On Memorial Day Weekend, White Sands Missile Range held another triathlon for the Southwest Tri Series called the Howling Coyote Triathlon.  In New Mexico, most triathlons are running, biking, and then swimming.  In other states, it begins with the swim, then bike, then running.

This triathlon had a 5k run, 18k bike, and then a 400m swim.

These pictures are a little out-of-order so bare with me!  Mike came in pretty quick on the bike portion with three other people.  I love this picture of him coming into the transition area.  He said it wasn’t his strongest bike portion, but I still think he looked pretty good!

Mike was using this as part of his training for his upcoming Half Iron Man in Durango, Colorado (which is in August) and the XTerra Triathlon the following week.  I love the WSMR triathlons because the people are so friendly and it is such a good way to introduce yourself to becoming a triathlete.  There are people of all ages and abilities that come to this so you don’t feel very intimidated (unless you are super competitive!).

I was loving the patriotic uniform at the starting line.  Mike was ready to go!  He did awesome on the run!

I am amazed at how people can remember where there stuff is during transitions. Mike was saying transitions are key.  They can make or break your time.  When he participated in the Fort Bliss Armed Forces Triathlon the week before, they actually timed his transitions and he found that he needed to fine tune it a little more. Some people can win by seconds and a lot of time it was the transition that you could make up time on. I love the idea of having a milk crate available to sit and put your shoes on and take them off during transition.

Most swims are open water, but this one takes place in a lap pool. On this race, you have to go up and down a lane and then switch lanes when you return.  Some lap pools are long enough where you only need to swim down it and then transition to the next lane at the end.

Congratulations to Mike on winning his category and getting fifth overall!  He said his run was the strongest portion of this race.  He told me that each race he feels like there is one strong portion and that its nice to see what you are excelling at and what you need to work on when it comes to practicing and preparing yourself for other races.

Great job Mike!