Flowing Lake - TriathlonSprint

Considering this was my first time racing and had only thought of doing a tri 8 weeks before, I didn't have high expectations for the swim. Clearly I did not do enough pool work and my attempts to go swim in open water prior to the race didn't pan out. I didn't come in dead last in my wave, but there were several people from the second wave (5 minute start delay) who passed me before I hit the beach coming out of the water I felt light headed and I think I took on some water. :)

I'll need to put much more emphasis on the open water swimming in training. I now understand how much the swim impacts the rest of the race. This first race cleared up a lot of my training questions as I start my planning for next year.

I was a bit light headed coming out of the water. If I had taken another minute and caught my breath I probably would have felt better when I got onto the bike. I figured if I got on the bike and to the first down hill I'd catch my breath.

I skipped the gel in the first transition. That was a mistake and I started cramping up on the bike. I'll make sure to get that down as soon as possible

I expected the bike to be my strongest portion, which it clearly was. It felt good to get back on the bike after the swim, although the swim had made my stomach upset. I passed quite a few riders in the first half of the ride and got into a good rhythm until I started to cramp up a bit with 4 miles to go. I would have liked to put in a faster time but after reviewing the course the week before the race, I had a feeling it was going to be quite a bit of work.

I needed to get the gel into me earlier into the ride. I got it as soon as I started noticing the cramping but by then I knew it was having an impact. Once I got the gel in, it seemed to improve within a few minutes (faster than I thought) and I finished the last climb into the park strong.

This seemed like it went by really quick. I was suprised to see the time and have it show a full minute.

I didn't get out of my shoes before getting off the bike. Since I hadn't practiced it, I didn't want to try it in race. I was planning on releasing the shoe straps before stopping but there are some tight turns prior to the dismount area and a lot of spectators so I decided not to push it.

So...that's what a bike to run transition feels like huh? The few brick traning sessions I did were not nearly as close as my T2 time. I was half way through the first lap before I felt like I could get a normal stride. I was pleased with the run considering of all the events, I considered this my most challenging. I didn't even see the water stations, but I was really focused on what I was doing and not paying much attention to what else was going on around me.

I felt really good running in the gym, not nearly as good running outside so I've got to spend more time running outside.

I did a little bit of light stretching after the race. I actually felt really good when I finished. Probably a bit of adrenaline and euphoria. Almost all of my training this season was focused on long distance endurance cycling and my HR was back in the low 70's within 5-8 minutes.


Cramping during the bike and having an upset stomach after the swimming really were what I felt the most.


Considering this was my first, how could it not be my best? The transition area was prety crowded. Some bikes looked like they would have been hard to get out and not enough space to set up a towel when we were packed in there.