Federal Escape Triathlon - Sprint Distance - TriathlonSprint

This is the first race that I was able to do the crawl the entire length of the race. My goal was to stay to the outside to avoid most of the other swimmers. I felt, at times, like I was on the verge of panicking and needing to get more air. I just tried to get through one more breathing cycle each time and I calmed down. My form went to hell. I was so occupied with breathing and sighting that I noticed a couple of times that my legs were sinking and I wasn't stretching my arms out. Still, I'm very happy to get through one race doing the crawl. I feel like I've beaten the monster. Wasn't even close to my time goal of 9 minutes.

Practice sighting every 4th stroke instead of 6th until I can swim straighter. Swim 440 yard OWS without stopping. More practice.

My biggest complaint is getting my shoes on. Very hard with Yanks on and too slow and hard to do with traditional laces.

Since this is the first race that I actually had a strategy for each segment I actually have something to compare to. My goal was to slow down a little bit on the bike so I had something left for the run. This course was also continuously up and down. Not big hills but continuous little ones. There were a couple of times that I deliberatly let myself slow down and rest. I found that following people (not exactly drafting) works well for me. They seem to tire after a while but set a good cadence for me. I pass them and they never get around me again. Will use this in the future.

New bike seat and areo bottle

Again, can't get shoes on fast enough. I need to find a shoe horn and see if that works for me.

Goal was 8:30 minute mile average. I didn't want to get out and hit it hard and fizzle. I decided to run with the Nike Pod so I could watch my pace, time, and lenght. That helped tremendously. I noticed I was running faster than I thought I was going to. I felt good though and kept my cadence high and my stride short. I felt good thru the entire run and had something left to give at the end.

Not have to carry a water bottle the first mile.

This race was poorly organized and poorly scored. My points are all jumbled and they have me in the wrong age group. Even the picture people are loopy. I will not do this race again.