Emerald Pointe Triathlon - TriathlonSprint

We were a little behind on the start (8ish vs. 7:30) but overall it went very smoothly. We had colored caps for each wave and it was a wade start in the water. Since the temp was 71 it was wetsuit legal and there were a few takers on this front. The water was a little chilly but after about 100 yards you barely noticed.


The swim was a long rectangle out and back from the shore. Since this was the second time I have raced EP I can say that it was the same swim as last year. I stayed out on the left side of the start to try and avoid the flailing arms and legs...this worked for the most part but as one would expect, it got tight at the first turn. After the second it spread out and I found I had room to move. Nothing really speacial etc the run from the water to T1 was pretty long and involed a extremely large hill, which was fun! Of note: the swim times include the run up until the top of the hill...thats where the senor was for the timing chip and the start of T1

Swim faster and harder...I can now swim without spiking my HR and make it through just fine. I would like to "pick up the pace" a little and move through the section a little quicker. I have been working on pace for the Olys and I need to remember to push harder when I am doing a sprint.

T1 was a quick in and out. I came in with a small group but caught a larger group right outside getting on my bike. Nice to see speed pays off

Nothing I thought it went very well. Any time you can make up time in T1 or T2 then its a good one.

The bike course was pretty flat for the most part. I will admit to coming across 2 or 3 hills, one of which was right out of T1. It was not that it was so bad but since there was a large group of us coming out of T1 and I was in the process of putting my feet in my shoes I had no momentum when I hit the bottom...that sucked. The other hills were not that bad as long as you kept speed and worked the gears on the way up. Overall the course was great if you were willing to tuck and hit the pace. My only grip was that heading out of the park it had just been paved and it was slick and curvy. It's not a big deal I think more of a weight on my mind since I was not planning to attack to heavily for risk of my wheel sliding out under me. I think I was not the only person thinking this as it was a tame mile or so out of the park before everyone started jockeying for position

Avoid being stuck behind slower bikes due to hills/cars/other bikers. really hit the hills harder.

Great T2. I found my mark and racked my bike. The only thing that slowed me down was that someone had stepped on a Gu packet and splashed it all over my socks; the feeling of slimy/sticky socks is horrible. I figured it would not matter once I got into the run...I was right.

not much...faster I guess

I came out of T2 and made my way down the hill and around the first corner. Right about this time I heard them telling us to stay right b/c the leaders were heading right towards us. I came around the corner and saw the leader coming up the hill towards me. Instead of making me feel like I was slow it actually got me moving faster, and with more motivation. It's amazing how a season can change your perception. I kept a good steady pace throughout the run, never really speeding up or slowing down to much. I realized about the 2 mile mark that the race was almost over...which surprised me. Since the last couple of races have been Oly distance this race moved at a much faster pace and caught me off guard. I turned up the speed a little and headed for the line. I had a lot of energy when I got the hill right before the finish so I brought it home strong. After I finished I walked back to the line and cheered on everyone has they came a cross the line...my buddy Scott was running in his second race so I wanted to be there at the finish line to yell for him.

push harder...I was upset with myself for having energy left at the end. After a minute I was feeling good and not really fatigued. I think I could have pushed harder and still been good at the end. I will have to get used to adjusting my mindset for the distance I am running.

I stretched and then grab a cookie and gatorade. Waited for most of the racers to come in and cheered them on. Packed up the Jeep and headed out.


My thinking that I needed to pace more than red-line the race. I think that I should have let myself go all out and worried about the rest later.


Great race. I think that last year there were 500 people racing and this year was 800 scheduled. I think that they could make it a 1,000 race and be fine. I really like the set up and quality of EP and will definitely do it again next year. Quality race for beginners and those of us who have been around a little longer. The only thing that I hated was that Brian (Coldfire) wasn't able to make it. After his 5 H 21 M HIM I wanted to see what he could do on a Sprint...that would have been something. Oh well next year's not so far off!