Swiss Pine Triathlon - TriathlonSprint

I bought a DeSoto speed tube to use this year in wetsuit legal races. If you're not familiar with these, it's basically a pair of wetsuit pants with a drawstring at the waist. I think these things are great. A little flotation with none of the constriction of my admittedly poor fitting sleeveless suit.

Anyway, I was fighting with a couple of guys for the same water for about 100 meters, but after the first turn everyone else died a little and I had smooth water the rest of the way. The course was 2 loops, so I did start catching some 2nd wave folks on my 2nd loop, but it really wan't a big deal.

Nothing at all. I went out hard and then maintained a strong pace (at least for me).

Kind of a slow T1. I stumbled a little putting my bike shoes on. Usually I leave them on the bike, but the start was uphill enough that I didn't want to try that this time.

Practice putting on my bike shoes while tired from swimming.

I was in the lead after the swim and riding scared. The course was one big loop, so I had no idea where people were behind me. The bike course is the best part of this race with a section on the Blue Ridge Parkway. Very pretty.

No one caught me on the bike, so I'll count that as a good day.

I could still use a little more strength on some of the steeper hills. I was pretty tired coming up the last big hill before transition.

T2 was a little better than T1, but still could have been faster.

First of all, the run was not 5K. It was substabtially shorter. The first 1/2 mile or so was on a single-track type trail followed by 3/4 of a mile of uphill (and only uphill). It was pretty hard. After the turnaround, I realized that I only had a 45 second or so lead on the first woman (started in the 2nd wave) and I had better pick it up to the end. Turns out she was or is an ITU pro, so I wouldn't have felt bad losing to her. Luckily, I was able to hold her and everone else off and cross the line in first place.

Run a little harder up the hill.

Walked around and waited for my wife to finish.


Genetics


This is my second overall win in a row, so I'm pretty darn excited about that. I've got one more sprint in a week and I'm hoping to go 3 for 3. If that happens, I may just have to retire from the sport and go out on top. (I don't have any delusions of grandeur, I know there are lots and lots of people out there that would crush me, it just so happens that none of them have been at the last 2 races)

I've said it before and I'll say it again, setup events puts on great races. And I mean great. If you ever have a chance to do one of theirs, take it.