Who better to analyze myself but me, right?

So the results of Saturdays tri were posted, which gave me the opportunity to figure out what I need to do better next time.

Overall, I finished 398 out of 594 with a 1:47 time, which for my first tri, I guess isn’t too bad. In looking at my splits, the bike leg and the transitions really were the worst part for me. I did the swim in 11:48 (ranked 293), which included the long run up the beach, grass, the steps and down the paved path just before hitting the transition area if I remember exactly where the timing mat was.. My first transition from swim to bike was 5:20 (ranked 539), wow, compared to others I was about 2 to 2.5 minutes longer than average .. definitely room for improvement.

I know I had trouble getting the wetsuit off during the transition, then I did not put my number on my jersey prior to the race, and I was just unorganized in general, so there were many things that really slowed me down.

I thought I did okay on the bike for as long as i’ve been riding coming in at 1:01 (ranked 420). Based on the average speed, I averaged about 2MPH slower than most of the other people in my age group. This was the pace I expected though, I only put in 2 days of week of cycling which really didn’t kick up until mid to late March, which was probably the reason why I didn’t excel at it. So we get back to the transition from bike to run, which took me 2:39 (ranked 542), which was about a minute longer than the average .. probably because I was fumbling with that stupid number again changing it from my cycling jersey to my running shirt.. plus I forgot to tie my shoes on the way out and had to stop..

The run, well I hit that pretty good as expected… finishing in 25:56 (ranked 261). It was a flat course, so it was no big deal for me and a nice way to finish off the day.

So how do I improve? Well, first, I registered for the Wilkes-Barre Triathlon in just 10 short weeks, which gives me yet another target .. this one is about a mile swim (1500m), 26 mile bike and an 11K (7 miles). This will force me to kick it up a notch, but thats not going to get me there. I setup my training for summer to include 3 runs a week with hill and speed work, 3 days a week on the bike including hills, and 3 days a week swimming including an open water swim on the weekend and more focused drill work. Of course I have my circuit workouts in there and weight training twice a week, I realize the value of full body strength more and more as I recover from the race on Saturday. Every muscle hurt on Sunday even though it didn’t feel like I used them all…

I’ve got some new equipment to get, including hand paddles and fins for swim training, a race belt for my number and a real triathlon jersey so I don’t have to totally change my clothes at transition..

And most importantly? I have to actually practice the transition better .. thats fairly easy, I just have to do it.. it’ll be a long summer, but i’m ready to go already..