Tri the Illini - TriathlonSprint

I wish the swim had been longer. 300m swim made the race feel like more of a bike-run brick.

So I was waiting in the line to jump in the water and talking to the guy in front of me. When we're about 15 people from the mat I notice he isn't wearing goggles, or carrying them, so I asked about it. His response?
"I'm doing breaststroke." Fantastic. So he jumps in, I wait my 10 seconds and jump in the water. I was by him within the first 25 yards. Ridiculous. And I swam right at my estimated time, which tells me I need to learn to swim a lot faster.

Continue working on my swimming so I get faster.

It was a long run from the pool to the transition area. Up the stairs, up and around on a ramp, and then the transition area itself must have been 200 yards long.

I would love to do the shoes clipped to pedals thing, but I'm not sure if it's a good idea for me or not.

I only got passed once on the course, so I guess I did ok. It was really rough in places. Had more than a few spots where you had to ride on plywood planks to avoid really deep rumble strips.
I saw my mom standing in the open a bit short of a mile from the transition area and tried to do a hand signal so she would know it was me. Forgot that if you move your weight on the elbow pads the bike gets wobbly. So I almost crashed it there. Shortly after that there was a "Your Speed" sign...I was psyched that it was flashing at me that I was speeding and it said I was going 26 mph.

Bike a bit harder? I don't really know.

The racks were crappy, like duck-taped together crappy. Luckily ours stayed standing.

Maybe I picked the wrong pace to run at as I should have been able to go faster. I don't really know.

Run faster.

I found my mom and walked around for a few minutes.


Probably a lack of time off before the race. I was still sore from my week of workouts leading up to the race. But as this wasn't an "A" race, I can't say I would have done it differently. I would rather finish my HIM and not die than finish a sprint I didn't really care about 2 minutes faster.


The day started in an inauspicious way. Waiting to check my bike in some kid ran the drink cart into my wheel. I'm over it now, but I was "fairly angry" at the time. He dinged the carbon a bit, but didn't break it, and the carbon isn't structural in my wheels. His excuse? I was yelling at you guys to move, I didn't have control of that thing coming down the ramp. It was heavy." No apology, which almost made me more angry.
Could have used a few more volunteers in crucial spots, but for the most part they did a good job with it. Could have also used something to show where the finish line was, it was more than a little bit hidden. They need one of those arches for next year.