Clear Lake Triathlon - TriathlonSprint

I think it went really well given it was my first OWS in any sort of competition. About a hundred yards into it, I had to calm myself down a little. We went out pretty fast and I had to abandon bilateral breathing to keep it up. I just told myself it was only 10 minutes, I had a wetsuit on and everyone else was doing it.

Maybe start closer to the front. I had a couple rows of people in front of me and ended up swimming over/between/past a lot of people. I think it would be easier to let them try to pass than to do the passing.

Was a little dizzy coming out of swim. Once the suit was off I sat down to put on my socks/shoes. I took a second to wipe dry my feet and the socks went on smoothly. Sunglasses on, helmet on and I was off w/ the bike. Didn't run out of transition because it was about 15 feet to the mount line.

I saw some people had brought their stuff to transition in a 5-gallon bucket that doubled as a seat while transitioning. I might try that next time.

My plan was to approach this tri as an 'event' rather than a 'race' because it was my first one and I wanted to finish. That all went out the window about a mile and half into the bike leg. There were some fast dudes that were passing me and my inner competitor kicked in. I made up some spots on the climbs, but probably lost 25 spots on the bike leg. I guess that means I'm a strong swimmer (glass half full)

Drink more. It was warm and I didn't take in nearly enough fluids, especially electrolytes, which would be evident on the run and can still be felt in my legs as I write this two days later.

No issues other than the water in my bottle was warm. I grabbed some from the station right at the exit.

Nothing.

My calves were tweaking like they wanted to cramp for the first quarter mile, at that point I stopped to stretch them out and didn't have any issues after that.
Only one water station on the run was not enough given the exposure and temperatures. I grabbed two cups, drank 3/4 of one and the rest went over the head.
I was surprised by the pace I ran, I really felt like I was shuffling along in a daze.

Hydrate better pre-run.

I found my wife and daughter right at the finish line. Stayed and cheered for other BTers and friends finishing. Grabbed an energy drink and a muffin.


I'm not sure I could have gone faster. The run pace was great, right in line with most training runs. The bike was actually a couple mph faster than my fastest training rides.


This was a great event for my first triathlon. Not too big, great venue and a pretty nice course. I'll be back I'm sure.