Parris Island Triathlon - TriathlonSprint

Felt great starting out, but lost my breathing rhythm half way through. I got passed twice and passed two people. Think maybe it was just first race jitters in the swim. Nothing terrible happened and I'm one second slower than last year. But it wasn't a smooth swim for me.

Stick to three stroke breathing and do as many flip turns as traffic permits. I only did one flip turn during the whole swim.

Good T1. I haven't practiced transitions at all this year so I'm very pleased with how smooth this went. Keep in mind, I put on socks in this transition.

Learn how to do a flying mount.

Ah, the learning experiences of the first of the season. I didn't check the strap on my aerobottle setting up my transition area. The first bump I hit, thunk! My aerobottle drops down and tips forward. The strap came loose and unthreaded. I have a hard enough time threading the strap standing at the transition rack, let alon racing at 20mph so I held my bottle in place with my wrists on the straight aways and put one hand on it whenever I had to corner. This is still an excellent bike split for me. I don't think the course is quite 13 miles long, but I don't race with a computer, so I don't know the exact distance. Plus, it's kind of cool to see my avg. spd at 23.7!!!! Figure I was probably at 22 something in reality.

Re-check the velcro aerobottle strap BEFORE the race!

It was a lot warmer this year, so T2 went a lot faster. I could feel my fingers to unsnap my helmet. I slipped on my flats, grabbed my number belt and visor and was off and running!

Nothing

Felt great out of T2. No pain which is what I was so worried about. I tried to stay comfortable on the out portion of the run. I passed a couple of guys, exciting, cuz I rarely pass on the run. When I made the turn around, I tried to pick up the pace. Everything felt really good. When I made second to the last turn toward the finish, I really picked up the pace and tried to keep a very high foot turn over. I could feel my HR going up when I made the final turn, but I knew the finish line was just ahead. Felt really winded when I crossed the line. My split is 36 seconds slower than last year. That is ok since I've been battling injuries.

Run faster!

Stretched really, really , really well. Spent about 20 minutes stretching. I really want to stay healthy this season.


It is March. I'm not in top form. Loose aerbottle on the bike. Jitters on the swim. Lack of running base. These are not complaints, just facts. I am ecstatic about this race. I beat my overall time from last year by about 45 seconds and I really think I was in peak condition last year. 2007's race felt effortless. This one felt like work. I think I am right where I need to be to be in peak condition by June.


I improved from last year, won my age group and beat my arch rival. I also had a great time meeting up with folks I hadn't seen since October. Had a fun time traveling with SuzanneS who also had a great race. It is so much fun to race then socialize and see that you are continuing to get faster. A great day. I give this one two thumbs up!!!