Pat Griskus Sprint Triathlon - TriathlonSprint

Basically, I suck at swimming. I only beat about sixty people, so this is my area of work for the future.

Not suck

It started raining about three miles into the bike. There was thunder, one bit of lightning. Generally, it was just persistent rain...not drizzle. I used to a camelback to hold two jugs of PowerAde, but I think I was the only one. Unfortunately, my ChampionChip timer did not pick up my bike/transition times, so I'm left to assume my time, give or take.

Scrap the camelback. Especially with the rain, I believe it became soaked and heavy. Also, the fact that I was the only one with a big thing on my back suggests to me that it was not helping my time at all. Next time: bottles of PowerAde on the bike to avoid extra weight. Also, I drank too much. It was sloshing in my stomach for the run, and I felt like death.

A bit of confusion on the exit for the run...some folks stopped short in front of me for some water...pissed off. Skipped the socks for the run because everything was soaking from the rain...didn't want to waste time trying to get wet socks on wet feet.

Better memorize the exit.

Felt better than expected. The downhill was sufficient to get legs in working order. A couple signs along the way ("Gut Check" and "Dig Deep") actually motivated me to do just that, and so I was hauling ass on the uphill. In fact, one dude I passed said, "wow! you're cruising!"

Nothing. I felt really good. I might try to stride out a bit more on the down hill to take better advantage, but I don't think I was dogging it by any stretch.

Just hanging out with friends and family who braved the unbelievably bad weather conditions.


The rain may have helped me relative to others.


Everything was well organized...I felt like I understood the process very clearly, especially for a first timer. Also, I got a medal for being a first-timer which was cool, because I'm probably never going to get a medal for my actual time...so you can bet I'm pretty proud of that thing!