Dallas Athletes St. Patricks Day Sprint - TriathlonSprint

My heart rate stayed between 96-120 for the hour I waited before my start time. I'm sure it affected me later during the run. I took a swim clinic three days before the race and had been worried I was messing too much with my stroke. I took it easy and concentrated on my reach and glide.

Maybe want to push it a little more next time, but was worried about burning out early. My goal is sub-6:00 next time.

What a mess. I had a clothing crisis. I was so worried about being wet and cold on the bike (from friends' stories) I put my jacket on then off, wore my race number (why?), worried about drinks, etc. I was so caught up in the thinking I only realized how long I was taking until the guy who started :30 after me in the pool ran up, grabbed his bike and took off. I think my layout was logical and neat - that was probably the only good aspect.

Everything. I didn't realize how fast I would dry off in cool dry weather. I got the first one out of the way, so the next will be much better.

Coming out of T1, I was still all bent out of shape about my lousy transition. It took about 1/2 mile to get into my groove, right when I turned into a 15 mph headwind. Grinding out of that I found my groove and started to feel better. Halfway through the first lap I really started to enjoy myself. By the end of the first lap I felt like I was flying. I remembered to spin up coming up to T2, but pulled too hard on my left clip without any weight on the bike trying to dismount.

I really felt great coming off the bike. A better T1 would have set me up for a better start but I should have driven the course first. The second lap was much better just knowing what was ahead. I couldn't help going hard the whole bike leg because I felt good. Avg heart rate was 168-172. I actually felt much faster and was surprised my time wasn't better.

I stayed in my bike shoes because I don't have tri shoes yet. That really slowed me down going to my spot. My change was good. No socks on the run was a good plan. I remembered a second pair of sunglasses for the run which was also good.

Get out of shoes early.

Ouch. After pushing the bike, I had to slow down to keep my HR under control. I felt slow as mud and was sure I was running a 9:30. Two guys I had been staying with pulled away. Good kick at the finish generated a new max HR - 192. My time was better than I felt.

Run faster. It was hard to get fluid down. Not sure if I bonked but didn't have any gas left in the tank.

First one, but I had a blast and am hooked.