J-Hawk Early Bird Triathlon - TriathlonSprint

Forgot to start my watch timer before dolphin diving in to start my lap. Managed to push the button while stroking twice on the same side. (The first button I pushed was "stop" not "start".) Started first in my lane, lapped the guy behind me twice and caught up to him again as I was getting out of the pool. Overall a good swim.

Start my timer before swimming, maybe use a little more powerful kick.

Walked from the pool to the bike to prevent slipping on the deck. Took a little longer to put on the long sleeve jersey over the trisuit, but worth the time cuz it kept me warmer on the bike. Wore running gloves on the bike instead of bike gloves; they were warmer, but harder to get on quickly.

Remember to open velcro and click strap on shoes while setting up pre-race. Perhaps practice having shoes already attached to the pedals for a quick jump-start on the bike. Hard to run in the road shoes.

Volunteers were very helpful pointing which way to go at the turns.

Need to work on racing up hills faster.

Hard to run in road shoes to the bike rack. Able to change shoes pretty quickly. Kept the long sleeve jersey on - was still cold, damp and windy out. Purposely left the hat behind - stopped drizzling and was still windy. Almost left rack without my bib number - had to open the bag back up to grab the belt. Ran out with no problem.

If this were a warmer weather race the extra jersey would not have been on and I'd probably have put the belt number on before starting the bike so I wouldn't forget it on the run.

Hillier course than what I had been training for. First time on a cross-country course. The soft ground was actually a rather nice change of pace compared to my usual pavement runs. Got a right side/rib cramp around mile 2.5. Slowed the pace a little to get it to go away, but kept running. Had there been no wet board-walk section and the last 2 steep down-hills, average pace would have been a little faster. Saved just enough energy to sprint through the finish line.

Train on more hills. Keep doing intervals.

Drank 4 oz of Nuun, had a few carrots, drank 1/2 a bottle of Myoplex chocolate cream flavor, stretched the legs a bit, then went to the Bike Shop on Hwy 12 for lunch (sandwich and chips).


Wet pavement slowed me down on the bike turns, cross and head winds were also a downer. Side cramp during run slowed my pace, as well as a wet slippery board walk. I guess the drizzly weather was the biggest factor.


As long as a first-timer triathlete was training, I would highly recommend this race and course for their first race. Very well organized, scenic route, and a very small number of total participants makes it less stressful than some of the "big name" races.