Golden Gate Triathlon - TriathlonSprint

Extremely satisfied with my swim performance. Set myself up well ahead of time to get an open lane to swim in so I didn't have to deal with the "washing machine" too much. Felt incredibly smooth and glided through the water with relative ease. Not too much commotion. The run up the beach was nice - I always love emerging from the swim.

I didn't feel too incredibly fatigued at the end of the swim, so if anything at all, I might have tried to make a move in the last 200 meters to pick up a few additional places.

Transition took some time because there was a long run to T1 followed by a long run with the bike to the mount area. Had some difficulty clicking into the pedals, which was annoying.

The actual time in the transition area was pretty solid. Probably lost a few seconds here or there, but nothing too bad.

Tons of hills slowed the pace for all. Maintained 22-25 mph on the flats, but there weren't many of those! Cat-and-mouse game in the hills: though I still pushed 37-38 mph on the descents, a bunch of guys who are more proficient than I am re: descending would scream past me. On the climbs, they'd all be laboring and I would roll by, dancing on the pedals. Overall speed crushed by the many hills - averaged between 8-12 mph for several miles of the course. The good news is that this is where I was passing a lot of people.

I'm becoming a solid climber. I might have even gone harder in the hills.

Quick transition. Time includes that long run from the mount spot in my shoes. Almost ran out of transition with my helmet on!

Take helmet off sooner. Stick another gel pack in my suit.

Nice run. Picked off about five competitors along the way. Again, pace slowed by course choices - that staircase? Yeah, I could have done without that. I would much rather climb a hill than a winding staircase. The good news is the views were beautiful from up there. The bad news, is one bad step and... wow, that would have been a disaster.

I felt good through to the finish, so to improve my time I might launch into a faster pace well before the final 400-600m.

Just a half mile or so around the course. Left foot was a bit sore/numb from swim and running/riding with no socks.


On the swim, nothing. On the bike, the climbs and the fear of crashing out on the descents. And on the run, those steps leading to the GG Bridge.


A solid race and a nice west coast tri debut for me. I might suggest that they get stronger volunteers - perhaps from the local running/tri clubs. I think they utilized a local school or something and the kids didn't often know what to do or what the race was about. Otherwise, great.