Four States Sprint Triathlon - TriathlonSprint

I'm in the first wave of three, with men 39 and under. The gun goes off, and it's quite the mayhem. I love it! You want a piece of this? I'll give you a "friendly" elbow. Eh, not really. When I first started, this really scared me. But now I embrace it. I swam over a couple people within the first 50, just because there was nowhere else to go. Not really swimming but something similar to the first buoy.

It was here where the pack thinned, tremendously! I could see the leaders in front of me about 50 yards, but I was about 25 yards ahead of the other pack behind me. Crap, caught in no-mans land. I knew then it was just me swimming alone the rest of the way. Nobody to draft or lead me in, so I just focused on good technique and sighting.

Rounded the second buoy and the leaders were coming in about 200 yards ahead of me, and I looked back to see I had nearly 50 yards on the pack behind me. At this point I started to think that I could maybe hang within a few minutes of the leaders. And it hit me that I would be able to see the lead pack the entire race. This was going to be quite the thrill, as I've never been near the front to see the speed demons!

Swam until I could dig with my hands. Walked out of the lake to gain composure as I headed into T1.

I wish I would've made a really hard effort to sprint to the lead guys so I could've drafted. But I'm not quite sure I have the ability to get there. Otherwise, a great swim.

Apparently the course changed from last year as I heard last year's course was significantly short. This year's course I would guess was very accurate.

Finally settled into a jog as I saw the wetsuit strippers. I couldn't get to my zipper, so I had them do it. They are great, so the volunteers should definitely deserve some thanks.

Pretty standard from here, but I didn't bother having my shoes on the bike. It's been so long since I've done this, and I didn't practice it so I figured it would be best to avoid catastrophe.

Practice transitions so I can mount barefoot with my shoes already on the bike.

Get into aero and settle in. Don't drop into a higher gear just yet to get the legs spinning. I'm not passing anybody, and this is a bit frustrating. But I realize that I'm in the first wave, with probably no more than 25 people in front of me. And those are going to be the fast guys!

Get settled after a mile and I'm playing tag with a few people. Out to the dam into a slight headwind and I see Chauncey Deller (from our ETT club) come zooming in. This reassures my pick for Chauncey to win this race. He has more talent than anybody I've ever met. As he flies by, I calculate that I'm probably about 3-4 minutes off the pack. And that really makes me feel awesome.

Turn around with the tailwind and I'm probably pushing 25 now. Wanted to push a little harder, but the run scared me not to do so. Turned right onto a bumpy road and I see Jacob fly by followed by Eric Deller (Chauncey's brother, also from out ETT club). Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh! Freakin' awesome to see these guys coming by. Smooth sailing on into T2.

Nothing. This is pretty much what I wanted to do. Great effort, leaving me enough energy for a good run.

Steve Farris says I've got to get some race wheels. So I ask him if he's initiating the donation plate! I still need to work on my engine before I spend money on equipment. Unless I'm competing in the top 3-5% of the field, I just don't see any reason to spend that kind of money.

Dismount normally. No high-flying theatrics. Shoes off, running shoes on. Helmet off, and let's get to running.

Practice the flying dismount, and then perform. The crash at River Cities was almost a year ago, so I need to grow some balls and forget about it.

Legs feel decent. I'm not running fast, but nobody is around me so I just run comfortably to get a good feel. Right before I get to the 1 mile marker I see Chauncey looking like a man possessed. Nobody is even close to striking distance.

I'm huffing and puffing. This is so painful. Why do I want to run fast, when it hurts so bad? I think to myself that I'm not doing sprints anymore. Only HIM level and up. I'd so much rather run long than fast!

Get passed a couple of times, but nobody in my AG. So I keep running comfortably. Mile 2. Thank goodness this is almost over! I try to pick it up to finish strong, and I do a decent job of doing so. Not much going on as I was in limited traffic.

Train to run fast! That's the first time I've run a mile at a 7 minute pace since the 5k I ran at the Turkey Trot last Thanksgiving. I'm a firm believe that I still need to develop more aerobic base before the speed comes. I'm getting very close though, and I will try to get a tempo run or some fartleks in once a week once I come back from Mexico.

Sat with Chauncey, William, and Eric for a second to hear them talk about their race. They weren't much for talking. Head up and get a banana and a cookie. Then go back for a burger and some pizza. Stayed away from the beer! I haven't touched alcohol since Dec 31, 2007!

Chatted with everybody until unofficial results were posted. These results said I was 3rd in my AG. But then I realized that Eric was placed in the M 35-39 group. So that bumped me to 4th. Oh well. The top of the field was really, really fast since it is the SMW regional sprint championship. Watched the awards, and headed to the house.


Training, and my "post-Ironman eat everything you can possibly find in sight" disease. I'm guessing I went into this race around 188-190, whereas I was probably 178-180 one month ago before Ironman. Throw in very limited training over this timeframe, and I pretty much depended solely on the aerobic base I built in Ironman training.

Ultimately, weight and lack of sprint-focused training.


This was my first time here, and this would be about as high quality race as you can find for the small-time environment. Kudos to Mike Riley and all those involved. Only problem was with timing and birthdates, but that was out of his control. And they resolved the problem as efficiently as possible.

This is a very fun race, and I'll most likely be back every year.