Four States Triathlon - TriathlonSprint

Pretty chaotic to start. I haven't been in open water since last September, and it was alot more challenging than I remember. Once it finally settled down, I kept on passing people. Wanted to find a good set of feet to get on, but I just kept passing. Rounded both buoys, and I kept thinking how it is too difficult to fully extend my arm in the wetsuit. It probably would've been better to not wear it. By the time I rounded the second buoy, I found some feet that pulled me into the beach. I'm pretty sure it was my buddy Clint from the bike club, because he finished about 5 seconds in front of me.

Not wear a wetsuit. Other than that, I just need to develop better technique.

Not a bad transition, but not a great one. Some guy pulled my zipper down as I was coming out of the water, so I had my suit on my hips as I found my spot. Came off my heels nicely. My biggest hiccup was the Garmin. I wanted to get HR data for my effort here, so I took the time to put it on. For some reason, I had the most difficult time doing this. Other than that, everything went great.

Nothing really. If I really wanted a fast T1, I wouldn't have worn the Garmin.

The first part of the bike course was about a foot under water, for maybe 15-20 yards. So the RD moved the mount/dismount line to the other side of this "pond". So I picked up my bike and tried to run through the water, but I felt too clumsy. So I just walked through it. Mounted running and got up to speed pretty quick. Got in my shoes fairly easy, which is nice since I haven't practiced. I pass about 5-6 people in the first 3 miles, but then some guy passed me. I stayed about 10 yards behind him on the dam, but I could see he was gradually pulling away. To stay with him, my HR had to exceed 170, and I knew that would spell trouble. So I just did my thing.

Counted people at the turn-around once I saw Chauncey pass. 12th place at this point. I saw Townsend, also from my bike club, was about 15 seconds ahead of me at the turn-around, so I made it a goal to pass him while still on the dam since I know I'm a better cyclist. Managed to do so while keeping the HR in check (165ish). Turned up the hill, and I really think I made some ground here since I've become a much better climber with the road racing. Flew down the hill, hitting around 38. Turned back in, but I didn't prepare for the "pond". Just dismounted normally, picked up the bike, and walked back through it again. I'm guessing I lost around 30 seconds on the bike split due to this walking.

Nothing. Executed this about as well as my fitness level would allow.

This transition was kind of thrown out of whack due to the flooding. But I felt like it was a decent transition considering the circumstances.

Dismount before the water, and make an effort to run rather than walk.

Oh man, I knew this was going to hurt from the first few steps. My goal was to hold off Townsend as long as possible. Coming off the bike, I knew I didn't make up enough ground to hold him off the entire run. But I also knew that there was no catching anybody in front of me and there really wasn't anybody capable of catching me from behind either. So this run was a total grind.

I was holding a 6:25 pace through mile 1, when Townsend came smoking by me like I was standing still. From this point on, he was my personal cheerleader! There were several points where you had u-turns, and every one he was yelling at me to stay on his feet. It was just too tough! I knew that I wasn't losing any ground, so I just ran hard. Probably not as hard as I could have, but hard enough for it to be painful. I like to think a HR in the low 170's is where I would peak...

Not much. This is just about as much as my fitness level will give me! I'm very pleased with the effort.

I should've stretched or something, but instead I just complained about how much that race hurt! :)


Swimming and running. I can usually ride with the top of the group, but I've got to learn how to run faster and swim more efficiently. But ultimately, this was just a training race for BSLT.


Very fun race! Great post-race atmosphere, with pizza and hamburgers and two kegs of beer! I'd recommend this as a great small-town race to anyone.