Quad Cities Triathlon - TriathlonSprint

Time trial start on this OWS. I was about a full minute faster this year than last year on this race. But I know I could have done faster. I know I could have gone sub 11:00. My sighting was off. I was fine going out to the first buoy, but when I rounded it, I kept pulling left. And I could never correct.
And to top it off, my breathing wasn't that great. On the top part of the triangle, I was all over the darn place. Probably because I knew I wasn't sighting well. And about 1/2 way through, I figured, screw it, and just really settled in and started to swim my swim. I really started to pass people then. I even swam up onto one lady that was doing the back stroke. literally swam up onto her so quickly it was as if I was laying on top of her. Mumbled some sort of apology and took off.
Beach headed the shore, passing people trying to walk, and finally stood up when I couldn't do a full stroke any more.
Better than last year, but not as good as I could have done.

Sight better and breathe better.

Transition itself wasn't too bad. Encompassed a run from the beach up to the area so it was quite quick overall. I did almost bite it trying to put my bike shoes but other than that, pretty quick.

To start with, I was an idiot and forgot to put the bike in the easiest gear. So I had to grind out to start off with. Idiot!
Anyway, I took off, finally got the Garmin going (I didn't swim with it this year) and finally tried to settle in for the bike. My goal this year was to break the 20mph barrier. Of course, there was a head wind on the outbound.
The bike, overall, felt really good. I passed a lot of people. A lot. I lost count, but I'm guessing around 2 dozen. And I only got passed by a total of 4 people. Much, MUCH better than last year.
I only averaged 17.5mph last year, this year, 19.7. Big improvement. Didn't get the speed I wanted but with the wind and the hills, I'll take the progress.

T.I.T.S

I'm happy with this T2. I almost passed my rack, so that cost me a few seconds. Maybe 3-4. But other than that, it was good.

Not miss the rack.

Got out of T2 in a hurry, just to be on the course. The first 3/4 of a mile was muddy. I had a cramp in my right calf that worried me. So I focused my time to try to get rid of that. Didn't take long. By the time I was over the dam, it was gone.
Once the calf cramp was gone, I started to find a little bit of a side stitch, but nothing much. More than anything, I couldn't get my legs under me. My breathing was a bit labored, and I just couldn't get my legs under me. I'm not entirely certain if I didn't blow them out on the ride. I'm in a bit of unchartered territory. I was hurting. Breathing hard. Legs hurt.
But I ran well. I was surprised that I did a sub 8:00 pace. Faster than 1:00 pace than last year. I still had to much left over at the end, but I definitely pushed it harder than last year.

Push it harder. Push past the pain.

Crossed the finish line, and Beth caught up to me. Walked around a bit, talked to a guy that I talked to a bit waiting to start the race. Went and got some of the food (a bit less than last year, frankly) and noticed they had the initial posting up. And found out what my total time was.
Just found out today that I placed the same as my race number. HA! Talk about coincidence.


Not entirely certain. Pushing too hard on the bike?


I will continue to race this race next year. It is so well organized and run. And I'm really happy to see Eric Sarno is doing well.