SCTA Mini-Sprint Triathlon

more photos coming soon

I complete my first triathlon today! It was a blast and felt really solid. It didn’t hurt quite as much as I expected, although I wonder if that means I simply didn’t push hard enough. I did come in 1st in our new to tri class, which was super exciting. I can’t wait to get my ass properly kicked training more with the core team and against my age group at Wildflower. I enjoyed today a lot and was deeply glad that julie and sassy came to cheer me on.

400yd swim (05:50)
transition #1
7.1 mi bike
transition #2  (26:52 for t1+bike+t2)
2.5 mi run (22:13)
——–
total: 0:55:17

Check out the breakdown for everyone racing.

Setup

• Packing my race bag the night before was wise. Thinking I should make a pre-flight checklist, laminate it and attach it to my bag.
• Forgot my water bottles by the fridge. Wonder what I can do to remember them?
• Forgot to charge my watch and didn’t get all my splits – kind of a bummer. Need to remember to turn it off at night. Also, need practice multi sport time changes on watch – I’m not used to paying attention to my watch aside from beginning and end. Remember to add an space for both transitions.
• I remembered sunscreen and that was good!
• Sleep really, really helps. I should make a consistent effort to get a good night sleep a few days in a row before the race. Even though I slept well the night before, getting less than 6 the previous 2 nights was unwise and I noticed the impact.
• Get up earlier race day and eat. It wasn’t bad, but I noticed that the food was still kind of there as my race time approach (ate at 7:20 and hit the water at 9:02) and I hadn’t been able to go to the bathroom as I was nervous. Fine for a sprint but might be an issue for longer races.

Swim

• Warming up was a real good idea and I should always do that. 
• I was able to maintain sprint longer than I expected but could certainly improve. Felt super solid. Intentionally swam in a lane with Terri as she is such a strong swimmer.
• Goggles fogged a bit. That will be annoying on longer swims. Might be good to grab the anti-fog I use on my diving mask and try that for the ocean swim.
• Pool was quite familiar. Can’t wait to try the ocean and see how that shakes things up.
• Swimming with the shirt was tolerable. I noticed the drag a fair bit and in a longer race I don’t think that would work. Maybe a race suit? Under a wetsuit it wouldn’t be a big deal, but if I ever race somewhere about 78 deg water, I’ll need to think that over.

Biking

• The baby powder I put in my socks worked great! Never felt the wet socks.
• I need to practice clipping in (a lot) more – had a hard time out of transition.
• Biking in wet clothes was fine (didn’t expect that), even a bit pleasant even in 60 deg cloudy weather.
• I should work on maintaining a consistent bike pace. I tended to sprint on flats but really lost it on any incline. Maybe time to do some hill repeats?

Running

• Get the elastic laces, makes slipping on shoes easier.
• My sunglasses suck for running hard. Consider finding another pair?
• It took about 2mi for my running to loosen up. Longer than I expected.
• The number broke off race belt – not sure race belt is awesome. Might consider other alternatives or figure out how to properly use this one.
• My right pinkie toe seems more aggravated than usual despite being a short run. Wonder if that is the road, that I was tired / pushing more and therefor not putting my feet down as carefully?

General

• I haven’t been training myself at any type of intensity. Pretty much been focusing on base (as I have none except in swimming). I really noticed how uncomfortable I am at higher intensity levels. Absolutely need to train there more. Heart rate monitor?
• Not sure I could tell the difference between ok pain and bad pain. Kind of the same thing as above, but should really pay attention to it.
• Being in the second wave was a real advantage. I think I pushed harder chasing people down than I would have being in the lead. It was exciting seeing peeks of someone, then focusing, seeing them closer and then eventually reeling them in. Felt less lonely than I imagine the lead would be, where it would be just me + my own thoughts and the nagging sense that I am being hunted down.