Little Miami Triathlon - TriathlonOther

Time is guesstimated, they didn't give us split times.

I brought my own kayak, a Dagger Crossfire. Probably the worst choice of boats for this river *other* than the clunky plastic ones they were offering. The truly dedicated had long sleek racing boats.

I pulled ahead of almost everyone in my wave within the first few minutes, and by 10 minutes in, was already catching up with the previous wave. At 15 min, my left arm started to go numb (from an obnoxious supraspinatus trigger point), and I decided I didn't care. I was racing and loving it. Kept going strong and steady until the take-out, except for one pause to find my water bottle.

Honestly I have no idea how I did this well; I had exactly four kayak training sessions prior to this event.

Have my water bottle and gels a little more accessible, but really, I can't complain.

Estimated time. This is the kayak-to-run transition. Got out of the boat, popped open the dry bag, took off the reefwalkers and left them with the kayak, dried my feet, rolled on socks, and went. Probably lollygagged a bit more than I needed to.

This was the last leg. I was very definitely racing, giving it everything I had left. I stayed in the drops most of the way because of the wind, slowing down to 14mph on bad headwinds, and picked up speed on the downhills and tailwinds. Started running out of energy with 4mi to go, and did the rest on sheer determination. Got to the dismount, unclipped, and ran the bike across the finish line.

I had numerous drivetrain issues. Front derailleur wouldn't shift at all at first -- nearly snapped the shifter lever off trying -- until I twiddled the rear shifter. I decided to just keep it on the big ring from then out. The rear wouldn't stick in the lower gears, and wouldn't upshift at all under torque. Basically, I need a new bike, and can't afford it.

Carry more gels on the bike. Fix or replace the drivetrain!

This was actually the run-to-bike transition, since the bike came last. Time is guesstimated, I'm going on what my gf told me. I put on my bike gloves while I was still running, and by the time I got to my bike, all I had to do was slip out of my running shoes, slide into the bike shoes, hop on the bike and go. Fastest transition time I've ever had.

Nothing

Time is estimated. I did really well; about 2mi in I started feeling good, and actually enjoyed running. For the first time I felt like I was definitely running, not jogging. Never walked until the latter half of the hill/stairs at the end, as much to keep from slipping as anything. Probably a 9 min mile outside of the hill slog.

Did start to have knee issues about 2/3 thru, probably from lack of run volume. Also started coughing for some reason with maybe 2mi to go, I have no idea what that was about.

More run volume

Walked 5 min, bolted to the hotel to shower and check out, stretched, then iced my knee on/off for the next hour.


Experience level


I went into this race with the attitude "I'm just here to have fun, I don't care how I do." I wound up having my strongest race ever. For the first time I felt, the whole time, like I was *racing*. Not training, not jogging, not being a poseur in spandex. I was pushing my limits and loving it. There's definitely lessons to be learned here.