Four States Triathlon - TriathlonSprint

I have been feeling really happy with the way my swim times have been coming down in training so I was really excited about this race. I started off about in the middle of the pack and cheated my way to the left a little. The gun goes off and the battle begins. I was slapping the guy in front of on his feet almost every stroke so I moved to get around him. Everything was going as planned except the fact that I new I was going out a little fast. About the 200 yard mark I got hit and kicked and it through my breathing off and I never recovered. I actually had the thought that I am not going to be able to finish. I couldn't breath and I began to freak out a little. This has never happened to me before and it was wigging me out. I decided to flip over on my back and catch my breath for a couple of seconds. I never recovered. Every time I would get going I would complete have no breath. So basically I made the decision to breast stroke the whole thing or at least until the point I felt better. I was able to calm down the last 100 yards and swim on in.

I need to invest in a wet suit for cold water but more importantly I have to swim more and get more comfortable. I should have never pushed towards the front at the beginning. I got a little to zealous and should have stayed in the back like I had planned to do.

We had to cross a section right after the timing mat where water was about 6" deep due to the lake rising. I carried my shoes across the water and put my shoes on there. I figured I have to put my shoes on somewhere and I should at least try to keep them dry if I could.

My goal time was 15 minutes or less so I gave up 1:36 on the first leg.



Not too much. I could have been quicker but it took me about 30 seconds to recover mentally from the terrible swim.

I hit the bike and new that I had to make up for some lost time. I started out in the big chain ring and new within 2 minutes this was going to be a good bike day for me so I told myself that I am not going to get out of the big ring unless I absolutely have to. Nothing too eventful until I hit the damn road. I felt the wind blowing and thought this it was a cross wind but nothing too sever. I was averaging 22 mph for most of the ride. I passed a lot of people during this section and didn't get passed at all. I saw Brian come by the other direction and instantly saw the turn around. I knew that I made up some ground on him so I just kept hammering. I hit the turn around and found out that the cross wind was actually a tail wind and that explains the fast pace. The wind was blowing really good and I started catching people like crazy. I just kept telling my self to do whatever I have to do to keep it above 18 mph. There were some sections that I just couldn't make that happen. I got passed by 2 guys both on tri bikes and they passed me with authority so I just let them go. Just a few hundred yards up the road I noticed that I began to catch those same two guys without using anymore energy. I got back up to them and passed them as quickly as I could. Once off the damn road we were headed back. There was one pretty good hill on mile 11 and I passed a ton of people on this hill. (I hate all the hills around the house but I guess they are working) I made the turn around at the top of the hill and saw that I had Brian within 100 yards of me. Either I was riding good today or he was saving himself for the run because we are usually pretty close on the run. I just kept on hammering. I caught Brian at the dismount line and he seemed pretty fresh and I was feeling good at this point.

Not much here. I beat my goal time and was really pleased with the effort I put into the bike especially after the disappointing swim.

This went pretty smooth but it turns out this is where I made a pretty big mistake.

I would have taken 10 more seconds and put on some socks.

I beat Brian out of transition but it didn't take long for him to catch me. We ran together for a few hundred yards and I knew that couldn't stay with him the whole way.

I decided before the race to run in my new shoes. I had only ran in them once before today. BIG MISTAKE. I also decided to run with no socks for the first time ever. BIG MISTAKE #2. Right about the 1 mile marker my feet were on fire. This is where I knew I couldn't hold on to Brian especially with my feet feeling the way they were. I actually contemplated taking my shoes off and running barefoot. The lake road was chip sealed so I knew this would be a bad idea. I just gutted it out running the rest of the race kind of on the side of my feet. I didn't know my run time at the moment but I knew it wasn't too bad because I had come in under my goal time for the race. I really think I could have ran with Brian if I hadn't make two big mistakes. This give me confidence because my run training has gotten me fairly close to him.

I would never where new shoes for a race again and I will never try something new in a race that I haven't trained doing. Really stupid.

I instantly took my shoes off and saw that my feet were trashed. The biggest blisters I have ever seen. They actually had white bumps in them that the medic said was the skin burning where the blisters were due to the heat. I ran over to where the drinks were and took some ice out of the bin and stood on the ice.

After that I ate some pizza and looked for everyone else.


The swim definitely was the biggest limiter. I don't know why I freaked out the way I did. I really have to work on my swimming more.

I also should have worn socks. I actually made up some good time on the bike and ended up with a fast run split but it could have been much better without the blisters.


This was a well ran race and even though my day started out bad and ended bad I was actually happy with the way it turned out. Not only did I beat my overall goal time that I was shooting for but after the terrible swim, I dug deep and didn't let it affect the rest of the race. For that I am happy.

I have to learn to swim. Somebody help me please.

The tri-club kicked butt. There were a ton of placers from East Texas Triathletes.