Las Vegas Triathlon - Olympic Course - TriathlonOlympic

Hahaha, where do i begin???? During warm up i felt great and so ready for the swim. I was a little shocked at how long the course looked in the water but I knew that could swim the distance as I had done it before while training. As it got within 1 minute to start I took a look around and realized I was in the front and dead middle, the last spot I wanted to be! I knew I was in trouble right then and there. There was no time to move so that;s where I was going to start! The buzzer went off and I hit the water and tried to start swimming. I felt like I went no where quickly and the almost the entire group passed me by. I couldn't get my breath and I hyperventilated quickly. I looked up and the first buoy was sooooo far away and I couldn't breath. I looked back at the shore and just about turned back. I looked for kayak which I was hoping was closer and saw one about 20 yards away. I undid the top of my wetsuit and started waving to the kayaker. She asked if I could swim to her since there was another person requesting help. I struggled over and grabbed a hold of the kayak pissed off at myself contemplating asking her to bring me ashore. I spent a few minutes holding on and caught my breath. I told myself "You cannot DNF, your family is sitting there on the shore!" So I told myself to take another shot and basically planned to swim from kayak to kayak. So off I went, wetsuit undone and slowing me down but determined. I swam near the next kayaker but decided to continue on. At this point I mentally realized that I would not be able to swim with my wave and that I would just move at a pace I could handle. I finally made it to the first buoy and rounded the corner. I let a little sigh and buckled down for the long swim to the next buoy. Immediately the sprint distance and women Olympic distance swimmer caught up to me and passed, but it really didn't matter at that point. It was all about just finishing now. I finally got into my rhythm and just plugged along at a tortoise pace, but I was going to finish. After what seemed like an eternity I made it to the second buoy, rounded the corner and headed for shore. Once I was able to touch ground, I slipped off my cap and goggles and got my wetsuit around my waist(although it was basically there from the swim anyways!)

Wow, where do I start here??? Next race I will be starting where i wanted to in this race, to the side and middle. I need to remind myself that this is a long swim and that I will not be able to swim with the front of the pack. I need to mentally prepare myself for the start and remember that this is a paced journey, not a sprint race!

T1 was good, wetsuit off and I was in my tri-suit already so it was easy from there. I wiped my feet quickly and got my socks on(i added baby powder inside my socks to help absorb any moisture). Slipped my race belt on, got my helmet on and un-racked my bike. I had my GPS watch attached to the handlebars and already on, gloves were on my aerobars, sunglasses in my bento box with one gel and a cliff bar(which I never ate). I also thought I had my recovery drink in one bottle and Gatorade in another but found out later that my neighbor grabbed my recovery drink and I got his tap water to be used for cooling him down. I took one sip of that tap water and was wondering what the hell was in my bottle! Come to find out later that Tommy had grabbed my recovery drink by mistake that he thought was the tap water and dumped my recovery drink all over himself on the bike! He was all red at the finish!


Not much here, this was the best I have done in T1 ever and I felt good about it.

The start of the bike is up a hill and out to Lakeshore dr. I went up at a good pace and passed a few people on the way put. Some people were huffing and puffing on that hill, thankfully I wasn't hurting to bad. Once I got on Lakeshore Dr. I started pedaling hard down the first hill and realized that I needed to get my HR down so I laid off the pedals. It took me a good 5-8 miles before my HR got down to a good rate. I passed a lot of people on the way to the first toll booth and was clipping along at a good pace. It wasnt easy getting to the first toll booth but once I hit the turn around something clicked inside of me and I really started pushing hard. I did get passed by one guy but actually caught up to him on the last big hill and passed him. from there it was out past the second toll booth about one mile and turn around. I remember passing a guy on the bike who I saw on his leg was in the same Oly age group as me. I though to myself at least I wont be in last place! Made my way down the big hill to transition, slipped off the bike and headed to my transition area to get ready for the run.
Nutrition available: Endurox R4 Fruit punch with 12 oz water and ice, gatorade(24oz), cliff bar, and hammer gel.
Nutrition consumed: Tommy's gatorade, one sip of his tap water.

First, make sure I have my recovery drink!!! I knew that I wasn't feeling as strong as I usually do at the end of the bike probably due to not drinking my nutrition during the bike.

After a good bike ride, I was motivated to get to the run. I exited my bike before the timing mat but not on the move, i basically came to a stop and got off. I slowly jogged to my rack, slipped my helmet and gloves off and got ready for the run. Inside my shoes was about 8 oz of cola and 8oz of recovery drink, plus one pack of shot blocks. I placed the drinks in my pockets in back of tri suit and left the shotblocks in my hand. Grabbed my visor, tied my shoes and out to the run. I turned the corner from transition to the run course and felt the heat form the sun. I also got a sharp pain on my right side abdomen area(cramp) and hit the hill to start my run.

Need to work on getting off the bike while moving. Once I get my shoes broken in more I will probably use the elastic laces instead of tying them up during transition.

