Mini Mighty Man Triathlon - TriathlonMini Sprint

Yes I've only been swimming since late December/early January of this year. However, in training I swam a 7:50 400m time trial...so this was plainly and simply put: a piss-poor performance and just unacceptable for future races. Yes I am used to a 25m pool and this is a 50m pool, but really, that's a poor, poor excuse as well.

By the end of the swim I think I ended up swallwoing close to a 1/2 gallon of pool water. This led to lots of naseau and cramping in my abdomen and I highly suggest not doing this, and I plan on making a point of not swallowing water in future races.

I've gotta hit the pool more and harder.

I know this sounds really silly, but I'd never worn a swim cap in training. Wearing the swim cap now in the race did throw me off ...a lot, believe it or not. Perhaps it's because I could not feel the water level of my forehead and this threw off my body position - I am not exactly sure, but what I am sure of is it threw me off my normal groove because it was something I was totally not used to.

If you are reading this right now and have never swum with a swim cap, and plan on swimming in an event where you have to wear one (most events), please use one in training at least once. I've drilled the mantra into my head "Nothing New on Race Day." I am going to change it and personalize it for me to "Absolutely Positively Nothing New on Race Day No Matter How Small and Insignificant it may seem."

This was actually an excellent transition time (19th overall) and my tri top was stuck halfway up the entire time to boot! From reading many other race reports one thing I've noticed is that everyone always mentions they need to be faster. I've also read that "Transitioning is the Fourth Discipline". Also, looking at past race results for this sprint where racers were separated by mere seconds, I knew how important a fast transition would be and I made it a point to haul ass and not procrastinate at all.

I rubber-banded my shoes to keep them even, and just like I've practiced in training a dozen times, I ran full speed, mounted my bike, started pedaling with my barefeet atop the shoes, and then slipped them in. Finally something went as planned.


Forget trying to put my top on after a swim or wear my top during the swim like my friend did. Had I not fussed with my top I probably would've had a top ten T1 time.

Before the race (like I do for every race) I set goal times based off my ability (which I determine from training time trials and prior races times). My goal time for the swim was 7:19 and I failed miserably. The bike, however, I set a goal time of 16 mins, 25 seconds (21.92 mph) and I blew it out of the water! I hammered the bike and felt comfortable.

Only one person passed me during the three loops and it was a European guy on a Cervelo P3C who slowed down to ask me how many times we had to go around. I told him three and then told him he had a nice bike. He then zoomed ahead but I kept him in my sights the entire time.

Next time I am will have my tri top on to start the swim. Because it got stuck on my upper chest, I ran through transition with it like that knowing it would be fastest to wait until I was on the bike to yank it down fully. I probably lost a good 10 or 15 seconds riding slowly while fixing it.

Also, since this was only a 6 mile bike there are many things I will do differently for Olympic and HIM's. I did not have an aero helmet and I did not have race wheels; I actually had a gator skin ultra on the back! Had I thrown on an aero hemlent, Zipp 404's, Michelin Pro 2's (like I will for future longer triathlons) I'm positive I would've been reasonably faster.

Another excellent, excellent transition. Just like I watched triathletes do a dozen times in a row by rewinding my TIVO, and just like I had practiced a dozen times in training, I slipped my barefeet out of the shoes, pedaled into transition, slipped one leg over, jumped off and kept running -- all in one fluid motion.

I would not do anything differently. My one small criticism of the event is that they did not have a clearly marked LINE where you had to dismount. So I went into the transition a little cautiously and was not sure of where to actually dismount.

But the bottom line is I did a perfect flying dismount in my first Triathlon ever and I am very proud of myself for that.

I'm a better, faster runner than this. And once again the pool haunted me as my gut hurt from all the pool water I swallowed. I've BRICKED plenty in training and never had this type of pain and discomfort. It had to be from all the damn pool water.

Not swallow a 1/2 gallon of chlorinated water.

Met up with a few of my friends and congratulated all of them. Sulk at how I bombed the swim.


A poor start in the pool doomed any hopes I had at a top ten finish in my first Triathlon Race. Had I swam like I'd done before in training I would've been at least 1:30 faster. I also would have not swallowed water which would had led to my true training BRICK time of 6:30-ish pace - which would have saved me another approximate 1 min, 18 seconds. Lastly, fussing with my stuck tri-top cost me approximately 15 seconds. All these (very fixable)factors added just over 3 minutes to my overall time, and would've put me around 14th place.


In all this was an excellent, very well-run event. All of the volunteers and employees were very kind, cheerful and helpful. Kudos to Event Power LI. Love the goody back, top-notch t-shirt, love the finishers medal, the course was clean and well-prepped (fresh top soil was applied and raked out in some rough spots) body-marking (my first experience with that) was really cool, too.

Lastly this event was a huge success mostly because I met two new friends my same age who are just like me. We chatted it up before and after the event, made plans to train together, exchanged e-mails, and one of the them told me something amazing I never knew... That there is an XTERRA Triathlon less than a 1/2 mile from my house!!! How crazy is that!! Of course I signed up for it as soon as I got home. Now I gotta do more research on a mountain bike - full supsension or hard-tail? Hmmm...