Lone Star Triathlon Festival - Sprint - TriathlonSprint

Got off to a good start. I was able to start 2 back from the front and right at the line I split the two guys and cut inside the buouy to get through. I pulled ahead of the one to my right and was in open water alone. Never felt another person the rest of the swim. Felt like I had the ocean to myself! I do not think I swam as hard as I could have. I felt like I was struggling to keep my breath and as a result kept my effort reigned in some.

I think with calmer nerves my HR would have been lower and as a result I could have pushed the effort harder.

This transition could definitely be faster. I felt like I was in a daze kind of piddling at my station. Took my time rinsing my head and feet with clean water. Dried my feet well before putting on socks, etc. Should have just put socks on and to heck with a little salt water!

As for mounting the bike, I ran through transition with it but didn't do a jump on start. Still was quick getting on and getting my shoes clipped. Was off and running no problem!

I would have a better gameplan for movement by movement what to do when I got to my station. No piddling next time! Easily could have knocked off 45 seconds here.

Perhaps I rode a little harder than I should have. This may have made the run tougher on me than I needed. I felt good riding and never really felt exhausted. I just kept seeing that my HR was running at my higher end and thought that may not be good for later in the race.

Not sure I would do anything differently. I saw the HR and mentally was trying to reign in the horses but the horses wanted to run...so I let'em run!

I didn't step off the bike until it was stopped (which was RIGHT at the dismount line). Oops, that was a little close. Running through transition my heavy shoes hung down from the pedal and hit the ground and caused the bike to jump way out of control and just about took a guy out next to me. No harm. Didn't hit him or anyone else. Just startled me is all. This transition overall went perfect compared to the first. I had already gooed out on the bike so didn't need to do anything other than I grabbed a quick sip and then took off. Began running from my station.

Not sure I would change anything here.

So this is evidently the area I most need to improve on. I got passed a LOT on the run by guys in my age group. Perhaps if I were faster here I would have ranked higher for my age group. I was tired right off the bat and sheer will kept me going. My HR was up, I was breathing hard, and legs were tired. One thing I distinctly noticed prior to mile one was the sensation of shin splints coming in. The muscles on the front of my shins were exhausted. I assumed I was at VO2 max or whatever and that my muscles couldn't clear the junk. Anyway, then I got that out of my head and started realizing I am supposed to do an Olympic in 2 months! If this run was as hard as it was, how am I going to do an Olympic! Guess I will focus less on speed then and more on finishing. On the run I mostly used the water at the stations to pour over my head. I drank very little on the course. Part of the run took us through heavy grass. I thought I would have to kill someone for that! That was like running in wet concrete! After the turnaround I heard my buddy coming out towards me yell "GO BRIAN!" I yelled back to encourage him and then thought "He is closing in on me! I gotta pick it up!" I had no idea what my pace was. I knew I was making pretty good time, but didn't realize how much below an 8 minute mile I was running. This is the fastest I have ever run...ever! :)

Work on training my run more and focus on improving my SPEED!!! This was my fastest ever and I am very pleased with it but when I see how it ranks compared with my other two disciplines I see I need to work on it more.

Oops. What is a "warm down?" I realized too late that I needed to stretch. I stretch more after a light workout than I did after this race. The day after I am feeling it!


My breathing on the swim and my running.


This race was AWESOME! Only my second but they did a great job! It was a blast being there. I will definitely look to do other races with Endorfun.