My run started with a slight cramp on my right side and heading up a decent hill to get the flat portion of the course. I felt good at the start despite not having my recovery drink on the bike(which may also have contributed to my cramping). I took my time on the hill to let my running legs come to me and make sure I left some energy for the hill that awaited me after the flat portion of the course. I passed a few people on the way up the hill who probably laughed at me and said they would be passing me at the end of the run, but I dont think they did. Having run this course plenty of times before certainly gave me a slight advantage over someone who may have not. Once I hit the turn onto the flat portion of the course I picked up my pace to about a 9min/mile pace and started sipping on my recovery drink. I also ate one block. I basically ate one block per mile which seemed to really help me along the way. I also took sips of recovery drink and cola as my I felt my body needing the liquids. I was happy with my nutrition on the run, never consumed too much liquid so I wouldn't have that shaking belly syndrome. I passed a few more people on the flat and was passed by a few as well. Once I reached the turn for the hill I started to get my legs and just kept plugging away at the hill. I was surprised that I was able to keep running non-stop up the hill and passed a few people that were stopping for a few minutes. by this time the cramps had dissapated but I started getting a cramping feeling in right leg above my knee which I had never felt before. Once I did some research after the race I realized that I probably strained both of my quads during the bike and aggrevated them during the run. I also got the same feeling near the turn around in my other leg, firtunatley they both didnt hurt at the same time or I would have had a hell of time finishing. Once I reached the toll booth area about half a mile from the turnaround I stopped at the aid station to dump some water over my head and down my shirt. I knew better then to drink the water as I wasnt sure if they had grabbed it from the lake or not. I started to run again and my right leg(above the knee, probably my quad) was really hurting me and I thought I was going to have to walk the rest of the way. But I kept pushing and eventually I was back to a good pace. Once I hit the turnaround I walked for about 15 seconds and then started to pick up my pace and enjoy the downhill run. I did pass a few more people on the way. I turned right onto Lakeshore Dr. and really started to pick up thepace heading down the long hill. I felt really good at this point and I remeber thinking ot myself how happy I was with my new running shoes. My feet felt really good and strong heading down the hill and I was so thankful. My old running shoes might have hindered me in the past and possibly could have caused the "hot spots" I had before. I was really focused on my form going down the hill and was envisioning myself as Macca running down Ali'i drive in Kona! It was at this point I had the best pace of the day at about 7min/mile which is pretty damn good considering how far I was into the race. Once I hit the bottom of the hill I turned left onto the flat portion and started dreaming of that finish line! I ate my last shot block and drank some more recovery drink and cola. I made it to the last station and poured more water everywhere. Its amazing the effect of the cooling water on the body in the desert heat. I passed a few more people on my final 1/4 mile of the flat portion and then turned the corner to the descent down the hill to the finish. It was here I thought of my kids and how happy I was to see them in just a minute. I turned up the heat and had a great pace. Once I got by my kids I grabbed them both and they came across the finish line with me to cap off an amazing day.

I certainly need to get a faster pace throughout, but considering the cramps and quad strains that I battled through I was fairly happy. Nutrition was good and I never felt even close to bonking.

Nutrition available: Coke 8oz, recovery drink 8oz, 1 pack shotblocks with caffeine.
Nutrition consumed: all shotblocks about every mile or so(as I felt my body needed them), there was about 1-2 oz of cola and recovery drink left after my run.

Wasn't much of a cool down, basically took a few pix with my kids and we went to the food tent to look for shade. My wife was exhausted from trying to take pix and watching a 6 year old and 3 year old. My kids were crying from being woken up at 5am to come see my race. So basically I grabbed my stuff from transition and walked back to Tommy's truck. I think I snuck in one little wedge of orange. Fortunately I had packed a Gatorade recovery drink and they gave all participants two cold bottles of water.


Swim: more practice swimming, a better understanding of pacing and of course starting at the front/middle of the pack.

Bike: i ride an old school metal Bianchi with index shifting so one day I hope to get a newer, lighter bike which hopefully will help my speed and ability to climb.

Run: need to have a better pace throughout and have faith in my training!

Areas of the body sore: both quads(VERY sore), neck, chest and slight on the sides(oblique. My goal for the future is to focus on these areas more during strength training to build muscle strength.

All in all I was really proud of myself for my first Olympic distance triathlon. I overcame hyperventilation, thoughts of quitting, dragging my wetsuit, cramps, quad strains and heat to finish in 3:24:24! I feel really good about the PumpkinMan Tri coming up in October!!!!!


The race was organized and the volunteers were extremely nice. Overall it was a good race. There needs to be more shade in the future to escape the heat for both participants, volunteers and spectators. There should also be more people to mark participants as this hindered my ability to get any type of warm-up in before the race(also I should have gotten there earlier but that was out of my control).

Pictures: http://www.zazoosh.com/members/viewGallery/6062