Dam Sprint Triathlon - Triathlon

Well, the official splits for me are wrong....they added 10 minutes to my swim and subtracted it from my bike (which I am sure of because of my Garmin), so I've adjusted them in this report.

This was my worst swim ever. EVER!! I've always heard of the panic attacks in open water, but I've never experienced one. But 100 meters or so into this race, I downed 1/2 of Lake Perris thanks to some rogue waves and was convinced I was going to die. I was still in a sea of purple caps, many of whom were commenting on the rough swim, so I just tried to refocus and got over it. I don't know what came over me, but I was shocked at how easy it was for the brain to flip into panic mode. I had to convince myself that I'd swum in much worse conditions before, and that I just needed to get this done. Thankfully I was settled by the halfway point and just got it done.

Take a Prozac!

It was a quarter mile up this painfully hard beach-- I was hoping my feet would be frozen and that I wouldn't feel the rough sand, but the water had been very warm and that beach HURT!! I walked for 20 seconds or so to get my heart rate down, then got into transition. No women anywhere-- it was really bizarre. Took my time in transition to get the sand off my feet (which I ordinarily never do), and then was on my way.

I guess I could learn to go without socks, but it wouldn't have mattered time-wise in this race.

I haven't done a sprint in so long--- my brain was in "conserve" mode when I really should have been gearing up more and trying harder on the straights. I was averaging 19mph on most of the course, but that final hill just destroyed my race time. I may as well have walked it my time was so bad! I've taken it easy for a month with an Achilles injury, so I haven't spent too much time in high gears or on hills because I've been trying to heal. This definitely hurt me on this bike.

Overall, was pleased with the police at the major intersections and I never once had to stop. They were all very friendly, too!

Get healthy and then train harder on the bike.

Did a quick transition, scooped up my gear, and I was off. I always put my race number and hat on when I cross the mat....

Maybe start taking my Garmin off the bike before I roll into transition. My watch had died during the race so I felt like I needed the Garmin on my run. It took an exra 10 seconds to pry it off the bike. But I didn't care-- I was going to have a panic attack without it. (Fragile state of mind I was in for this race, I think!)

Saw the top four girls FLYING past me on their way back to the finish as I was in the first half mile or so of my run. It was almost comical, really. I am not a runner. :) But this was my best triathlon run yet....maybe not time-wise, but based on how I felt. No stomach cramps, and no pain. I felt fantastic. I walked just to take sips of my water bottle (and one little hill....Achilles and hip flexors can only take so much, and this was a practice race), but otherwise, kept chugging alone. Was nice to see people along the course route cheering us on and telling us how close we were to the turnaround or the finish. I recall seeing a water station on the way out, but didn't see it on the way back.....but I may have been distracted! Got lost just once, which was totally my fault. They had the route all chalked, but I stopped looking down and continued down the wrong path for a minute--- one of the guys returning from the turnaround yelled at me and got me back on track without too much time lost.

I followed a guy in for the last mile and a half, as he was at the same pace as me. We both sprinted to the finish, and it was great!

Obviously, heal up and train more for the run. It's coming, I can feel it. Oh, and pay attention so I don't get sidetracked and run more than I have to. (Which may explain why my Garmin clocked us at a 3.22 mile run!)

Stretched, grabbed my water bottles off my bike, and downed them. After the awards, I enjoyed the cookout and had a nice lunch with a few new friends!


Preparation. I had an "A" race in early April and haven't been on any particular plan since then....just recovery from my overuse injuries. This was such a fun race that hopefully next year I'll be more primed and ready for it.


Well, I thought they did a phenomenal job for a 1st year (okay, I know it used to be around back in the day, but it was on hiatus) race that was so small. I was glad that they had the transition mat down at the water and that we didn't have to safety pin the numbers to our wetsuits. I loved that they kept it organized and on schedule. The bike course was well marked and well-manned.....I felt safe the entire time and really enjoyed it. Even the t-shirts were rockin' -- whoever did the graphics was awesome. I loved that they still did the awards even though there weren't that many in the age groups....for some of us, it'll be our only shot at the podium this year! :) And the post-race cookout with the Guns n' Roses blaring was just plain fun. I would certainly do this race again-- I felt like they did a really good job and it was a blast.