Maybe I should have called the thread the "Metroman Clusterf!*#". This is only my third... well should have been my third Triathlon but ended up being a duathlon, but I could not believe how disorganized it was. The packet pickup was at the same time as a roller-derby convention and pride concert. The transition area was smaller than I thought possible at an event like this. No porta-potties: they expected everyone to use the public restrooms (fortunately I found some down the boardwalk). Parking was a "park anywhere you want except near the course" kinda deal.

I got there a little later than I would have liked and ended up having to park on the bike course. Taking my stuff up to the TA I see a lot of people jogging and warming up, but it's a bit too close to the start for that or so I thought. Also nobody in wetsuits (I know, it's a sprint, but there was also an Oly). So now thoroughly confused I spend 5 minutes finding a place to wrench in my bike because it was "first come, first serve". Back outside where they're doing a bit of an impromptu meeting and I find they've decided to cancel the swim for safety reasons. I was swimming 2 towns over the day before and it was much worse then than at the race. So to compensate for that they don't add an extra run at the beginning, they split the run into halves: 1.5 miles & 1.6 for the Sprint. Okey dokey, on go the running shoes. Got marked, got my chip, and got in line.

The run was entirely on the boardwalk and went through the convention center. The Oly and the Sprint ran concurrently in a semi-waved start. Oly men, Oly women, Sprint men, Sprint women. Strange, but ok, whatever. Just 1 lap for us Sprint people so around I go and into T1 for a 1.5 mile PR!

Run - 1.5 miles @ 9:45

The transition area was a mess, took me a minute to find my bike, but fortunately since I still run slower than 1/2 the people and most of them started first it was at least clear enough to swap shoes easily.

T1 - 1:35

The bike was awesome. 90% of the course was freshly paved in the last 2 weeks. I flew. I had 1 close call where some woman took a turn WAY too wide, but other than that it was fairly uneventful. Lots of clumping, nobody enforcing any kind of drafting rules. My fiance actually ran out onto the course to remove a metal bar that people were running over. Fortunately nobody blew a tire on it and got hurt, but it was right around the main area; you'd think someone might check the road right there BEFORE the race started. Anywho: 3 laps of 4 miles and I'm back.

Bike - 12 miles @ 37:40

T2 was similar to T1 oddly enough. Usually the TA would be packed by the time I got there, but since the Oly was running at the same time it was mostly clear. Shoe swap and go.

T2 - 1:36

The next run I was dying. I couldn't find my running legs and I was starting to overheat. I walked some, but I ran it out to the end once a guy I started the race next to caught up.

Run - 1.6 miles @ 11:40

Total time: 1:02:15

As a whole, I did well, though not quite what I had in mind. My goals were 1:30 for the sprint and no backstroke. I met the goals but not the way I wanted to. This was supposed to be my A race, but once I heard "no swim" I decided to push it off for 2 weeks and I'll go all out at the New Jersey State Triathlon. More running and bricks for me till then. At least I got a decent set of racing sunglasses out of the deal and some tough practice time.