Dragonfly Triathlon - TriathlonSprint

OK. Confession time: This was my second OWS ever and the first one in a deep lake. The thought of not being able to stand on my feet and being 200m from the shore had disturbed me the entire week leading to the race. My first OWS I went out too fast and was out of breath after 150m and it was not a nice experience afterwards. This time, the strategy was to swim at my pace. I knew going in I was going to be slow, but the goal was to finish the swim and if possible, without stopping.
Well, I am happy to report that both goals were met. I know I have a lot of work ahead if I want to swim faster but I was very comfortable with my pace and the best thing is that I found out I swim really straight. Which is one less thing to worry about.
Came out of the water in good spirits and very motivated.

Average for my standards. Nowhere to go but towards improvement.

Very easy transition, sun glasses, helmet, shoes take bike and run ... I forgot the race belt with the number ... oh, well.

I need to start practicing a flying mount and leave the shoes on the bike

Strong headwind on the way out. I am still figuring out this biking business. This is my first year doing triathlons and I know I have to pay my dues in the form of time on the saddle. It has not happened the way I had it planned, but it is getting there. However, I am starting to think that there is some fundamental issue going on that I have not been able to identified. I simply can not image being such a weak cyclist. Time to buy a new bike (LOL).
In all seriousness, I better get my act straight and spend the necessary time on the saddle for my next two races (22 and 25 miles on 7/31 and 8.20) or those two rides will be memorable ...)
Also, I drank too much fluid on the bike. I went through 2 - 12oz bottles (1 water, 1 gatorade) so obviously I was not as hydrated as I needed

Train, train, train
H2O + H2O the day before the race

Running shoes on, no socks, fuel belt, race belt.


Need to find a pair of Yankz for the running shoes.

I was dehydrated, no question about it. I just kept drinking water to try to survive the run. I know I can run 4 miles coming off the bike at a decent (for me) pace (8-9 min miles). This time I was not able to. I had to walk three or four times going up-hill.
Half way through, I was able to get into a nice pace and finished ok. It was nice to see the girls waiting for me at the finish line and I was able to run with two of them and cross the finish line. No question, once you cross the FL, you feel "like a million dollars".

H2O the day before.

Ironman Perform (3 of them) ... water sprinklers and some food.
After we got everything packed, took the girls and DW for a swim in the lake. That actually was a lot of fun.


Not being properly hydrated. Felt sluggish during the bike and then the run was awful. Oh!! and my bike fitness.


The site is great. We are actually thinking of coming back next year and camp at the park for a couple of days. We saw a few families camping right next to the transition area, so that might be nice for next year.