Arbour Lake Sprint Triathlon - TriathlonSprint

2:05 faster than last year!!

Water was 2 degrees warmer than my practice 2 days earlier and believe me; I noticed. I also bought some oversized tri-googles (like a mask) - they helped so much on the sighting. I could see people's feet and chase after them for drafting spots, saw the buoys no problem - it was so much better than all my races last year. I don't bilateral breath, yet I was still able to swim straight comprared to last season.


Aside from the obvious "swim faster", not much. I think I gave it the right amount of effort, especially slowing down a touch near the end so I could exit immediately without stumbling around like some of the others I had watched earlier.

My new suit is easier to get off than the one I borrowed last year, but the ankles still gave me a bit of grief. Not much. Pickle bucket was not missed.

I've definately got the barefoot run/flying leap working. It's getting to be pretty routine and I certainly don't miss running in the SPD-SL cleats. I even tested some mountain bike spd cleats but they still clack and make contact with the pavement.

Once on the bike, getting the foot into the shoe can be a pain if it rolls forward; takes a second to swing it up and try again.


Hrm, maybe try wearing the jersey under the wetsuit as it took a bit longer than I expected to put on. OH I forgot - I totally goofed and sprayed sunblock on my face AFTER I put my glasses on. I didn't do that last race, I just screwed up this time. So I took a few seconds to try and clean it so I could see.

I could have gone a tiny bit harder, but I would have just been slower on the run for it. I spun up the hills never getting out of saddle (kiss 12/27) and was rarely passed. I seemed to hold pace with everyone around me on the flats and hills, and make up ground on the downhill and just after.


I think I'll keep this effort for the Oly next month. If I sprint again I'll push harder.

I did the jump off/barefoot/run thing at the line and passed 4 people. But the pipe was too narrow to get past this older guy who was hogging the whole lane. once it opened out he blocked me again, swinging wide for his spot (he did say sorry but still, grrr). Then I get to my spot and this DOUCHE is SITTING IN MY SLOT. Like, for real, he's just sitting cross-legged, on the grass with his head touching the rack. There is nothing to see there, there's tons of open grass, he's in the sprint only sections so it's not like he finished earlier. Mentally I was just lost for words. He said something like "Woah, sorry" and scrambled out of the way but he was too slow so I bumped him in the butt with my tire. GTFO!

Helmet off, socks on, shoes on, grab hat, go! - that's 10 seconds. Of course, I didn't know there was a little loop around you have to do before leaving the exit so after I got to the end of the rack I had to double back then head out. My bad for not reading the course map close enough I guess.


Carry mace to get people to move out of the way? :) Nah overall I'm happy with my trans stuff and won't spend much extra time on it anymore.

2:23 faster than last year!

I took my hand-held water bottle but reconsidered and tossed it back in my trans pile. I used the aid stations as there were several but because I have to slow down to drink, I think I might just stick with my own bottles. Sure there's weight, but hey, I got tons of that still. I don't like the effort involved in walking then running again - I'd rather just keep it going.

This was one of the first races where I had to play mental games. Mind says slow down, it's too hard, body says look at HR it's low, don't be a wuss, go FASTER, you just got passed by a 12 year old girl, etc. I've never really had that yet because before it's always been the body giving up first.

I'm really interested in what's going to happen next month at my first Oly.


Maybe carry my own drink.

Definately felt wasted at the end, which means I pushed good. Recovered quickly, had water and a few cookies.



About 20 lbs of Me.



Getting there at 7am and not leaving until 2pm really makes for a long day. Not that it was bad, but I think they could streamline some of it and maybe get us out by noon?

I'm also not sure why the women olympic need to have the course entirely to themselves. I can see a 15 min headstart or something so they don't get clobbered by the men's initial washing machine, but 1hr? Come on. And certainly the sprinters could have launched 30 mins after the mens Oly. But maybe it had to do with the number of boats, or watching for people skipping buoys or something.

Overall, 20+ mins faster than last year but because the weather was so brutal it's hard to compare. Swim and run times definately got better and at least some of the 15+ mins on the bike were due to having a better bike and the training. :)

In terms of positioning, last year was 39/88 this year was 16/117 so definatly the work is paying off. If I can drop from 180 down to the 160s without losing muscle I suspect I'll see some huge gains as well. Maybe next year!