Avalon Islandman Sprint Triathlon - TriathlonSprint

They did a countdown from 3 and then let us loose in the water. I ran into the water, hustled as far as I could go and started swimming. My god it was cold. The water temperature was 54 degrees. I didn’t have a wetsuit. I actually felt awesome the first 100 yards. It fell apart after that point.

I got hit by a whitecap and that knocked my goggles off and gave me a facefull of water. I retrieved my goggles, put them back on and went about ten yards before another crashed into me. I just started freaking out. I was off line, and my goggles were useless.

I had to swim ocean crawl until I got to the first flag because the current was so strong against me. The final 100 yards was easy and I booked it as much as I could, but the damage was already done. I was out of the water in about 8:30. There was still an 800 yard run to the timing mat though! That added another four minutes to my time as I tried to catch my breath.

Not much. I could have worn a wetsuit, but I would have spent too much time trying to get it off. I just got unlucky with a couple of big waves crashing down on me. My swim time, compared to others was pretty MOP.

I had already run that long way to the timing mat so I just took my time in this transition. I washed the water off my feet, got my shoes on a took a GU with me as I wanted to test my new nutrition for these sprints.

Nothing.

The bike course was a three loop course. For most of the course you were riding into a headwind, but there were sections you benefited from the tailwind.

I stayed conservative on the first loop and didn’t push it much. I wanted to get an idea of where the tougher parts of the course would be. The final two loops were nothing but hammering through the headwind. I could maintain 18 MPH in the headwind and 22 with the tailwind so I was pretty happy.

My time was pretty good considering I took it easy on the first loop. I probably should have gone hard the whole time, but I was still shocked about the swim. I also didn’t take a GU because I felt fine. So my nutrition plan was kind of shot, but it worked because I was about to have the run of my life.

I could have pushed a little harder, but I wanted to conserve some energy for the run.

I jogged the bike in, took off the helmet, put on my hat, and went. Nothing fast, not slow.

Nothing.

This was the greatest run I have ever had. I could not believe how awesome I felt on this run. My legs felt no fatigue coming off the bike and I just knew it was going to be an awesome run.

I immediately targeted a runner that passed me last week at Philly. I killed him on the bike, but he had an awesome 5k and passed me with very little distance left. I knew that if I could catch him that I would outkick him at the end.

I kept him in my sights and went hard the first mile. I looked at my watch and saw 6:32. I still had plenty left so I just kept pushing it. I passed two kids in my age group during the second mile. I just kept getting closer and closer to the kid in my age group that I wanted to pass, but I didn’t want to pass him too quick.

My second mile was 6:02. Holy crap! It took a couple seconds to do the math, but I knew I was flying. A 5k PR was in my sights and so was the kid I wanted to pass. All of a sudden the finish line pops out of nowhere and we are headed down the finishers shoot!

I looked at my watch and saw 17:xx. No way was this a full 5K! Turns out the course was short by .3 miles. It kind of sucked the run was short. I was on pace to run a 19:13 in the 5k and I still was reserving my kick to pass the kid. It would have been a massive PR for me had it been the full distance. He beat me by 15 seconds, although I beat his run time by 6 seconds.

Nothing. No regrets. I ran hard the whole time and pushed the pain out of my mind. Running next to the ocean helped because I could focus on listening to the waves. I killed this run. I was 38th overall on the run. If my swim had been better I could have finished a lot higher in my age group.

I was so pumped when I finished. I didn’t puke! I felt awesome. I talked to my dad who was there cheering me on. He said that I looked so strong. I passed about 35 people on the run and wasn’t passed once. More importantly, I passed two kids in my age group to finish fifth and qualify for Junior Nationals in Colorado Springs in August! Now I cannot go to those, but it is an honor to qualify for them.


Awful swim.


This race is awesome. It closes at 350 entrants so it was a very small race, but the competition was pretty crazy. I was in a heat with the elites and they looked awesome. The food was awesome and they were giving away a $4000 Fugi bike. The only gripe I have is that the ocean water temperature was 54 degrees. They cannot really change that though. I had a lot of fun!