Lions Spring Sprint Triathlon - TriathlonSprint

Overall the swim went pretty well, and I managed to take 4 seconds off last year's time. I swam a pretty steady pace until the last 50 yards, at which point there was another swimmer closing in on me. I managed to hold him off and get out of the pool first.

T1 went very well. My rack was the furthest from the exit, so I had a bit of a run. Because of this, I decided to try a "modifed" running mount that I've practiced a few times. It worked well, and I was able to get out of T1 and up to speed pretty quickly.

When I hopped on the bike after T1 I went to start my Garmin, but realized that I had forgotten to turn it on. So, I just rode based on my watch and estimated how far along I was. As the course was largely an out-and-back with a small loop at the end, I felt pretty comfortable pacing my effort. The only other mishap occurred when I lost one of my waterbottles and had to double back to get it, adding perhaps 45 seconds to my time.

Not having my Garmin to monitor my pace, I was pleased to have averaged nearly 19mph given the number of hills. Doing so I also took 2:11 off last year's time.

Remember to turn Garmin on during transition set-up.

T2 went great as well. I took my feet out of my shoes with about 150 yards left, then hopped off at the dismount point and ran to my rack. I put my visor and running shoes on, then grabbed my number belt and put it on as I was running out of the transition area.

The run took its toll on my legs, which felt heavy from the start. There was one water stop which you passed on the way out and the way back, so I slowed down a bit to drink some water and pour some over my head.

Compared to last year, my time improved by 1:36.

After the race I caught up with my clubmates from Landry's (most of whom finished before me) and my teammates from Dreamfar (who finished after me). Had some water and food, then checked the results. In the preliminary results I was first overall in the Clydesdales, so I made plans to stick around for the awards ceremony. In the next results updated I had slipped to third, then fourth in my division. By this point the Landry's folks were making plans to go get some brunch, so I packed up and headed out.


Looking at my performance today I have mixed emotions. I'm pleased that my swim/bike/run times improved, and that I took almost 4 minutes off last year's time. However, I'm disappointed to not have placed in my division. I didn't think going in to the race that I might place, but when I saw that "1" next to my name everything changed. After that, I was more disappointed about not being 1st than I was about being 4th (as of when I left).