Cranberry Country Triathlon - TriathlonOlympic

Well, I'm a crappy swimmer so this was good for me. I sighted well and drafted a little bit. People complained about the shallow murky water but this was my first non-ocean swim so the water seemed crystal clear to me. There was one spot that was very shallow but over all I loved this swim. I've taken a lesson since and now realize how I have no idea how to swim! I will be cutting minutes off my swim now that I have at least and idea of what to be doing. Lots of masters swims over the winter!

Learn how to swim BEFORE starting a year of triathlons!

This was a very long run between the water and T1. Suit came off quickly and shoes, sunglasses, and helmet went on well. I ran with my bike (which was the farthest possible rack) pretty quickly. Overall, I'm happy with this transition. After scanning the times for everyone else there weren't that many faster than mine that were MOPers. Still, I could get a LOT faster. Jorge did his in 1:56! I think the first 55 people were all under 3 minutes.

Run faster through transitions and not wipe feet.

As bad a swimmer as I am my bike splits are always my worst event. I plan on spending a lot of time on the trainer this winter and really getting some bike legs. I should be at least above 50th percentile! What's funny is that this was a great race for me. I averaged 18.5 which I was very happy with. Just goes to show hoe much room for improvement I have. I felt as if I was pushing pretty hard the whole time while still holding a bit back for the run. I think mentally it was a good pace I just need to get stronger. Which I will.

Train more.

I took my shoes off on the bike for the first time in a race. It went pretty well. I had a bit of a tough time getting the shoes under my feet after taking them off though. It was really only maybe 3 misses which took like 2 seconds but I know it should be smoother. Although, watching the Boulder Peak Tri at home yesterday Matt Reed missed a few times too. Of course, he jumped off the bike while running which I didn't come close to doing. I also went to the wrong rack for a second. I ran well with the bike and the sneaks went on quickly and the helmet came off well also. A good transition overall.

Not spend 10 seconds at the wrong rack.

I was worried about nutrition and hydration since I've never done this distance before. I drank a little at each station for the first three miles before I realized it made me burpy and I really didn't need it. The last two stations I just dumped water on my head which was great. It was blasting sun out but the course was very shady which helped a lot. The volunteers were fantastic on all parts of the course but especially the run. Lots of great encouragment and very good seperation of HEED and water.

I ran well. I took it easy the first mile since I knew I had 5 more to go and didn't know how my body would react to this distance. My legs were heavy the first mile but not too bad. I picked it up a bit more each mile thereafter. I think by the last mile I was doing a 8 minute mile. I need a Garmin! I really had a good time running. My body was hurting a little and the wind was a bit lacking but I could have pushed harder. I just didn't want to die at the end. I know now that I could have pushed harder and still been fine. Still, a PR for the 10k for me!

Push harder earlier.

What an ending. Great finish chute, heard my name called, ran hard into the finish, got a great photo, and then the volunteers really took care of you. They took of my strap for me, put a ice cold towel and ice cold water in my hand and said congratualtions. I walked around for second, saw a buddy from work, and then met everyone from BT a little after my co-worker (actually bosses boss) and I got some food.


1) Not knowing exactly how hard to push. Defintely could have gone faster. 2) Not knowing how to swim. 3) Need to train more on the bike. 4) Need to train more on the run. 5) Get faster in the transitions. I could have lowered both times by a minute by just running a bit harder throughout.


I really enjoyed the race. My goal was 3:00 and I crushed that. Plus, I felt strong the whoel time and new I could have done even better. I'm beating 2:30 next year! The volunteers and the race organization/post activities were fantastic. It was great meeting all the BT'ers after the race. What a great group of people. Every single one of them (you).