Black Bear Triathlon - TriathlonSprint

10:40 is the swim time from my watch as soon as I exited the water. The official results combined Swim + T1 (13:35).

I started just off the bouy line in the second row with the plan of drafting the guys in front. It actually wasn't that crowded on the buoy line as most ppl started a bit off the line. On the gun, I found some feet and went pretty hard to the first buoy. Crowd started to thin out at the second buoy. Then we had the long back stretch, with the wind creating a nice push current. This was directly into the sun, so sight was tough. I focused on the feet in front of me for the most part and every 8-10 strokes looking up for a buoy check.

Overall it was a solid effort. I did almost all of my breathing on 2 whereas I typically breath on 3 in the pool for steadier type of swims and only go on 2 when sprinting a finish.

Nothing really.

Stripped wetsuit down half way while running up the beach, removed rest of suit when I hit the grass. Suit removal was painful. Took a good 20-30s to get the bottom half off. Just couldn't get it off my heels. Then it was a long uphill run into T1.

AHR: 167
MAX: 174

Take off suit faster.

I biked the first couple tenths with my feet on my shoes and I waited for the first downhill to get them in. In the process of inserting my right foot I pulled the strap out of its slot. I let the right go and then got my left in before returned to the right and threading the strap on the fly.

After that it was full speed ahead. I focused on keeping a steady effort and keeping HR at LT +/- 5 while never keeping it above LT for more than a 30s at a time or so while climbing. I had made of mental note of the three big/long climbs and wanted to be as fresh as possible for those segments.

I passed 4-6 riders early and two guys pass me around mile 3. I asked a volunteer at ~mile 5 how many were out in front. He said, "About 15". I was kinda surprised, but forged on. I spent the next 10mi riding with one other rider (chatted with him when we passed back and forth a couple times...he recognized me from NorthEast Tri last fall) and we didn't pass or get passed by any other. I focused on a hard but steady effort and by the time I got to over the last climb (mile 16) a volunteer told me I was 8 or 9th. This was more what I expected. The two of us and caught a third rider by this point and the three of us finished the bike within a seconds of each other.

Nutrition:
~16oz HEED (170cal)

Maybe pace/go slower.

I blindly followed the guy I was pacing with down the wrong row. Luckily the racks were high enough that my bike would fit under without tilting. I ducked under his row and then found my stuff. I threw on my sneakers and knee strap, removed helmet and was off with number in hand.

AHR: 151
MAX: 161

Focus and run down the correct row.

Blah blah blah. I came out of transition with the two aforementioned racers. The one guy took off and that left two of us (the guy I biked with). I immediately started to cramp up on my right side. Side stitch and/or diaphragm. My legs felt good but I just couldn't breath and keep any effort. I debated whether I should walk and let this cramp pass or continue on and hope it dissipated. I kept on running as best as possible. In hindsight, I prob made the wrong choice.

I started to fall back quickly, and as we passed the mile 1 marker, he was out of site as we passed through a curvy and hilly section in the woods. Based on the profile I thought mile 1 should have been about 6:20, whereas I ran 7:05. I was reduced to a slow jog/brisk walk climbing the hill in mile 2. Shortly thereafter I got passed by a 15yr old. About 1/2 way through the 3rd mile I started to feel a bit better and I picked up the pace but still not able to push at 100%. I pretty much cruised in seeing that the next guy on the course was a good 30s back. Had a small pickup for the finishing chute and that was it.

Pace bike slower? Walk off the cramp? Not sure. Definitely should have pushed the last couple tenths harder as I gave up 1 or 2 OA spots to others in another wave.

Walk-around, stretch a bit. Compared race notes and splits with JohnnyKay.


In the past, my running issues stemmed around muscular endurance...I could go out at my desired race pace but would fade late when the legs got fatigued. Today was different. I could never get started on the run. I don't think bike pacing was the issue, but who knows for sure.

At this point I think one or more of the following played a part in my sub-par run;
(1) Dehydration - Had some GI issues on Sat and combined that with AM coffee, the ~28-30oz of HEED I had prior to the race or on the bike, may not have been enough.
(2) Lack of hard bricks in training
(3) Just bad luck and not my day to run

Overall I was happy with the race. I was able to get some good feedback on my abilities and hopefully I can apply it toward Philadelphia.


Well organized, on time and good post-race buffett. I hope they had enough for those racing the half as I heard that they were "running low" before a single 1/2 participant was even on the run.

Great venue with plenty of bathrooms.