Tri for Real - TriathlonSprint

Was really surprised how exhausted I got after rounding the first bouy. It was warmer than I'd ever swam in the wetsuit and that contributed to some claustrophobia/breathing issues. I kept thinking, "Maybe I can roll over on my back and strip this blasted thing off!" Also, I need to work better on sighting-- near the end, I would pop up and rest for a few seconds, then head-down and just bust out 10 strokes, then pop up for a bit again, repeat, and on one of those cases, I went way off course. There were a few minutes after the second bouy where I thought, "Damn, what if I don't get out of the water?!" My time doesn't look like it was as bad as I thought. I couldn't have been in the water more than 15 minutes or so based on what I know of my bike and run splits.

More OWS practice (can never have enough!) Buy a shortie wetsuit or speedsuit for warmer water.

Took a little bit of time in T1. I took my wetsuit down to my waist on the run to transition. When I pulled the suit down, it had a bunch of water trapped in the knees that splashed all over the guy next to me's transition set-up. (Sorry, Stranger!) Took a GU Roctane in transition, drank some water, calmed down some after the swim and to kill my bike nerves, walked my bike to the bike start and tried to spend as little time as possible overthinking the start and just went for it. Wore: Black Roadrunner longline jogbra and ZOOT tri shorts, socks and Shimano shoes, black headband, helmet and sunglasses.

As I get more comfortable on the bike, I think I can gain some time in T1. I intentionally took my time to get my HR back down before mounting the bike. Also, need to work on getting the wetsuit off quicker (had to sit down to get it off.)

I had a problem with the bike before the start of the race-- the front derailleur wouldn't move down into the small chainring, which I knew I needed for the uphill start. Nobody in transition could get it down, so I ran the bike around until I found someone to move it manually. They told me to stay on that small chainring the whole race, otherwise I would stall out on the one short-but-steep hill. As a result, I felt like I lost a lot of power/speed, and also might have been bouncing around in the saddle more than I would have liked, as I was hurting by the end of the first loop! In all, I dealt with my bike-phobia well. I just sucked it up and started-- as soon as I was up and riding, I calmed down pretty good. I got quite nervous around some of the corners, especially on the first lap, as the faster folks were blowing past me on their second loop and I know I don't hold my line right around turns. I also got SUPER thirsty from nerves and not being able to drink on the bike.

Fix shifter issue (done.) Learn to drink on the bike. Practice cornering, stops and starts.

Just tossed my bike on the rack, took off my helmet, put on my running shoes (need to get YANX or something- I put them on and just tied them in a knot since the laces were cheap and thin), grabbed my race number belt and visor and a bottle of water and did all that on the fly. Wore: Lunar Elites and white visor, race number belt (should put on race number belt in T1.)

Buy YANX or similar.

Wasn't expecting a trail run! I haven't done one since Sept 2010 when I got the fibular sfx. I didn't love how it was sucking the energy from my legs, but it was nice to be out and running! Passed some folks, which was nice. Had enough left to pick it up pretty well the last .25 mile to the finish.

Research and train for the terrain.

Grabbed a sports drink. At a Builder's Bar.


Swim endurance, bike gearing, confidence speeding up through transition.


I would definitely do this one again as an annual litmus. I would have done better had I done the series (Tri for Fun/Tri for Real), but in all it was a perfectly-suited first tri!