Marshman Triathlon - TriathlonSprint

This is my first year doing tris, and I have done 2 sprints before this. In terms of the swim both were DISASTERS! Even with open water training, I always had to swim to kayaks and hold on. I usually was close to the last person out of the water in my wave. I choose this tri because it was a short swim and I needed to find out if I could even do this.
The start was a bit of a mess as no one knew where we should start...or when. I wasn't even at the starting point when the gun went off. I stuck to my plan and went to the back and the outside and swam. I never got into the 3 strokes and breathe routine regulary, I usually did 2 strokes and breathed. But even with that, I did make it without panicking or having to hold onto a kayak. As lame as it may sound, this was a big win for me. I also saw plenty of the people in my wave still swimming when I got out, and I didn't see one person from another wave.

Next time, get to the start line faster and tread water rather than getting scared and anxious. I will still stay to the outside, but move more towards the center and inside as I get further down the course.

I didn't think it took me a minute to do this. But I haven't gotten into the habit of putting my shoes on my bike, rather I sit down and strap them on. The rankings of swimming, T1, bike, ect aren't up yet, so it is difficult for me to determine if I did well here or not.

I'm not sure...any of you experience people have some suggestions? Please send them my way.

I passed a lot of people here, and only got passed by 4-5 and most of them were right at the dismount zone when I got there, so I was happy with this. Biking tends to be strong for me, and I get encouraged by passing a lot of people in my division that got a good lead on me during the swim.

I did get tired because I pushed myself hard here. I don't know what I could have done differently. I definitely pushed myself and made up a lot of ground here.

I think this went pretty well...I could likely knock of a few seconds just thinking about what I need to do as I am running to my station.

Immediatly out of T2, I started to pass a few people. One was in my age group. He passed me on the hill and I stood with him all the way through the turn around then he pulled away. That was a disappointment. I wish I had stronger will power to drive hard. I was tired and hurting at this point, but I could tell everyone else was. I may have been able to catch him.

Train better for the run when tired. Do harder bricks, and make sure I do some practice runs where I really pick up the pace when I am tired.

nothing.


This is a great race for people like me that have an OW swim phobia they are trying to beat. While the short distances are good for first timers, the bike course and run could be a challenge unless they train for it. I was hoping this race would be overwhelmingly made-up of people like me that are new to tris and just want experience to help them learn and build from...but I think there are a good portion of experienced and very competitive triathletes here, so come ready to compete if that is your goal. The race was well organized, but they could do some improvements with the start of the swims. Everything else was fantastic, and I would like to do this again next year.