Metroplex Sprint Triathlon - TriathlonSprint

Started up front with Ken (kproudfoot). Took off fast (intended plan) and didn't have any issue with people being in my way until after rounding the first bouy. Shortly thereafter, red caps (wave in front of mine) were abundant. Decided to stay left (further out of the direct line) to reduce the amount of feet in front of me (no reason to draft in choppy 400 meter swim when I'm in the front of my wave. The only people in front would be the slower folks from the previous one). So...as I neared the turnaround bouy...I hugged it and headed for the ramp. About half way there...I was sighting and about 2 feet in front of me is....A FACE...A TIRED LOOKING FACE...STARING AT ME. Ummm...the boat ramp is behind you, dude! So, I went around them...and headed for the ramp. About 20 feet from the ramp I was touching the ground with my fingers, so I raised up and mushed through the 2 1/2 feet deep water on up to the exit ramp.

Not much. Felt strong for the entire swim. Came in 3rd in my age group and 23 overall (out of 300).

Ran (not jogging, but actually running) up the ramp. Found my rack...grabbed the bike the wrong way and it wouldn't release from the top rack bar (duh!)...cursed myself for being a dork...put on race helmet and as I'm wrestling with my race belt, Ken starts talking some smack about "hurry up Brian...you're taking too long". I was like "wtf?" Got going and then Ken wishes me luck. Turns out I was the 4th fastest in my age group in T1. Ken later tells me he was just messing with me! Well...thanks for the encouragement, Ken. HA HA. I probably had my best T1 to date. Oh, and for the first time, I kept my shoes on the pedals and did the flying mount (sort of)...I didn't actually jump on the bike...but ran passed the mount line and stepped on my left shoe barefoot and pushed off and began pedalling on top of my shoes.

step into my race belt rather than fiddle with buckling it. that's the only time waster I dealt with.

Ride was good. Passed about a dozen folks (nearly all were from the previous wave since I was near the first on the bike in my wave). THEN..."they" started flying by me..."they" were the fast guys on the fast bikes. I have a fast bike...but the engine is still being tinkered with...and I know that. I didn't expect to just get a fancy bike and be a front runner on the bike. But man...did they fly by...and pull away. About 7 guys flew by me one after another...seemed like a minute a part (as if they were spaced that way on purpose)...Each time they passed, I pushed a tad harder for a few pedals, just to feel the burn that they must have been pushing themselves to...Got towards the end (about mile 9 1/2) and made the u-turn towards what I thought was the Transition area. Well...I wanted to do the flying dismount and so I effortlessly released my left shoe and then my right...got both feet on top of my shoes and was feeling pretty good about myself...until...after the right turn (to what I thought was T2) I see that we're still a L O N G way from transition...I felt deflated. I was riding on top of shoes over a MILE from transition. Ken goes by me (he was a short way behind me for the entire bike ride) and says something about going slow (or something encouraging like that..lol)...well...I decide to stay a legal 3 lengths behind him for the next mile and a half...we were like syncronized dismounters...We both executed it perfectly and raced for our racks.

ummm...stay in my shoes for about another mile or so, THEN ride on top of my shoes? Other than the snafu of a ending, the actual bike ride (at least for 9 1/2 miles) was about what I expected. Some gusts caught my HED3's and pulled (or pushed) me around a bit, but I stayed in aero for the entire ride, never once getting on the horns. I kept the tool box and downtube bottle at home, just used the aero bottle...and finished it off near the end of the bike.

I may try running sans socks next sprint. It took a good (or bad) 10 seconds per foot to put on my socks. My hat clasp broke while I was trying to put it on, so I tucked it into the back of my tri shorts...

Go sockless. Apply hat to head a little more cautiously. Other than that, the speed at which I racked and ran was fairly good.

CALF CRAMPS! Again. I have to figure out if it's a potassium thing or a pedalling position thing. Something is causing my cramps. MOSTLY though, it's only been in sprints, not Oly's or HIM's...100 yards into the run, I had to stop and spend 30 seconds stretching the calves out. I was hoping for a 9:00/mile pace. Wasn't far off it, but I know I can do better. I did have one slip up...after the "final" left turn, when the finishing chute was dead ahead, I saw Steve and Marci cheering and two fella's ahead of me running slower...so I put it in high gear (thinking: 1) I can pass them 2) the finishing chute is 100 yards away)...Well, Shortly after passing the two guys and Steve and Marci, I noticed the course cones were veering left. I never bothered to study the course and didn't realize we had to do a 200 yard bend around the med tent and food area before finishing. I know Jack mentioned it in pre-race meeting, but didn't actually take it into consideration...so my finishing kick was 1/8 of mile premature. I kind of laughed at myself

I didn't practice any BRICKS and that probably had as much to do with my calf cramps as anything.

Stood around. Got a bagel and gatorade. Chatted with BT'ers (John/jcagg90, Marci/dodgersmom, Steve/doughboy, Tim/tajsss, Brandt/OldAg92, Bonnie/bonbeebe, Chris/Livestrong, Aaron/JeepFleeb). Chatted with my coworker friend (Richard) - completing his first triathlon.


Calf Cramps. Bike engine.


My goal time was 59:20. I probably could have shaved 20 seconds off with some of the errors made at the end of the bike. Something to remember at the next race. My run is where I feel I need the most improvement. I've been working on it and in stand alone runs, I'm good. I need to incorporate BRICKS in order for the "race simulated condition" run to improve.