Valentine's Day Triathlon - TriathlonSprint

Good swim, despite the walking/wading part. I think I would've had more of an advantage if we had been in deep water, since the swim is my strength. I was swimming as fast as some people were walking, but I wanted to use my arms and save my legs for the bike and run.

Nothing

The run up the beach was pretty long. We ran up the loose sand onto a boardwalk, then into a parking lot where the transition area was set up.

Nothing

The bike was ok, but I had trouble staying on the aero bars on the winding roads. I've only ridden that bike in one other race, so I wasn't comfortable not having access to the brakes. I ended up doing about half of the bike in aero and half on the bullhorns. It was a great ride, though! I passed several guys and they cheered me on, which normally doesn't happen to me. Since there were so many beginners, there were lots of people who were swerving back and forth, which made it difficult to pass them without going to the other side of the road. I figured the rest of my competition would have the same problem, though, so it wasn't a big deal. On a good note, my breathing was not as bad as it's been on the bike in past races...I usually wheeze or rattle, but I think I timed my inhaler at just the right time to let it kick in before the swim. And at the time, I thought I was using it too early!

Ride more hills! I need to get out to Clermont more often to ride some of those hills.

Pretty good transition for the first race of the season. I took my helmet off as I was running with my bike, racked the bike, threw on the socks and running shoes, and grabbed my hat and race belt and put them on as I was running.

Nothing

The sand made it really hard to run, but I tried to stay on the most packed parts of the road. I was running back and forth on the road so much that I probably ended up canceling out the time I saved, though!

I think I did it just right this time.

Got a bottle of water and talked to the female winner, who turned out to be new to my area and looking for training partners!


Sand and hills, but everybody had those!


Pretty good race overall. I loved the bike course, and I might go back to ride it this summer so I can get some hills in. The atmosphere was great, too. I got a couple of "good job" and "you were the girl who passed me on the bike" comments, which made me feel like a rockstar since I don't consider myself a FOP racer.

The only strange thing about this race is that they didn't give out overall awards. The winner got his age group winner award. It was such a small race that it wasn't that big of a deal, but if I had won a race I'd want something to say I won! Plus, that would've opened up a few more slots for other people in the age group awards. Maybe they'll do it next year if they continue to hold this race.