White Lake Sprint Triathlon - TriathlonSprint

I caught someone from the first wave! Granted, it was at the steps to exit the water, but hey, that's a first! It was a black cap open masters female, I believe. We'll see in the results. I helped her unzip her wetsuit, hope that didn't get her in trouble...
I was all over the place. I could NOT hold a line. I remember seeing a few green caps come by me, but only after rounding the last turn. Usually they're catching me before the first buoy. I believe the next wave was 4 minutes behind, so that might explain that, instead of the normal 2 minutes or so. Man, does my swimming suffer. On the plus side, I felt pretty strong on the last 250. After rounding the buoy, my breathing settled down, my stroke count evened out, and I started gaining on some fellow yellow caps.

Swim straight. Swim hard. Learn to swim. Not necessarily in that order.

I felt pretty good here. I wasn't as fast coming into transition as I wanted to be, but it seemed that everything was working pretty well. I did have trouble getting the feet out of the wetsuit (it was almost brand new, and tight in the ankles), but after working that out, got on with the show.

More bodyglide on the ankles.

Well, I just couldn't get comfy today. There was a tailwind down 53 out to 701, then a crosswind that played into a headwind when you turned back south/southwest towards TA. Nasty headwind on the little jog left before meeting back up with 53, then a nice push back to 701. Was able to hold 24-25 through there, and 25 again out on 701. Computer shows max of 26.9 out there somewhere...not sure where.

Was passed by one STRONG cyclist, but did a lot of passing myself. I LOVE going past the tricked out bikes :) Just a tick faster this year than in 2007, but not by much. Last time, I was on the Shimano wheelset with bladed spokes and Vittoria Rubinos. This time I ran the Easton Vista SLs with the Conti Force/Attack combo tireset. I think that's a slower set-might think about a tire swap in the near future...

Not sure yet. New aerobar setup recently installed, and I'm still dialing in my position. I might need to actually break down and get a Mike Beaman fit.`

Spent too much time deciding if I should take my handheld water bottle. I should've stuck with the initial plan of YES. I ended up taking it, but wasted 5 seconds debating it. Dumb.
Felt pretty good getting out of T2. Just began wondering when I'd see Paul, Kevin, and Greg.

Stick to the plan.

Well, I was last out of T2 of my Team BNB teammates. That's to be expected, as I am by far the slowest swimmer. But, I've been #2 on the depth chart on the bike. So, was just wondering who I'd see first. It ended up being Kevin, about 200m out of T2. I caught him, exchanged a "looking good", and motored on. I knew Greg and Paul were still ahead. Greg was first out the water in our AG (10-something). Paul was out of the water in 13 something, and had a killer bike. So, next up was Greg. I motored by him somewhere after the first mile, and maintained my margin. I then met Paul coming the other way-he was having a phenomenal run. When I saw him, I knew there was no catching him, so I turned on the cruise control and just maintained about a 7/10 pace. I had done what I set out to do, and was on pace to go under my 1:20 goal, and hit my 21 run.

So, being content to just run it in like it was, I held station. Then I heard footsteps. With about 0.5 mile to go, here came someone. Didn't matter who, I had not been passed yet on the run, and I did not want it to happen today. So, we make the turn back out onto 53, with about 3/8 mile left to go, and I hear his breathing picking up. I moved as far right as I could, and pointed him by if we was that serious about it. Finally, he comes past with about 1/4 mile to go. I picked up the pace just a tad, and maintained about 15 feet between us. His calf said 41. I don't care, he had just passed me, and that wasn't going to work. We closed in on the hard left across the footbridge, and I closed it to 10. We crossed the bridge, and closed in on the gnarled oak where you have to turn left, and I was 3 feet off his left shoulder. He heard me there, looked over his left shoulder, and I pulled the Richard Fay move that cost me 2nd place at the STMM 5k-went by on the right at a good clip and laid the hammer down, drag race down the chute. The crowd was roaring, and I loved it.

So it wasn't for AG, or even position, but dangit, I was not letting him by me!! Immediately after crossing the line, I went right back to him, congratulated him, and said thanks for the race-we both enjoyed that. I'm sure it pushed him that much more to finish strong-it did me!


Well, I had a LOT more in me for this run, but, seeing that I wouldn't catch Paul, I just held station. I am going to work on my swim and bike pretty intensely over the next 2 months, in addition to more speedwork on the run, and hopefully be ready for more of a showdown at Triangle!

Not much of one. Didn't really feel like I went hard enough to merit one. That is a problem! :(


Swim. Bike fitness. Desire to run harder than I did.


Love White Lake. It's where I soloed in 2005, then again in 2007. Great venue, beautiful site.