Cranberry Trifest - TriathlonSprint

Started off pretty well. Quickly lost my breath. It normally takes me about 3 swims to get my rhythm and cardio back to swim well after a long break. By the first buoy I was doing the breast stroke and breathing every stroke when doing the freestyle stoke. My only thoughts were you can get through this and tomorrow is going to SUCK!

This is one time being seeded in the last wave had a huge upside, I did not have to worry about being overtaken from behind.

This race has a decent climb out of the water and a fair jog to the bike racks. Anytime I can pull off a decent transition time here is a plus. This was a very rare occasion to have heal issues on my QR suit. I chose it because it is the biggest suit I own and a sleeveless. I went into this race feeling heavy and did not want to have issues with any of my other suits not fitting right. I guess you could consider this suit my binky of suits.

I knew heading out on the bike that I would have to hold back for at least the first lap. I had no idea how my body would respond with so little training. First lap set up hills were a little slow. At no point would I actually be racing, so this was fine. Second lap was a little stronger effort.

The biggest thing for me was finding the flatter sections of the course and getting into a nice spin. The whole race was about finding the good form I have developed on the CompuTrainer. I am not sure I would have done this well without the lessons I have learned from the CT.

The running shoes was a different issue than usual. I opted to do something I had been thinking about all summer, race with VFFs. I only made my final decision on this as I reached for my shoes. The Five fingers are much harder to put on when your feet are wet, so I scrubbed some time there. The worst part was, as I left T2, I realized I had forgotten my hat. I could deal with that. A few strides later, I realized I did not have my race belt on, so back I went, scrubbing about a minute of time from my transition. Oh well it is better to get the belt that close to transition than miss it.

Not leave transition without extra gear. The VFFs have a risk reward in racing, so I think that is kind of a game time decision for me.

I chose the VFFs to try and keep my form honest. I have learned that I can not cheat on my form in them. When my hips start to drop back, I can feel the extra shock in my body. Plus when climbing, I can get up on my toes better.

This course was quite nice and just what I needed. I really enjoyed this, which is very different for most of my runs. I was actually passing people. I ended up swapping positions with a nice lady as she had some lace issues and we kept passing each other. Towards the end of the race, I had put a little distance on her. As we entered the Ted Williams camp, I could tell she was closing in. Since I had saved some for a good finish line photo, I was able to put on a really good push and actually race to the finish. We both congratulated each other in the finish corral. It has been a long time since I have come out ahead in a finish line sprint.

The best part of the race for me was no walk breaks. I so wanted to, but I kept telling myself this is only a 5k. I credit the VFFs for helping keep my form and keeping my run ergonomically.

Grabbed a water bottle, a 1/2 bagel. Went to packet pickup only to find out I needed to wait until later for someone to be there.


This is always my favorite race of the year. I can not say enough about Eric, Mark and his crew. They have managed to put together a marque event year after year. Not quite sure how they do it, but it is all good in my book.

The weather was fabulous, sure beat the tropical storm wash out last year. The field size was good and I really like the addition of the sprint and kids Du to the weekend.

Only down side was partly due to my time issues setting up, I did not put up any tents and BT activities post race were limited. As there was no BBQ after the race, people seemed to leave a little quicker than after the oly dose. Can not wait until next year.