Racing for Recovery Triathlon - Sprint - TriathlonSprint

Wow!!! Is all I could think of, forgot how crazy things were on a tri swim. Felt anxious and somewhat disoriented as being the last wave the bottom was stirred up making sighting in the water all but impossible. Got things under control and after abit seperated myself from a tight pack.

I felt like I was doing terrible but kept at it. When I exited the water my wife and daughter were on shore along the chute with big smiles on there face. My wife yelled at me that I was 37 th out of the water, but I was mixed in with some females, but was amazed, which gave me a boost. I never took the time to look back at how many other swimmers were behind me.

More OWS practice.

I accomplished this throughout the summer with OWS in wavy Lake Huron and the Atlantic Ocean off the Outer Banks. I now understand how folks can become sea sick swimming, though I never did, swimming in good size waves really seemed to help my navigation skills for tris I did later.

I was real tired running up to T1 and actually sat down to put my shoes on and suck down a gel real quick.

Just get dressed and go and eat the dang gel once you get moving on the bike.

Wow what a bumpy and rough ride. I can't imagine doing a HIM here on the same roads, It was aggrevating enough doing the sprint. I know the course had changed just the week or two before the race, so they must have had some issues. There was no water on the bike loop for sprint racers, and I didn't bring any. There was also to many turnarounds which was aggrevating as having to slow down so much was frustrating.

The ride was flat as could be and I rode well. I took it easy to the turnaround point, then started pushing the pace.

Hopefully they get a better bike route next year.

This went okay, though my shoe fell off the pedal. Need to practice that a little more

Got up to speed okay but legs were tight. Not many others on the course with me. Walked at aid stations and drank some water otherwise just kept moving along.

More run training and bricks.

Walked around and ate some of the good food.


It was real nice to see my wife and daughter as it seemed to make me push a little harder.

Being my first tri in a loooong time, I was real happy with how everything went. Somehow I placed third in my age group. Figured the tri studs must have been at the Ann Arbor Tri. But I picked up my little trophy to show off to the kids, who think I'm crazy getting up early for swims, etc.


This would be a great course for a HIM if the roads weren't in such bad shape. I plan on trying this on June 8, 2008 for my first HIM provided a good chunk of the course is changed or repaved. Otherwise I will go elsewhere.

I liked the Lake Erie swim and the run course though, and there was plenty of parking, bathrooms (if you knew were to go) and space for the transition area.