Maumee Bay Triathlon - Olympic Course - TriathlonOlympic

Only my second swim with a running start and I don't know the proper way to do it. I just ran for a bit in the shallow water than dove in. Nice calm water but couldn't get into a good rhythm. Realized I was holding my breath so worked on fixing that. Kept running into people or people running into me. I laugh that we all stop and say "sorry". Couldn't find any one to draft with. I wanted to feel relaxed with my stroke but my heart rate was too high. I drifted some and could've done better with sighting but I didn't have any problems with my goggles. Yeah!

I give myself a below average rate for the swim just because I wasn't relaxed at all and couldn't breath well. If the distance was accurate then I should be super pleased with the time.

I'd cut a bit off the bottoms of my wetsuit and that helped them come off easier but I still had to sit down and pull them off my ankles.

Practice the wetsuit off the ankles. I just can't get it.

When I got my tri bike a couple months ago it was a machine wanting to go fast. But from the moment I jumped on it out of transition I felt like it was a different machine - like the brakes were stuck on it or something. It was weird. I felt like I was really pumping it but when I looked at my cateye I was only going 15MPH out of the park. WHAT? I'd pumped up my tires the night before and didn't notice anything on the ride over (although I was going slow). I was being passed and was getting ticked. I got up to 18.1 but not much more. Where in the past my bike shifted like butter I rounded an intersection about mile 7, shifted then my chain locked up. Had to stop and fix it. It felt like it took 15 minutes as I heard even more bikes pass but in reality it couldn't have been more than 4 as I tried to get the chain unjammed from the front derailler. I could've been faster if I'd taken a minute to look at the whole thing before I started just yanking the chain around. Chaulk that one up to anger management. :) I maintained about 18.5 the rest of the bike but I was one disappointed lady.

I'm taking the bike to the shop this week. In speaking with a nice guy named Randy after the race he said there's an adjustment on the derailler that should prohibit the chain from ever jumping ship. In looking at the rear brake afterwards, sure enough, it was rubbing the rim. I'm a stupid woman not to have checked my bike over and not to have done a test ride up to speed (especially with a 2 1/2 hour wait). Dumb, dumb me. I deserve that one. Even with a fast bike (like I'd envisioned), I still would have placed in my AG where I did.

Spent a couple more seconds putting on my running shoes because I'd put a blister bandaide on earlier and it was coming off so I adjusted it back in position

Put on a new bandaide instead of fooling with the old. The old didn't stick during the run.

Where we had wind on the bike, the run was completely still and humid which was strange being right along Lake Erie. The sun broke out at times and there was no relief. My legs felt fine but I knew the heat would take it's toll so I went at a very slow pace, still trying to process the bike ride. Looking at my watch I set a goal to finish the race in under 3 hours. I met up with a nice lady named Liz and we chatted the rest of the race. That was nice. We walked the aid stations where I'd get water dumped on my head to help cool me off. Liz knew about everyone on the course and I realized that although I like doing races at different places it sure is nice to know folks. They help boost your morale. I could feel my blister but decided to ignore it. Toward the end I could see the finish line but still had to go around the lake and it was getting close to 3 hours so I pushed it hard on the final 1/2 mile.

Just keep going. Will I run under an hour in another Oly? I hope so and if that's my goal then I need to take a hard look at what it'll take to get me there.

Got across the finish line feeling light headed so I sat down and put my head between my legs and one of the nice ladies brought me over a Pepsi. She also told the medics to come over and that was embarrasing. Did I look that bad for pushing it the last 1/2 mile? Ugh! So I'm sitting there with 6 guys around me all asking questions. I'm fine. The lightheadedness passed within a minute and I just wanted to get up and walk around but they made me get a finger prick to test my blood and take my blood pressure and sign a waver that I didn't want taken by ambulance and wouldn't sue them. All my vital signs were in the VERY healthy range (that's what they said). We were all just laughing and joking and inside it was nice to know that if anything WAS wrong I'd be taken care of. I guess I was just humiliated and feeling very old. Really, did I look that frail and in need of medical attention? Really? I chose to think the medics got involved due to an overly cautious and helpful friend and that I had all 6 medics to myself because they were bored and wanted something to do. :) Got my 3rd place metal, packed up my gear and rode back to the campground.


Just me.


I enjoyed the race venue very much. The location was absolutely beautiful in one of the prettiest and cleanest state parks we've ever camped at. This was my first race with HFP and I really look forward to racing with them again. Their fees are unbelievably low and they have everything very organized. I like the fact that you don't have to wait around for an awards ceremony but just get your medal when you finish. The post race food was just fine - nothing fancy - but plentiful. The volunteers were mostly kids from the local XC team so they didn't cheer you on but they did their jobs well. I plan on coming back next year to take the bike course by storm. :)