mile, but felt better after legs were under me. Wasn't passed by anyone on the run...felt pretty good, but was breathing hard and did not have the "light footfalls" that I wanted. Overall felt pretty good with the run. 2nd place overall on the run was good.

more brick workouts to get used to the bike/run transition; be able to hydrate more effectively while running (thought I was drowning myself each time I took a drink of gatorade); practice drinking while running on long runs in upcoming training.

stretching, ate a couple of bananas and half a bagel; finished gatorade and drank water.


near panic in the water; lack of comfort in swim and ability to navigate. Need to work on bike as well; would like to reduce bike and swim times by at least 8 mins (combined).


Good race although I heard that the Olympic distance had more trouble this year with the signage and people getting lost. Sprint distance didn't have that trouble until the run which was not marked properly on one turn sending some people one way and others a different way (b/c of 1 mi loop I don't think it made much difference in the overall distance)...since it was my first triathlon, I have to rate it a "5" (best) because I don't know any better, but it seemed perfect for my first triathlon. Exceeded my expectations. Very happy with the effort today and with the race itself.