Bradford Beach Triathlon - TriathlonOlympic

I was in the first wave so we all waded out to the starting bouys. People around me were not really sure what the course was because all the bouys were the same color. It would have been nice if they had yellow bouys for the turns so everyone could clearly see where they needed to go. In any case, the horn sounded and we were off. I was thinking that the water was cold as I ran as far as I could which was probably about 40-50 yards. I then started swimming. As soon as my face hit the water I got the full taste of just how cold it was. I tried a few strokes and had to raise my head out of the water. I tried again, but then my throat siezed up and I could not breathe. I was scared. I have never been that close to quitting a race before in my life. I was just looking out at how far those last bouys looked and thought how am I going to make it? This was the first race that my family has come to watch me so I used all my inner strength and pushed on. I started swimming breaststroke to keep my face out of the water. That seemed to help, but I was falling behind. I tried backstroke so I could get some speed while keeping my face out of the water. That did not help because the cold water on the top of my head made me a little dizzy. By the time I got to the turnaround, I was feeling better so I tried regular swimming again. I must have been more used to it because I was able to keep my face in the water. By this time though a lot of my wave was in front on me (at least it seemed that way) so I really dug down and tried to swim fast. When I finally got to shore, I could not feel my feet or hands. I could hear my wife cheering for me off to the right, but if I looked that way or did anything other than concentrate on standing and walking, I would have fallen over. I was so disoriented. I have never felt like that in my life. I just wanted to lie down. I just kept putting one foot in front of the other and once I got my bearings I was able to lightly jog to transition. I was still disoriented though because I forgot to hit lap pn my watch to get my split.

Wear booties, gloves, headgear anything else to keep warm!! Seriously, I will now forever bring my scuba booties and extra swim caps in case the water is cold.

Coming out of the water I was disoriented, but had enough to be able to find my transition area without any problems. I didn't have any water set up to wash my feet off. I had done Racine two weeks ago and they have water buckets for people to step through to wash off the sand. I had assumed this was standard being relatively new to triathlons, but thinking back others didn't have water set up either. I guess Racine is just unique that way. I took extra time to get sand off my feet with a towel. I also was not thinking clearly from the frozen swim so I started putting my shoes on before taking off the wetsuit. That would have looked great!! I made the decision after the disasters I had my last two races to put on my shoes in transition and run to the exit. I had picked a spot as close to the bike out area that I would not have to run that far in my bike shoes. Getting on the bike was easier and I even passed someone struggling to get into their shoes on the bike right out of transition. I felt for him because that was me the last two times. My time in this transisiton was ungodly slow, but looking at everyone else it is right in line. I was #1 in my age group and #10 overall so it loks like the cold from the water slowed everyone else down in this transition as well. I was still not thinking enough to hit the lap button on the watch to get the split at this point.

Have water to rinse my feet off.

This was a nice course. I was able to keep a steady pace up to the hill. The hill was tough and I got winded, but was able to get back up to speed shortly after getting to the top. Having the loop allowed my family to see me ride by a number of times. I even was able to give my kids a high five while riding by once. They liked that. Usually I am passed by a number of people on the bike, but suprisingly I passed many more people than passed me. This course played to my strengths - flats, corners, and downhills - while limiting the uphills to that one spot so I could just go really hard in one spot and than ride to my strength in the rest. I had two gel packets taped to the bike. I took one after 3 laps and then another on the last lap so I wouldn't have to mess with it on the run.

Not much. Biking is my weakest area, but I think I was able to to a good job today. I probably could have pushed just a bit harder at the top of the hill because I stayed in the large rear gear until ketting onto Kenwood while catching my breath.

I didn't want to mess with getting out of the shoes on the bike so I stopped at the dismount area, and ran in my shoes to my area. Since I placed myself near the bike out area, it was a long run to get to my area. I turned on the Garmin and got my helmet and bike shoes off. I brushed the loose sand off best I could and put the shoes on, grabbed the garmin and sport beans, put on the race number and off I went.

Learn to do a rolling dismount and leave the shoes on the bike.

I finally had enough of a brain to hit lap on the way out of T2 so I could at least have a split on the run. The run felt good. I was passing people at the start and had two people in my sights for most of the race. The course was great going along the Oak Leaf trail out of downtown. It was tree-lined so the sun was not beating on you. I got water at about half of the stations. Still had to walk to take the water, but only took a couple swollows so I was only walking for a couple seconds each time. At the turnaround I was able to pick up the pace a little. At least I think I picked up the pace. Coming out of T2 I had the Garmin but it was not locating satelites and since I was moving, it took until just before the turnaround point so I had no idea what my pace was on the first half. I was hitting between 8:00 and 7:20 pace on the way back and then turned it on at the downhill leading away from the trail and bacl to Lincoln Memorial Dr. I was going under 7:00 pace into the finish. It felt so good on the run it was almost like I felt before last year's accident. I am still not as fast as then, but I felt like I had the abitity to go hard and was passing people again. Only a couple of people passed me on the run.

I probably could have pushed a bit more. I was running under 7:00 mile on the last stretch so I probably had more left in me.

I walked a little bit and went to see my wife and kids. I was feeling pretty good. I went to introduce myself to djdavey and talked with him for a while. I met many other people from the BT forums as well. It was great to put a face to the names on-line.

Once I went home I didn't feel right. I spent the afternoon in the bathroom and had no desire to eat. I also felt extremely wiped out - even more than after the SOR HIM. That water really did a number on me. My wife said I ued all my energy trying to stay alive on the swim. Maybe she is right.


A lake that should have had polar bears and penguins rather than swimmers in it. Being a warm-blooded life form.


This race and especially the swim really pushed me to my limits. I have never considered quitting a race before this one. I was able to pull through and finish.

I heard people saying that the water was so cold it was dangerous and that the swim portion should have been cancelled. Many people were treated for hypothermia and taken to the hospital. I don't know about cancelling it. The swim is my best segment so if it was cancelled I would be at a disadvantage, but safety should come first. I'm glad I didn't have to make that call. The race director has no control over the water temperture.

Improvements for this race (other than a big heater for the water) would be different colored bouys for the turns and water tube to run through in T1. Other than that, this race was well put together.