mini-Mussel Sprint Triathlon - TriathlonSprint

The swim started off in knee high water and didn't get too much deeper for the first 25 yds. It was the Grabass Olympics out there, what with 60+ people in my wave going off at once. This swim was much better than the Ann Arbor Tri because I didn't panic, I breathed normally, and I had the confidence I needed. I did, however, have flashes of the sinking of the USS Indianapolis; you know, that ship that went down at the end of WWII, where 880 men went into the water and 300 came out...what with the sharks eating them. Eeeeek!

Don't start out in the front. You're not fast enough to be the leader and it only results in more hits to the head than Eric Lindros.

HR was racing out of the water, probably because we had to run the last 100 yds with such shallow depth, but the time was improved over AA Tri. Alaina was great, shouting my improved time and cheering.

Run faster to transition, not just jogging at the speed of someone ahead. Practice more Swim/Bike bricks.

Compared to the Ann Arbor Tri, I came out of the water with 10x more strength in the legs, but my HR was through the roof. I pushed the pace up the hills, and I think I can gain a lot of time on other riders on the climbs because I would get ahead of the 3-4 riders around, but they'd catch me on the downhill. I can't wait to use my P2 on the next race to keep up on the downhills.

About 5 miles into the bike, I was going back and forth with 3 other riders, taking the lead uphill and losing on the down. We kept our 3 bike length distance without a problem on the generous shoulders.

At the 7 mile mark, about 8 other cyclists came up on me and the other 2 riders near me, and then everyone slowed as the group bunched up. Again, I would gain on the uphill, but the pack couldn't separate because they'd all go the same speed on the downhill. There were riders in front of me trying to get up, in back trying to pass, and way out into the traffic lane coming from behind. No one was actually on anyone else's wheel, but there simply wasn't enough room for everyone on that road. And then the Race Motorcycle came up from behind at that exact moment, writing down numbers immediately as we tried to separate. There simply was no place to go. Braking would've been a likely crash, and speeding up couldn't last, even if you could muscle your way through the pack, so it was a no win situation. I just don't understand why they took our numbers without even a warning that we were too close together. And the motorcycle wasn't there for 15 seconds to see if we were actually trying to draft or just caught in a pack. The middle of the pack-ers aren't trying to cheat, we're just the same speed, in a very large group, on a short and hilly course. It completely sucked.

I actually thought the course was 12 miles and wasn't able to check that because we camped w/o internet, so that teaches me to do my homework. I'm staying the heck away from everyone and communicating more if I get into a group that's too close together.

Unclipped my shoes and did nearly a flying dismount for the first time ever, so that was pretty cool.

try to get out of my shoes before T2

I started at a 7min/mi pace, but couldn't keep it up because my HR was exploding and it got extremely hot out. My family and Alaina's family both came out and were amazing cheerleaders, as I could hear them coming into every transition area.

Throughout the run, I didn't see anyone from my age group pass me, so that felt good, but the legs weren't going much faster. There were some very fast runners here, and I should've been able to crank it up, but race day is just so different than training. I'll have to be ready for that.

Start the race at 7 or 8, not 9. I guess that's out of my control. Practice running in high 80 degree weather and figure out something to think about to get my mind off how much I wanted to stop.

My head was kind of dizzy after the run, and my body extremely fatigued. I felt crappy overall so I ate 2 pieces of watermelon, tried some pretzels, and drank 2 bottles of water. I stretched a bit and sat down in the shade.


The heat. Not enough aid stations before the run. Not drinking enough on the bike.


I'd never do this race again because of the drafting penalty that was unwarranted and unfair. No aid stations along the course until 1 mile into the run really sucked.