Scofield Triathlon - Sprint Distance - TriathlonSprint

I got up to the front of the pack before the swim started with Randy, knowing full well I was kidding myself that I could stay in front :) I thought I'd give it a strong start and see where it took me-- Unfortunately the usual pack caught up and before I knew it I was getting hit and kicked as usual... I did my best to keep swimming through the mess, but you end up swimming at the speed of the pack... I think if I could figure out how to "break away" I could have shaved another minute or two off of the swim...

Try to find the "sweet spot" in the pack where there's enough space to open up. Unfortunately it's tough, especially when there's a mass start. All things considered, I don't know how much more I could have done. I could get better at sighting... still slows me down quite a bit.

Helmet, check! I remembered it this time :) I didn't have to run to the car to get it.. Whew. Even used the wetsuit strippers for the first time-- it was pretty cool. Felt pretty good after the swim... This transition area was long so there was quite a bit of distance I had to run in my bike shoes, making for a longer T time.

Not much... Just try to figure out how to make getting my socks/shoes on faster... Maybe put my shoes on the bike pedals.. Don't know how much that'd help or not... Maybe swim in my socks :) Something!

I had tons of fun on this ride-- Started out strong, bolting past a few riders right out of the gate... Caught up with some fast riders, and we were playing the yo-yo back and forth for a good while. It was a good challenge. Stayed strong through most of the ride-- started to fade a bit at the end, probably due to lack of good hydration, but pushed through it to finish the leg strong. Would have likely been well over 21 mph avg. had I hydrated properly. (I've been working on my bike :))

Use electrolyte supplements, gels, etc-- and DRINK plenty of WATER during the bike -- whatever I need to keep strong on my bike and ensure leftovers for the run. I also think I need to adjust my seat/bike for more of a TT position before these rides to maximize my efficiency and keep working on keeping cadence up while in high gears. I want to be breaking 22 mph on these soon :)

Again, yet another average transition... I just don't fret that much in these... I like to take my time in preparation for starting the next, regardless of how many extra seconds it'll take. As I was putting on my running shoes, my right calf started cramping severely and the pain was horrible... I drank as much water as I could quickly and tried to stretch out the cramp, but had to head out with it on the run... Ouch

Hydrate more on the bike... I didn't take enough in, so I was getting punished. After starting the run with the cramp in my calf, I was shot mentally.... It was so painful... it made for a slow transition and start on the run.

I felt horrible during this run, first starting off with the cramp, and then my usual mental weakness got the best of me. Had I run the entire thing, I would have had a great run time... This time included lots of walking-- probably over an entire minute or more. The sun was out and the heat was there, adding to the extra difficulty of running at 7500 ft elevation... It was tough. And I only had a single cup of Powerade through it... Dumb.

Did I already say DRINK MORE? I suck at hydration and just general nutrition-- if I could get that figured out, I bet I'd see amazing results. I should have drank lots of water the day before, but instead I probably had more than my share of Pepsi... yes, I'm a soda drinker. Maybe as a good experiment I should give it up (although I've tried many times and failed before), but I suspect I may be surprised by the results.

Stretch, DRINK WATER, and BS with Randy and Jason. Unfortunately I had to get back home quickly so I couldn't spend alot of time post-race- It was pretty much straight back to the car and head out.


My mental wimpyness (have I said this before?) I suspect the biggest difference between myself and some of the guys at the front of the race is the ability to ignore the pain, or laugh at it. I know Randy has this technique down-- I'm still working on it. I've been trained since I was little that pain is bad-- but if I can work with pain, I'll be golden!


This race was definitely a great one to do-- It was a great location, with just a good fun atmosphere. I'll definitely put it in my list of races to do next season. And I'll see if I can shave some serious time off next time... Slowly but surely, I'm getting there.