Mountain Man Triathlon - Sprint Distance - TriathlonSprint

I was waist deep and chatting with Micah about any last minute strategies when the gun went off. I took off and before I knew it I was at the first buoy. When I looked up there was only a small crowd in front of me. I thought I was doing great. In between the first and second buoy I could feel the elevation in my chest and I just couldn't get enough air. I came up in desperation to get a big breath while at the same time a small wave of water was coming right at my face. I inhaled and swallowed a good mouth full of water. Since my mutation of gills has not started, I proceeded to gasp for air, gag and puke. I've had my nights of drinking where I rode the porcelain school bus, but I've never had to float and puke at the same time. After going belly up to catch my breath and relax I started back. I couldn't get into a rhythm, and when I felt the slightest need for air, I would stop breath. I let my mind get the best of me, but I made it out of the water. As I was getting out, I saw Chris who shared the ass kicking I received on my swim. We helped each other unzip, discussed the weather and politics and was off to the transition. I heard him yell something on the way to the transition. I thought it was Go Go Go; but it was really: It's not delivery, it's DIGIORNO!!!

Not Swallow Water until I get to the transition and get it out of those little plastic bottles... Look before I breathe, stay focused and train more.

For some reason I grabbed my helmet first.... I felt like a 5 year old trying to put pants on over shoes... When I went to put my shirt on for the ride, I ripped my number off my shirt. I re attached it, got my shoes and helmet on drank some water and was off. I was in the right gear for the bike, which was good for the little hill out of transition.

Slow down and THINK. It was a really crowded in the transition, which made even the smallest mistakes feel tuff..

The bike went ok. I got passed by a bunch of girls.... I tried to spit some water to slow them down, kinda like the oil slicks from Spy Hunter, but they maneuvered around it.... Sorrry Tanya...
When I got out of the transition I was in a good gear, but I was in a little too high of a gear for the first couple of miles. Astrid blew by me! For some reason I spit to the outside, but I was nicely reminded by a fellow rider to show some better manners. I stared to feel good a mile or two before the turn around. On the way back on the last climb, I down shifted and the chain came off. I got the bike to the side, fumbled with it for about 20 seconds and was back on the road. All of my momentum was gone, but the 20 second rest for my legs allowed me to get up the hill at the same pace as a few that had passed.


Not spit on people, and train more.

I don’t feel comfortable enough to ride on top of my shoes. Instead I clipped out and ran with the bike. By the time I dried off my feet and got my socks and shoes on, Micah was getting into the transition. I knew I had to go; I grabbed a bottle of water and was off.

Not much, maybe not dry the feet, or do the run without socks.

I was taking small steps and I could really feel that my legs were tired at the beginning. I think they were just stiff and needed to get stretched out. I didn't get into my rhythm until the first turn around. I kept looking for Micah (hey I still wanted to beat him), but didn't see him. I saw Chris after the turn around, and he was sporting a huge smile even when running with a bad back. If he's running with a messed up back, the pain in my legs had to be nothing in comparison. I lengthened my stride and started to run instead of jog. I passed some people, a few who were in my age group. Saw Jerry cruising along having a ball. Gave a little pose for the photographers and sprinted the last 200 yards. I was kinda disappointed in my time because I know I run faster than that, but I guess I'll have to take care of that for the next race.

Try to open up my stride earlier, push my self harded, train more.

I ate an orange slice, drank some water and did a quick cool down jog to the far boat ramp and back.


Puking in the water, elevation, transition mistakes.


Every race I finish is the best race I've had. I might not come in first, but as long as I learn from my mistakes had fun and give it my all, I can’t ask for too much more. There was so much more that went into this race that set it above the rest. The views were great, the RAIN was awesome, the Lunch was delicious (I could have ate all day), It was really fun to know a lot of people racing, I got to see my good friend finish his first tri... The list could go on. Thanks to everyone who was there, it was a blast.