Ottawa Riverkeeper Sprint Triathlon - TriathlonSprint

This was my first open water race (2nd triathlon overall). Many said that there is a tendency to panic when you first go out but I thought I could handle it. I was wrong. Super packed even though I was on the outside edge at the front. Got stuck between two people that used and abused my back and head, got kicked, did some kicking, sucked some water. Insane. Totally messed up my rhythm and ended up resorting to breathing every 2 strokes on the same side. At one point I didn't think I was going to be able to make it but dig in and got a little more comfortable. Felt good in the last turn and 200M pushing hard. Exit from the river and run to T1 went well.

Train more in open water, get stronger and be more confident to seed myself closer to the front in order to get away from the pack cleanly.

Again I have not mastered pressing the lap button on my watch while paying attention to the race so I have no idea how fast my transition went. Overall I was pleased as this was the first time I had used a wetsuit and was concerned it would be difficult to get out of but shaved ankles and copious amounts of body glide solved the issues. The transition was incredibly long to where the mount/dismount was but I took it in stride.

I was an idiot and forgot an allan key in my left shoe. I didn't realize this until I put my shoe on. I would avoid this next time. Plus I had some issues with the straps so am going to look at getting tri specific shoes.

Very pleased overall with my ride. I was 30th overall in the bike section of my last tri so I was pleased with the improvement. It helped being out in the top 20 because for the first loop the roads were empty. Had a great section battle with a 19 year old kid. We kept going back and forth 3 or 4 times switching the lead. It helped push me harder and I was able to take him on the final push.

Not a whole lot. Just continue to train so I can push the pace even more.

Very quick transition (well at least it felt that way).

Nothing, this is my best T zone in the past 2 races.

Felt like a tougher run and wanted to push harder but my body would not respond. In the end I am extremely pleased because I posted another 5 km lifetime PB shaving another 16" off my time.

Try and push much harder in the 1km. I want to get below 19'

Stretched, drank some gatoraid and ate a banana and bagel.


Not much. Need to train harder and get faster in my transitions. I need to get confident in my swim so that I can finish in the top 10 and be in contention for a better finish. I am only off the lead pace by 4:00 so am going to try and refine everything overall.


It was my first open water tri so have nothing to really compare it too. The bike portion was a bit tough because of the long transition and grass/curb section but overall I enjoyed it.