Southwest YMCA Sprint Triathlo - TriathlonSprint

The lanes became congested as slower swimmers hung on the wall of the pool at the end of laps to catch their breath.

Swim faster. I paced myself too slowly, but I easily could shave another 30-45" off my swim time with minimal impact for the bike and swim.

I didn't have the best transition. My feet were rocky and I elected to stand coming out of the pool. I first put on my socks and then shoes, followed by my helmet, glasses and Garmin 305. I ran out of transition and then mounted my bike.

Sit down when I arrive at transition, socks, shoes, helmet and then start running towards the bike mount.

As I mentioned in the swim, I didn't push myself hard enough in the bike. I need to push myself faster.

I NEEDED MORE ENERGY! I only consumed 80 calories on the morning of the race because I don't like a lot of food in my system. However, I hit a while after five miles, which affected my pace. I ate a gel, and then got back on it, but my time suffered. NTIW ensure I am adequately fueled. I think I'll pop a gel before the swim and then eat one after I get underway in the bike.

For some reason, I completely clipped out of my bike when I reached the dismount point.

I will unstrap my shoes and leave them on the bike and dismount. I will run to the rack, place my bike back up, and then slip into my shoes while standing, remove my helmet and away I go.

It took about 1/2 mile for my running legs to emerge. My pace was too slow initially... about 7:30, but I picked it up once I felt my legs come back to me.

Again, the largest lesson I learned from this tri, aside from faster transitions, is fuel preparation.

FUEL, FUEL, FUEL
T1: too slow to get shoes/helmet/watch on
T2: Not slipping completely out of my shoes while still clipped in.


Tri family racing puts on great community races but suffers from a lack of punctuality. The adult sprint was supposed to start ~0715, but start was delayed until 0800. Additionally, with the serpentine start, the race would avoid congestion by starting people (and assigning numbers) based on HONEST swim times-- in other words, if they start with the fastest and move down the line to the slowest, the pool will be much less congested.

In all, this is my third ever triathlon, and second with this organizer. I think they did a fantastic job--especially considering there was a youth tri, adult Sprint, and adult Olympic all in the same location.