New Jersey State Triathlon - Olympic Distance - TriathlonOlympic

Swimmer came in, our runner directed him to me at our rack and we exchanged the chip. We had noticed one or two other relay teams come in just before us, so I prepared to go track them down on the bike. Very crowded at dismount line and for about 20 yards past it - very narrow and lots of people. I thought I found a clear spot and jumped on, but had to suddenly stop as someone stopped in front of me. Unfortunately I had just snapped my rubber bands and my feet were still on top of the shoes. Had to quickly put my footdown, which caused one of my shoes to swing down, almost launching me off the bike as it rolled under the crank arm. Collected myself, got my feet in and strapped and started.

Get there earlier to get a better transition spot - had to run down the aisle to get to our spot,which cost us a little time. We fumbled getting the strap of the swimmer a little - probably practice strap placement to make this faster. Practice, practice, practice my flying mount and keep running with bike until clear of traffic next time.

Hit the main road and instantly passed by a couple fast looking guys as I got up to speed. Kept up with them, and basically continued to pass each other back and forth. Definitely went out a little too hard, and worried about keeping up with this group rather than racing my race. First loop was very crowded - wasted a lot of breath with "on your left" calls - and quite a few people who wouldn't move! Luckily it had become overcast just as I left on the bike, so I didn't roast in the sun, but was still hot. Definitely felt like I was faltering a bit as started second loop. Downed a gel and some Accelerade. Continued drinking water off my aerodrink on the front. Got to mile 20 and told myself - this is a relay, I don't have to run 10k, I've got a team counting on me and tried to put down the hammer. Dropped a couple guys who had been back and forthing with me and never saw them again. Finish seemed to come faster after that. Had an excellent dismount and run in to T2

Yell "on your left" louder? Cornering was bad - often had to come out of aero to corner. May have been entering the turns too fast, not sure, but I usually corner/turn better than this. Would have really liked to average 24, but combination of heat, not being recovered and my power limits probably prevented that.

Dismounted perfectly, got in well and got chip handed off.

Nothing.

Its nice having your relay runner do the 4th fastest overall run of the day :-)

Some stretching, massage, waited for our runner to finish.


Heat, hydration, keeping cool, power.


Fantastic race - very well organized, nice course, tons of volunteers. I would definitely do it again. It would be nice for mother nature to turn down the thermostat next time.