Take on the Heat Triathlon - TriathlonSprint

I passed two folks within the first 150 meters. I saw someone about 10 feet behind me the last 1/2 of the swim and kept him there (either that or he didn't know how to draft because he was too far back to get any pull and was off to the side so he wasn't inside my wake)...he got close to being to the side of me on the last 50 and I just started actually using my legs and kicking and made it to the ladder without any issues. Unfortunately, I had a little problem finding a foot hold with my left foot (took 3 tries to find the inset foot step).

swim more so that I know what a 1:30 pace feels like. My goal time was 5:15. Missed it miserably. I'm a fairly fast swimmer but I certainly did not prove that to myself on this day.

2007: 7:06 (2:02 avg)
2008: 6:13 (1:47 avg)
Diff: :53 improvement

Had a good fast jog to my bike. Saw the taco bell flag and knew I was one rack past that. So thanks to whomever did that! Didn't have any issues getting to the mount line. Didn't have any issues getting onto my bike. I did; however, have an issue with getting my feet in (see bike comments for details)...so how I keep readers interested...foreshadowing is a great marketing ploy.

Be sure to check shoes before exiting T1 for the start of the race.

2007: 4:04
2008: 1:18
Diff: 2:46 improvement

Ok, so I knew I was going to have an issue with the start of the bike because I didn't bother to check my shoes before I left T1. Sure enough, I had somehow left my right shoe velcroed (sp?) and my left shoe was not only velcro'd but also NOT through the metal clasp. So...as I got on my bike and started spinning..once I got up to a safe speed to get in my shoes, I spent a good amount of time attempting to unvelcro, get my feet in and then tighten the strap. The left shoe took a long time to get threaded into the metal clasp. Lesson learned. The actual bike ride was right on target for what I wanted. My goal was 36 minutes. Taking into account the amount of time (or lack of speed) at the beginning of the ride explains the time off from my goal time. I passed at least 10 people on the first loop (I actually chuckled at the fact that I was saying "on your left" so many times. I'm not used to saying that many times. I did get passed by someone at about mile 9 (1/2 through 2nd loop)...he may have been on his first loops...who knows...but he was definately flyin'. The construction at N. Colony and Paige was terrible. Not sure how it could have been remedied though. Everyone had to deal with it.

swim with my shoes on? Doh!

2007: 41:20 (17.40 mph)
2008: 36:37 (20.97 mph)
Diff: 4:43 ( 3.57 mph) improvement

Well...funny thing happened on my way to my rack. I was told to slow down heading to the dismount line. I barked out "where is the dismount line?"...they pointed to where it was...I thanked them and proceeded to ride side saddle until such time as I was to hop off. Hopped off..began to run and heard a strange but familiar noice...POP/CLICK/TUMBLE. This is the sound of a bike shoe coming out of the pedal and rolling to a stop. The volunteer was kind enough to yell out that I lost my shoe! I had already crossed the timing mat. I stopped with the bike, started to circle around and then he said "here you go"...I turn just in time to see my right shoe flying through the air...over the T1 rack and landing about 3 feet from me. I said thanks...picked up the shoe and proceeded to my rack. Saw Ken in transition (he was racked next to me)...said something like "oh, nice to see you, not" and quietly to myself I was saying...stay with him on the run as long as you can.

not be so unlucky as to have my shoe come uncliped. Other than that...getting my socks on took longer than I had hoped (I should have gone sockless for the 5k) and seeing Ken exit T2 before me irked me knowing that I entered T2 before he did.

2007: 2:28
2008: 1:12
Diff: 1:26 improvement

Started the run a bit stiff in both legs. I did spin for the last 1/2 mile thinking that was good enough to prepare my legs for the run...maybe I pushed a bit too hard on the bike. My splits were decent and my avg. pace was right on target for my goal. I did take a water break on mile 1 to get some gatorade thinking it might help by the end of the run. I think it did, but who knows for sure. Got passed by a woman around the 1.5 mile mark...held on to her the rest of the way. Unfortunately, got passed by a guy in my AG with a lower race # (so I knew I was going to drop a spot)...tried without success to keep up with him.

Maybe push a little harder. I didn't go quite as fast as I had planned on the first mile (due to stiffness)...did what I had hoped for the remainder of the run.

2007: 35:18
2008: 27:12
Diff: 8:06 improvement

Hung around for a bit and then walked to the house to get my girfriend's bike for the BT ride after the race.


My goal time of 1:11:21 was not achieved; however, I improved my time from my first ever Sprint Tri by over 17 minutes. I can see I have improved on my run; however, I still look at the top AG'ers and see 7:xx min/mile on the run. Simple math says...run 7:xx rather than 8:43 and I make up 3 minutes of time. I know it sounds easy...but darn it...I'm not a "gifted" runner. I will continue to work on that though. Next years goal time will be 1:0x:00 (something under 1:10).

2007 AG place: 27 out of 34
2008 AG place: 19 out of 52

2007 Overall place: 173 out of 320
2008 Overall place: 76 out of 383



I'm proud of my improvement and look forward to improving in all areas. Having one race anniversary down...I have Tri the Rock next week to see how I imrpove (hopefully) vs. last years race. Yeah, one week after doing my first tri...we signed up the day before the race (talk about getting the tri bug!) Plus, Tri the Rock is a rolling hills bike course in preparation for 70.3 Longhorn in 1.5 months).

Thanks to my girfriend Angie for being the ultimate cheering section/picture taker/encourager and believing in me. Sorry to the BT'ers I didn't get a chance to talk to before/during or after the race...great job to all of you!