Belleplain Triathlon - TriathlonSprint

Started out OK, although I was having trouble taking a lot of continuous strokes because of the gasping/breathing issue; basically did 3-4, rolled to breathe and gasp, then did 3-4 more, then would scull on back or backstroke. Did well enough and managed to even pass about four or five, an extreme rarity for me; the primary pack was not too far ahead either. One guy ran into a problem at the turn buoy; I asked if he was OK and he said he was as he grabbed the buoy, but several others whistled for the kayaks. TSW says he wasn't able to finish. About halfway through, not sure what happened, but the pack began to break up a bit and pull away. Obviously I was going slower, although it didn't really feel too winded or tired. I continued to do a combo of front crawl, pop up for dog and breast strokes so I knew where I was, and backstroke (which I seem to be able to do really well in the wetsuit, I guess because it holds legs level). But that last half really seemed to take a long time. Came out of the water just behind the same older guy I followed out last year.

The obvious answer is to become a better swimmer but I'm beginning to wonder if that'll ever happen. I do need to sign up for The Quarry again, so I'll at least be used to working in open water. I did much better today, psychologically, than even at Marlton Lakes last year, but there's still a long way to go. Altogether, I'm torn on how to rate this swim. It certainly was good as far as my state of mind goes, but not so good as far as the way I performed.

I had top of suit off before I was even off the beach, and the suspenders down before I was around the building. Suit didn't get stuck too bad on heels, but I did have to reach down and mess with it a little. Got bike stuff on quick enough, I think. Ended up taking a little too much time putting the Garmin on and messing with it.

Practice with the wetsuit until I can get it off very quickly; I've never really done that. I wanted the Garmin so I'd have it with me on the run to monitor pace. I'd initially thought about putting it on while running out of T2, but I thought that might be even harder. I think, for the near term, I'm going to forget about trying to fasten shoes on the bike. That's why I chose a transition spot close to the bike exit.

Tempted to rate race pace as too hard. I didn't feel like I was pushing too hard, I felt like it was a pretty nice ride, but my run kind of sucked (see below). I didn't drink at all; didn't really feel the need to, but I probably should've (wonder if that would've made a difference on run).

Last year I hated this ride because I was out there by myself. This year either I was faster on swim, or everybody else was slower, or I did a much better job on the bike. Maybe a combo of all three, I guess. But I had a couple of people in view from the beginning and passed one fairly quickly and was moving in on the other until he wiped out on the turn onto the Washington Ave. straightaway. I think that straight was about 4-5 miles and I'd planned to really push it there, which I did fairly well, almost too well; by the next turn I needed to up the cadence to let my legs "rest" a little. But I got past a whole bunch of folks on that stretch. I was able to continue moving past folks on 47...one lady I passed on Washington, then she passed me in a crowd on 47, then I passed her again on the little cutoff, then she nailed me for good about half a mile from the park entrance when I'd dialed down the gearing to spin the legs out.

Evidently there was a pretty bad crash right before transition. The volunteers were telling us to slow down, one said there was a biker down, and they actually moved the dismount line up. I caught a quick glance of the guy when I got off the bike, couldn't tell what was wrong with him. TSW said he must've broken something, really hurt himself bad, because she said he was wailing in pain. She was afraid it was me!!

I just think I need to get stronger here. I had a good cadence but I need to deliver more speed with it. Maybe need to be a little more aggressive in moving past people. Overall, I felt decent on bike.

I have no sense of how I did here, it's kind of a blur. I don't feel like I wasted much time other than shifting the Garmin from bike to run but I can't remember if I was moving when I did that or just standing there. Bike shoes came off quick and shoes went on quick, and I did the belt as I moved out of T2. Looking at time, now posted, I can't complain...much better than I thought. Total transition time, between 1 and 2, was about 4:39...means I saved about half a minute just being faster in the Ts.

Got to figure out what to do with the Garmin, how to work it into transitions. Would love to ride with feet out of shoes but I just can't handle to bike well enough yet to have much confidence in that.

I had a lot of hopes for this run, given that I've done more running over the last five months or so than I've ever done in my life, due to training for Broad Street. But the end result was a real disappointment. I'd really hoped I could average 9:30 or better, but it didn't happen. My legs never actually felt bad or rubbery after the bike, so that wasn't it. But the HR was up and the breathing was difficult. It was very humid but I don't know if that really made any difference. I'm wondering if I just pushed so hard on the bike that I never got sufficient wind to push it on the run. In looking now and then at the Garmin I went out at well under 10:00 pace, so I'm also thinking I went out too fast and went downhill from there. Freakin' run felt like it took forever...I didn't pass anybody, and got passed by three people, all in the first 1.5. Thought I was going to reel in this lady that I had in my sights for most of the run; if it had been just 50 yards longer I would've, but I didn't want to fight her at the finish. I did cover the last half mile or so at a pretty good pace (for me), but it was tough and I was blown at the end.

Don't know that I need to add speed work, but maybe a little would help. I've been doing some bricks, maybe do some longer ones? Get in some longer runs too. I think, after Broad Street, I only did maybe one or two runs of longer than this distance.

I was blown at the end, took some time to catch my breath. Sucked down some Nuun, told TSW we needed to walk a little, so we went over to the food area, where they had a pretty nice spread. I pounded some iced tea and devoured a banana, even ate a quarter of an orange. Sweat was burning my eyes and TSW cooled me down with a wet paper towel...nice! By the time I'd finished the orange I felt pretty good, but nicely tired. Had a pretzel then organized and packed up transition.


Disappointing run and herky-jerky swim. I feel like I'm close on the swim but just can't break through. I definitely think I can improve on the run.


Another solid DQ event. They're very casual, easygoing events, but I think that's why I like them, and they've got all the parts working right.