Door Country Triathlon - Short Course - TriathlonSprint

Considering this was only my second tri, and my second OWS, I think I did much better than my first race at Delavan. Completely freaked out in that race. This time I was smart enough to get out in the water before the race and get rid of my fears a bit. Felt much better. I was actually very happy with this swim. I was able to do some freestyle for much of the time, which is a big improvement for me. I think my limiter this time was I started at the back of the wave, worried that I would have people swimming over me like in Delavan. Turns out, I kept catching people and having to slow down or move to the outside, which really slowed me down. Next time, I'm starting more towards the front.

Start more towards the front of the pack.

My plan going in was to take it easy in transition. I wanted to lower my heartrate after the swim, and start off the bike nice and easy. The slow transition time is fine with me. I can work on that over time.

I improved my bike speed over my first tri by 3mph, so I'm happy with that. Much of that comes from having an actual road bike vs. my mountain bike on the first race. Still getting used to the new bike, so I think I still have plenty of room for improvement.

More bike work in training.

Again, I wanted to lower the heart rate leading into the run, so I took it fairly slow in transition.

This was my best time for a 5k run in a race, so I was happy to be able to pull it off on its own, let alone after a swim and bike. I feel like I could have maybe pushed a little harder in parts, but I took it easy coming out of transition because my legs were a bit shaky. Slowly built up the pace after that. Very happy with the run.

Nothing.

Grabbed some water and scanned the crowd for my wife, who was cheering me on at every transition and down the finish chute. I watched her race the Danskin, and she watched me compete here. Next race, we will be doing together, as we did in Delavan. Had a BBQ pork sandwich, corn and a beer. Great post-race reward!


I pulled a muscle in my back 2 weeks before the race, so I was very limited in my training leading up to the race. I was happy to compete at all, but I met all my goals and exceeded my expectations. I'm very happy with my performance.


This event was very well run. Kudos to Sean Ryan and the event staff. We have not been to many events yet, but this was definitely the most enjoyable. Great setting, great course, great organization. I would recommend this race to anyone. I hope to be ready for the Olympic distance next year.