Butzbacher Schloss Triathlon - TriathlonSprint

Water was pretty cold. Most swimmers on the day were wearing wet suits - I don't own one, yet. For the distance, it probably wasn't necessary. After a few minutes I warmed up - over a longer distance I might worry about body temperature. Four guys in the lane with me. We discussed expected finishing times and arranged accordingly. I expected a 9:50 500, ended up with a 9:16. I was happy with that as it was much faster than expected, although my breathing technique was getting sloppy as I pushed the pace, which I knew I was doing. I was a little dizzy coming out of the pool, will have to ask if others experience the same and what the cause is - it has never happened in training. Three of us finished at about the same, one guy was a bit faster and finished perhap 10" faster.

Race my own race and not push the pace as much, concentrate on technique.

Not sure how to judge this first ever transition. I didn't ride a road bike and didn't use bike shoes, so I changed into my running shoes and bike pants/shirt (which I ran in). Since it was pretty cold and I was worried about hypothermia, I dried off nearly all the way.

Taking off the goggles and getting on my helmet and glasses went smoothly. I think I laid out my area fairly well. I wasn't searching for anything. Comparing to how I saw others, I think I did the transition ok.

Practice.

First tri - did this bike ride on mountain bike with hybrid tires. My strength was good - riders passing me were not necessarily stronger, but riding better bikes. I think I got the max performance that I could have.

Ride a tri-bike. Already planning to buy one. Will be interesting to see difference at next sprint.

Hydrate better.

I was mostly already prepared. I had my running shoes on and was wearing what I was ran in. I took off my helmet - didn't want to be that guy.

I walked it in a bit - the hill leading into to the tx area was a bitch. I had to get my legs. My HR was way up. I used the time to hydrate as well. I turned on my polar foot pod and headed out on the course.

Practice

I felt strong in the run - once I got my legs back. The long, steep hill into T2, followed by a steady climb out of the tx zone at the start of the run was tough. I started at a 9.5 min/mi pace at first.

I was happy with the run.

Stretch, hydrate and orange slices.


Inexperience. I wasn't trying to push since it was my first tri. I had fun.


My first race - so not much to compare to. I will say this - it wasn't flat - maybe 7 - 10% flat, the rest was either up hill - or down. Why does it seem more up than down....

I had a blast on my first TRI.