Started on the far right, on the buoy line right behind the front guy. There weren't many guys behind me, most of the fast ones lined up in front. The plan was to stay right on the buoy line and sight when breathing. Worked well. I went harder than usual and did my best to hold it per my race plan.

I passed at least 6 guys on the run to T1. They were all taking their time. The thing is, your swim time is taken at the mat leading into the T area so by running harder, I bumped my swim placement up quite a bit.



Nothing.

Suit got stuck at the elbows. Not my usual suit so maybe that was why. Probably lost 10 seconds on that. Otherwise ok.

AG:4 OA:38

Bodyglide

Pushed this. My bike fitness is pretty low and I needed a solid muscular endurance workout. This was a good one. Was able to push through the discomfort and keep the work going. I got passed early by a few guys but didn't see anyone in my age group. I figured that all the speed demons were already up front, so my job was to hold off anyone behind me. That was a good motivator.

AG:2, OA:8
This was key. Because of the toe clip pedals I was using, I had to ride with my running shoes. So transition was: rack the bike, take my helmet off, go. I stopped for a second because it seemed like I was forgetting something. My number was pinned on my shirt. 4 pins, no flapping like with a race belt, or worrying about pulling the belt up etc. I'm using 4 safety pins from now on.

And I'm also using platform pedals with toe clips and running shoes on the bike for Sprints. The time savings in T2 is enormous. The picture below is my new Sprint transition setup.

Not my best run by a long shot. Going hard on the bike definitely took a lot out of this run but that was the plan for the day.

Also, within 100 yards of leaving transition I had a side stitch. It got pretty bad and I walked a bit in the first aid station to try to relieve it. Didn't work and the stitch made it much harder to get running again so I decided to just run through it. I just thought "your experience excruciating pain in your hand at least a few times a day, you can put up with this", so I did. It got pretty intense around the 1 mile mark, then calmed down to a manageable level. Never went away during the run, though.

Initially I was passed by a few people doing the Sprint, but they were all in their 30's Around mile 1 a guy in my AG did pass me and he was going at a pace that I knew I couldn't hold for long with the side stitch so I let him go. This was a "hold on for dear life" run. It was definitely easier after the turnaround when it started downhill. Started passing some people at that point.

Back in the park I picked it up a bit and right before the footbridge I saw a guy in my AG. Tried to get to him before the bridge because it's a no passing zone but didn't quite manage it. Picked him off pretty easily after though. That's when I saw the guy who passed me at mile 1. Payback time. I picked it up and got immediately behind his right shoulder. I sat there until we got into the chute and then swung around him and dropped the hammer. I hoped that by the time he realized he'd been passed by someone in his AG, it would be too late to catch me.

Not walk during the aid station. A side stitch is just pain, not an injury. In a race, just run through them.

The sprint at the end sent my side stitch into overdrive so I sat on the ground for a bit until it calmed down. Then I got my phone and waited by the chute for Dud to finish and took a picture of him.

When we checked the results a while later I was more than a bit surprised to see that they had me at 3rd in my AG. I checked a few more times expecting to see that change as results were amended, but it didn't.

So for the first time in a triathlon, I got to wait around for the awards ceremony and get on the podium to collect some hardware. I'm really pleased that it happened here as the Cayuga Lake Sprint was my very first triathlon in 2004.

2nd place was nine minutes ahead of me. Nine. The two guys I passed at the end of the run? I beat them by less than the difference in our total transition times.

So I got on the podium because I forgot my bag this morning.

Simplify. Simplify. Simplify.


Another smashing success by Jane Miller and the Ithaca Triathlon Club. They do such a great job with this race. The venue is beautiful, bike course is challenging and fun, the run course is the most scenic you'll run in the northeast.