Rage in the Sage - Olympic Distance - TriathlonOlympic

I started out strong with good breathing and stroke, not too fast, not too slow. Contact wasn't too bad although this was my first race so I don't have a prior comparison. Breathing and stroke got erratic after about 500m and never really recovered. Tough mental setback that cost me serious time but I pressed on knowing that I had trained more than sufficiently to do the distance. After rounding the last buoy I settled back into a nice rhythm and came in feeling great.

I don't know what triggered this setback but suspect it was related to no warmup. I did all my long distance training swims after good warmups. I couldn't get myself back under control so I played it safe and just kept moving without putting my head back under water. I dog paddled, breast stroked, and finally learned I could freestyle without putting my head in (although not very efficiently) which I did for the entire back stretch. This kept me moving and allowed me to relax some. Next time I will try and trust my training more and try to recover my rhythm sooner. I will also get in the water 5 minutes earlier to try and get in a couple minutes of warmup.

Planned to do this one in a controlled manner so that I didn't forget anything. I also took a little extra time to get some confidence back after the swim and to drink some Infinit knowing I probably wouldn't drink enough on the bike.

Nothing

It helped that I had ridden the course a couple of times before. I was very pleased that I blew away my goal time on a rented bike.

Nothing except try and drink more.

Pretty much went as planned but was slower than I had anticipated. I did pause to make sure I didn't forget something even though I hadn't. I also drank more Infinit because I didn't get enough on the bike.

Practice more.

Felt pretty good throughout the course but the uphill was tough. Just kept legs moving at a decent pace knowing that the downhill finishing leg was coming. It definitely helped to know what to expect from this course ahead of time. Felt great crossing that finish line for the first time, hearing my name called, and the announcer telling the story of me (from North Dakota) joining my 2 brothers and sister-in-law in triathlon success.

Nothing

Filled up on fluid and ate some fruit.


Swim.....Swim....Swim.... I performed better than I expected of myself in every other area.


Seemed to be pretty organized on race day but some pre-race chaos. Many people didn't get race t-shirts in their size despite specifying desired size on race application. Not sure how that happens. Good first race for me though.