Bassman Spring Triathlon - TriathlonSprint

Swim went really well. Time was right where I expected it to be. It was definitely a little crowded at the start and for most of the 1st half of the swim which caused me to stop periodically and breast stroke. The 2nd half of the swim cleared out and allowed me to get into a groove for the way back in. Overall, felt fresh coming out of the water which gives me some confidence for Eagleman in 6 weeks. Also, this was my first time using a wetsuit and it definitely made a difference.

Not much. Just try to relax more at the start and get into a groove quicker.

Spent some extra time in T1 as I had to put on a long sleeve under armour shirt under my race jersey because of the cold weather and also had a ton of wet sand on my feet that I tried to wipe off because I didn’t want to get a blister on the bike since I go sockless. As a result, time was a little slower than I had hoped for but understandable considering the circumstances.

Nothing

This was my best bike in the 5 triathlons that I have done so far dating back to last summer and also the longest. New equipment on my road bike included aero bars - first time used in a race, Michelin Pro Race 3 tires and the Profile Design aero drink bottle. As a result, I averaged just over 21 mph when you exclude roughly 3-4 minutes from my bike time for the 100-150 yard runs through the sand on the way out to the bike mount and also on the way back in to T2. As far as nutrition, I had one gel towards the latter part of the bike and drank all of the aero drink bottle or roughly 18 ounces. One minor issue at the start of the bike was when my helmet became unbuckled which forced me to stop and click out for about 15 seconds. Really pushed the bike though in this race and felt it when I got to Transition 2. My butt and the area around my lower calves were really sore which caused a difficult first mile on the run.

My plan was to push the bike and I was very happy with the results. Some key takeaways from this race are 1.) I feel like I need to be more consistent on my nutrition plan and 2.) I need to work on pacing. I will focus on this over the next 6 weeks.

Transition 2 went pretty well despite trying to head out of the bike entrance and having to reverse course to the run exit. Got the biked racked, bike shoes off and run shoes on pretty quickly.

Pay more attention during pre race instructions and focus on where the bike and run entrances and exits are.

As I said before, the run was painful for the first mile or 2. Legs and butt were pretty sore due to hammering the bike but I ran through it and began to feel a little better. Also, I had issues with my toes coming off the bike. They were completely numb when I started the run. I actually stopped briefly to take my shoe off because I thought I had a rock in it from the transition area but it was just my toes causing the pain. Had one gel near the halfway point of the run to give myself a boost and it seemed to work as I picked up the pace over the last 2 miles or so. Run could have been better but this time was expected as I really pushed the bike. Will definitely need to pace myself better and follow a better/more consistent nutrition plan on the bike at Eagleman in order to have a more enjoyable ½ Marathon.

Additional training and specifically more bricks to continue to get legs feeling better coming off the bike to avoid the pain and slow starts on the run. Fitness felt fine as I ran the last 2 miles much quicker than the first 2.

Saw my wife and kids at the finish which was great and we all hung around with my friends families until they came in. Congratulated my friends when they finished and then we all hung around and talked for a while. We then headed to the transiton area to pack up our stuff. Took my wetsuit to the water to wash it out as it was full of sand then went to grab something to eat. We stayed briefly for the awards ceremony then decided to head out as we were tired and it was getting colder.


Nothing. Just need to keep training and building the volume. This was the longest race of the 5 Triathlons that I have completed so far.


Overall, this was a great race and I would definitely recommend it. It's a nice course and was well run. One recommendation is to move the transition area out of the sand to avoid the mess and also to avoid the long runs with the bike through the sand. I was also very satisfied with my times and am looking forward to training hard over the next 6 weeks to get prepared for Eagleman.