City of Gold Triathlon - TriathlonSprint

Swim went very well. I started out in the deeper water, and actually had a better line to the first bouy - and only a few swimmers around me. I started out strong, was passed by a big, hard kicking dinasour - so I figured why not hitch a ride onto his wake. That worked great for about 2 minutes, when he first started slowing down, then he switched to the side stroke. Just my luck, I try to draft of someone and he ends up being a 200 yard wonder...

I tried unsuccessfully to find another good set of feet to follow, finally gave up and just did my own thing. No problems seeing the bouys, I think I navigated really well - no corrections needed.

After rounding the last bouy, I started passing orange caps (the previous wave) which felt pretty good. I also felt really good that I did not get passed by any white caps (the ladies wave behind mine).


Need to work on more of an initial "sprint", to keep up with the faster, more consistant swimmers... So I can find a good set of feet to follow.

Only problem with T-1 was the frigging 1/4 mile of 20% grade on the launch ramp getting up to the bikes. It was such a rough surface, that most of us stashed an old set of shoes at the bottom - so we wouldn't cut up our feet going up. That took 10 or 15 seconds to put them on, then run up the ramp probably 3 or 4 minutes, by then I was completely out of breath when I reached my bike... So that whole process went pretty slow.

practice running up the ramp... Lots!!!!

The bike felt really good, I passed probably 10 or 15 people, and was only passed by one. I pushed pretty hard on the bike, backed off a mile or two from the end, to try to recover before the run.


Nothing - I was able to cut a bunch of time off my bike this year.

I had this nailed... I was full speed up until the last minute, slammed on the brakes just as I crossed the "dismount" line, the off and running in my socks to the rack. Spun the bike into the rack, slipped on the shoes, snapped my race belt and threw on my visor and I was gone. Total time of less than 30 seconds.

Nothing - this went well.

The first mile of this run is really, really hard... I is probably a grade of 10-15% most of the way, and it is really hard to "attack" a hill after just jumping off your bike. I walked the steeper portions, and I know I walked way more that I should have... But I knew my heartrate was going to go thur the roof if I didn't walk. After the first mile, I was able to pick up the pace, but the damage to my 5k time was already done....

Run faster, walk less.

Walked around, talked to some the participants, ate a little bit of food, and drank some water and recharge.


I've been withing 2 or 3 minutes every year for the past couple of years. I am still making small improvements, but to be a consistent "placer" I need to cut another 5-10 minutes off my time... And I'm not sure how to do that!!!

Reviewing my results from last year, my swin was 5 seconds slower, 10 seconds slower for T-1, 3 minutes slower on the bike, and about 2 minutes faster on the run.


This is one of the better "small town" sprints I have seen or participated in. The course has enough hills to challenge even the fastest rider, but is forgiving enough that beginners do not feel intimidated.