Lake Mills Sprint Triathlon

Lake Mills Sprint Triathlon
June 2010

The morning was beautiful and great for racing. There was a slight wind, but no rain and a decent temperature. Matt and I arrived to the race somewhat later than I would have liked and I felt rushed. I completed a 15 minute warm-up on the bike, but did not get a chance to run. I had to hurry to set up my transition area and get into my wetsuit. I didn't get much of a chance to look around transition to get an idea of where I was located, run/bike in/out, etc.

I started the race in the elite wave. I was very focused on getting out fast and swimming straight with the rest of the group as I had made some mistakes with this in the past at this race and had gotten beat up in the swim. I made it to the first and 2nd buoy ok without getting whacked too badly. The problem started after the 2nd buoy as we had to turn back into shore. The small orange cone on the beach was impossible to see. I stopped twice to tread water and try to catch my bearings as to where to head on the shoreline. I noticed that the swimmers had split into two groups; one was further to my right, the other slightly to my left. The lifeguard shouted, "Go straight!" and I followed the group slighty to my left. As I came up to the shore line, I noticed swimmers standing. I was very confused. The swimmers yelled, "Go that way!" and pointed to my right. I looked over and noticed that the water exit was about 100m to my right! Frustrated, I swam hard over to the correct swim exit and ran out of the water and into transition. I was flustered and somewhat clumsy in my transition, but eventually I got out on to the bike course. I rode strong, trying to keep a positive attitude about the race.

The bike course was mostly flat with a few rollers. The wind was there, but not overly strong. I was able to stay in the aero position for most of the ride. Early on I had several men and 1 woman pass me on the bike. She was flying and I never saw her again. In the last 3-5 miles, another woman passed me on the bike. I kept her within sight and was able to pass her back in the last 1/2 mile on the way into transition. We basically ran into transition together. Again, my transition was slow. I missed my spot by a few racks and had to back track to rack my bike. I then SAT DOWN to put on my running shoes and ran out of transition heading the wrong way! Matt yelled to me to turn around. I did and eventually got out on to the run course.

As a result of my blunders in T2 the girl who I had come into transition with was now slightly ahead of me on the run. I caught her easily and found a good rhythm while running. I never ended up putting my race belt around my waist and decided to just carry it in my hand instead. I had also decided to forgo putting on a hat in transition (mostly because I had camped out there for much too long already that day!). I glanced at my watch at the first mile marker and was pleased with my time (6:14), but a little wary of what might lie ahead of me as this was a fast split for me. I decided to hold my pace anyway and just see what happened. At mile 2 my split was 12:04. Again I was surprised, but tried to hold the pace. I had a slight side stitch the last mile, but was able to continue with a good pace. I came into the finish line and was very pleased with my run split as it was a 5K PR for me.

Overall I had fun at the race. I had several friends come over from Milwaukee to cheer me on (thanks for coming Tina and Paul!!!!!) and it was nice to see others from both Gear Grinder and Tri Wisconsin out there on the race course. There were definitely many costly mistakes made that day and a lot that I can learn from my performance going into my next race.


Keepers:
1. Cutting the arms/legs further on my wetsuit really helped me get it off better.
2. Nike lunar racers without socks worked well for the 5K.
3. Don't be afraid to run strong and push the pace.
4. Continue to have fun no matter what happens during the race.
5. Continue to cheer people on and stay positive.

Mistakes to learn from:
1. Get to the race earlier to have more time to warm up, check out the race course, mentally go through transition area and designate landmarks for where rack and swim finish are located. The swimming error probably cost me 1:30 and my transitions should each be 20-30 seconds faster. These errors cost me 2nd place.
2. Try elastic quick laces in shoes.
3. Stand up in T2 when putting on shoes rather than sitting down.
4. Work on getting transitions faster for sprint distances.
5. Keep working on the bike; this is still a relative weakness as compared to running and swimming.