Ann Arbor Triathlon - TriathlonSprint

Felt really good for the first couple hundred...got stuck in a mass of bodies for a little bit, then I heard a few people to my right yell, "Get off me!"...apparently somebody got freaked out at all the body contact!

Did well through the first turn buoy, then I actually got worse...couldn't find my rhythm again and ended up breathing on every 2 strokes for a while. Not sure what happened there, and I was glad when I was done.

Not blow off swim workouts and get some more OWSs in.

Long run uphill and into transition. This felt like it took forever, but I still had the 3rd fastest T-1 time in my age group. I can't remember the last time I had issues getting my wetsuit off, but this one was bad. I could not get it off my ankles and I didn't want to sit in the dirt to get it done, so I just worked it off an inch at a time. It could've been worse though...a girl across the rack from me yelped and said she had a leech on her leg...yikes!

Got the suit off, shoes on then headed out. No shoes clipped in at this venue...it's just a little too gravel-y and rough to try it.

Get my wetsuit off faster!

This wasn't too awful...you could bypass much of the bad road by getting to the left of it. The only problem was that there were some slower folks that would kind of cruise in the left part of the lane even when I would call out that I was passing on their left. Quads were burnt out a bit after all the rolling hills in the beginning, but I maintained a pretty good speed for me...about a minute faster than last year. I was hoping for a little bit faster, but this course does make me realize how flat our normal bike routes are.

More hill training.

Got my shoes off on the bike, but came into the dismount line a little too fast because it's on a little downhill slope. Then my tri shorts caught on my saddle for a sec while dismounting, and I thought I was going down for a split second when my rear wheel came up, but I got it back under control. Phew. Got the bike in and racked, shoes on, grabbed my hat, race belt and gel and ran.

Not almost fall in front of a large group of spectators

I knew I was out of running shape going into this race, but it was my first post-stress fracture race. I have only run hills one other time since March, so I knew this was going to be tough. The good news was, it was still overcast and kind of cool outside, so the Poto wasn't the tropical jungle that it was last year in the 90 degree wet weather.

The first big hill was tough...I hate that hill. I could tell that I was using my calves more than my quads on the uphills...either because they were tired from the bike course or because they're not toughened up for running hills yet...probably both.

Saw Erik right around the first aid station. Right then the guy in front of me yelled, "what the hell did I just drink?" He accidentally grabbed Heed instead of water. I've made that mistake before...and Heed is disgusting. He told me he'd give me a heads up if he was gonna projectile vomit. :)

The second big hill was not awful...it hurt, but for sure not as bad as the first. Then there is the last hill up Hankerd before you get to the park entrance. And finally, a nice big downhill finish.

Not have a stress fracture in the spring

Got some lunch and found BTers and other friends. Eric (my Eric, that is) twisted his ankle 1 mile into the trail, so he was icing it...but he still took about 5 minutes off his time from last year!

Found out I was 4th in my AG (a small-ish AG, and there was a full 13 minutes between me and 3rd place, so it's actually kind of funny), but they do awards for top 5 so I got a medal. Hee-hee!


Early season injury, and inconsistent workouts for the last couple months.


I heart Elite Endeavors races!