Cape Henlopen Triathlon - TriathlonSprint

My very first ocean swim and it had to be a race. Waves about 3-4 feet at the most, maybe less but I was scared. I breath only on the right side so I got battered by the waves and decided to swim face out. Looked around when I was in a trough and was surrounded by walls of water. Freaked out, had to hang on to a surfboard for about a minute or so. Could feel heartrate way too high. Once out of water, still 1/4 run to T1 on pavement -- not so fun.

Learn to swim better. Don't swallow so much salt water.

1/4 run from beach to T1 took a lot out. HR was high already from bad swim, running in sand made it worse. Didn't want to risk the shoes-on-bike thing so wasted a bit of time mounting.

Learn shoes-on-bike thing.

A few bumps.. like where the asphalt would crease or something. Otherwise good course. Some competitors wouldn't follow rules and would block/draft after I passed them. Should definitely drink next time. Never felt like it with salt water just sitting in stomach. Maybe need up-front bottle to remind me rather than behind back rack.

Go a bit harder. Maybe get bike comp so I can tell how far I've gone (so as to not leave too much in the tank) and pace.

Good dismount! Finally managed to take 1 foot out, pedal pedal pedal, take other out, pedal, get off, run. Grass on feet sucked tho, took time to clean them off before putting in socks.

Stop being a pansy and put dirty feet into clean socks.

Didn't manage to get a drink here either! Kid dropped drink the first time and ran out the second time I passed him. Mile markers not that clear, definitely left too much in the tank.

Go harder. Wear a watch next time to get idea of time at least. Would be nice to see pace or distance, and HR.

Drink water, walk around, cheer on rest of team.


Panic on the swim. No indication of distance remaining, both on bike and run, so was hard to know if to push harder or not.


First wave (ladies) started early or they just didn't wait for everyone. Roads were not busy at all which was nice. 1 water station is fine for a 5km run, but maybe a few more volunteers so they don't run out of water when a larger group runs past.