Parris Island Triathlon - TriathlonSprint

Not a good swim. First 200-250 meters went fine. I even asked the two guys in front of me what they were planning for their times and both anticipated going faster than I did which was fine, and there was an open spot behind me prior to the next lady so I felt good about the swim. At the 250 wall I started encountering people that were not swimming fast at all and couldn't pass because we were going up and back in the same lane. I was actually doing breaststroke because they were moving so slow. I've been fighting a cold and started worrying about using too much energy to pass people, but took it easy and passed about 5 the remainder of the swim. I wish that they would make people put in total distance times instead of 100 splits because there are too many people that put in unrealistic times and screw up those of us that have accurate times in. I based my time on an 800 meter average at 1:35 per 100 and that's what I entered. With that I should have been right at 8 minutes, and I was a full minute behind my training pace.

Learn to not be a nice guy and swim over people. Being so new to these things I don't feel comfortable knocking people out of the way, but they don't seem to mind clogging up the pool and making it difficult to pass so I need to not worry about them so much.

I've just started riding with cycling shoes so this was my first race putting them on. I did OK, not great but didn't really kill myself trying to go too fast. It was warm so I didn't put a shirt on which saved some time.

Not too much. I think I could just speed things up a little and improve on this time.

I got a little worried about 4 miles in because I seemed to have a high heart rate, but settled down by mile 7 and enjoyed the ride. I got passed by a few guys, but I passed a couple also. I have improved a lot in this area, but still have a long way to go. The last guy that passed me was in a big gear just grinding so I put it into a bigger gear and just tried to keep him in sight which worked pretty well.

Just keep riding and getting better and faster.

I had a problem getting my bike racked because the lady beside me was putting her running shoes on, but in the spot where my bike went. I was trying to get it in and bumped her in the legs and she yelled at me that I was bumping her. I asked where I was supposed to put my bike and went about my business.

Nothing

Just as in the bike in the first mile I felt like i was going a bit too hard and wouldn't be able to finish. Once I passed the first water station and got into a good grove I just settled down and enjoyed the rest of the run. I had a number of people pass me and each time I tried to pace myself but typically couldn't hang on, so I would let them go. Initially I wanted to do under 23 minutes which would have been a stretch goal for me so i'm pleased with the sub 8 minute pace.

I could have pushed harder on the run. My overall goal time was 1:15 and I was well ahead of that so I didn't stress myself to badly on the run and could have done the last mile a good bit quicker.

Walked around and stretched out a little and waited for my friends to finish up. With it being a pool swim and I had the first time of my group of friends I was done prior to them. I also hung out with Herbie and Mark Woody who are really fast. Both of them did the race under one hour, which blows my mind.
Ate some fruit and chicken pot pie, and a lot of water.


Basically I'm pleased with the time and race. The swim was a little slower then I know I could have done, but that may be an issue in all pool swims. I was sick leading up to the race and still have the cold so I'm sure that didn't help, but I doubt on a short race like this it had too much impact. For the first race I'm happy and look forward to Langley Pond next month.


Paris Island is a beautiful place to race. It's pretty wild seeing all of the recruits out the whole time you're racing. The only negative this race was the bugs. Once the wind started blowing thogh they weren't too bad.