2008 Toyota Challenge at Deer Creek (Formerly Pineman) - TriathlonSprint

I'd say the distance was closer to 1000 meters with all the course corrections and swinging wide at places to avoid the crowds. This was my first triathlon so my "rankings" could be deceptive, I rated the water chop as high just because I felt like I was being thrown all over the place, that may very well be the norm for open water swims, only time will tell for me. My actual swim from entry to exit of water was 28:51, the time above includes the run up the big hill to the transition area. My swim time was still faster than my 1000m pool time, so I was happy with that given the conditions.

Be more aggressive in packs, anytime I got touched or touched somebody I would break my stroke to make sure everything was ok. I quickly realized that others didn't do this, they just kept swimming their race. I started to focus on that towards the end and I finished much stronger than the middle part of the swim.

Felt pretty awkward, I slowed down once I got to my bike, I didn't want to forget anything crucial, but overall I did fine, nothing super quick, but not slow either. I ran into the transition and ran out.

Be more confident in my transition setup and not worrying so much about forgetting anything.

Probably could have pushed harder on the bike, but never having done a triathlon I didn't know what to expect on the run. I didn't drink enough fluids I don't think, not a huge deal for a short race but could have been problematic in hotter conditions.

Push the pace a little harder, definitely need to work on hills, almost came to a standstill on the last two hills. Need to work the bike/run transition, although my run time was good I think it could have been much better if my back wasn't so tight after the bike.

An ok transition, wasn't too rushed, questioned whether or not I was forgetting something.

Just more confidence, this transition is pretty simple, no need to over think it.

Was very surprised to see my overall ranking in terms of the rest of the field, I felt very slow and sluggish on the run, felt like I could have performed better, but felt held back by an aching back and throbbing legs. I suppose that is normal? Obviously my strongest event, which was predicted, but still some room for improvement.


Push harder on the last 1.5 mile, practice bike/run bricks a little more often or at least make them more lengthy, my back really seemed to hold me up.

No real warm down other than walking around the tri site.


Lack of experience, more specific training.


This was my first triathlon event so it is difficult to compare but I have ran many road races in my life and this seemed to be very organized to me. I probably could have picked a triathlon with a shorter swim for my first, but I made it through so that was a confident boost to my ability. Looking forward to seeing what I can do to my time a year from now.