The Nation's Triathlon - TriathlonOlympic

I was really hoping to wear a wetsuit for this race. I had been training in one and felt alot more comfortable about covering the distance with one on. I could have wore it but would have been in the last wave and with a race this big, I did not want to be in the last wave. TT start which was nice. On the way down the ramp I saw a great sign "Chuck Norris never did a triathlon" which made me laugh. we got on the platform and jumped into the 81 degree water.The bouys were huge and easy to see which was nice. Right as we started I could feel that I was swimming against the current. This lasted the first 600m. In that time period I was punched in the face 2x, my goggles knocked off by some guy who decided he wanted to swim over top of me, and I got kicked in the groin area by breatstroke guy who seemingly came out of nowhere. The current was with you on the way back and I felt much more comfortable and faster but I still got stuck behind people and with so many people in the water, it was difficult to navigate around. I got stuck behind a lady wearing a snorkle but couldnt pass her until other swimmers passed first. I also bumped into this guy 2x who was treading water and waiting for someone to catch up to him. OVerall I enjoyed the swim but I know my time could have been much faster but for my first OLY I just wanted to pace it out slow and save some for the rest of the race.

Not too much. I took the swim slow on purpose since it was my first race at this distance. Without a wetsuit and with all that happened to me/traffic in the water, I felt like I had a good swim even though I had to stop a few times. I propbably could have shaved a few minutes off this time but I will go harder at my next OLY.

Not too much here. The transition area was huge and the run from swim to T1 was long but not too bad. My bike was racked at the back of T1 so I had a real long run from swim exit to my bike.

Nothing really. I could have gone faster but I wanted to catch my breath and get a drink of water before I hopped on the bike.

So nobody told me this was the race of the fastest cyclists in the world! seriously though, I got onto the bike feeling great and started out with about a 17mph average which is what I was hoping for. Throughout the race, I just kept getting passed and I mean by everyone. It seemed like some of the fasted cyclist in the world were out on the course with me but I realized I am just slow. The course was well marked and I loved how it was completely closed to traffic! there was a good amount of shade on the course as well. IMO, the course was not fast and flat like advertised. I know they say some rolling hills but to me, the entire course was rolling hills. Despite all my weight loss, I am still a big guy and struggle with the hills. I felt like for my first OLY I did good with my pacing and nutrition (1 bottle water, 1 bottle of EFS). I probably could have pushed harder on the bike but I wanted to save it for the run. Nothing too exciting on the bike course but I enjoyed it.

train more and increase my leg strength and power output. This is what I seriously need to do to start being more competitive with my times. I know I was not undertrained for this race but I was also not as trained as I should have been due to alot of work travel over the summer and missing key workouts.

Hard time putting socks and shoes on for the run because my feet were so sweaty. Had to sit down to get them on which caused me some time.

Not much, go faster but that will come with practice.

I knew that I just wanted to pace out this run and go a little slow and treat it as a long jog. This was my first OLY so no need to push the envelope, just a nice steady run to the finish and we can adjust for the next race. I ran out of T2 and was hungry so I know I needed a few calories. At the first aid station I grabbed a GU which helped. My stratagy for this run was to see how I felt after the first mile. I felt good but legs were a little heavy so I decided to walk a little. I would run for 4 mins then walk for 35seconds and when I got to an aid station, I would walk for 45seconds while getting water/nutrition. Worked very well for me and I did not feel tired for the remainder of the run. At about mile 3 I saw that I had a chance of beating my goal time of 3:30:00. I was a little tired but I kept at it. Last week, a good friend of mine and mentor unexpectantly passed away in a car accident while at work. IT really hit me hard to the point where I almost didnt go to DC to race because I just couldnt get the thought out of my head and I was depressed. At the mile 3 mark, I knew I had to finish under my goal time for Charlie and that he would expect me to finish under my goal time. For the last 3 miles I kept thinking about him and increased my pace a little more each mile. At the end of the race with about 300yrds to go, I could see the finish line and saw that I had 4mins left to come in under my goal time. I knew Charlie was looking down over me and cheering for me so I ran like the wind despite how bad my legs were burning and I finished in 3:28:00 and beat my goal time. As I was crossing the finish line, I looked up at the sky and pointed to my friend who I knew guided me to a safe and successful finish. I teared up after crossing the finish line and getting my medal because I know this race is something I would have called him and told him about but I knew I would never be able to call him again. As sad as that was, I started to think that even though I couldnt talk to him about this race, it didnt matter because I knew he was there watching me.

I felt great on this run and passed alot of people in my AG which gave me a lot of confidence. I could have ran faster but decided not too and just stick with my race plan. Next time I will go a little faster.

Got my medal, ice cold water and gatorade and hung around the finisher area for about a half hour to watch the G/F finish.


This was my first OLY distance and I was happy with it. I had beaten my goal time and finished feeling good, able to walk and not like I was dying. That is a good sign that I have the ability to go harder and faster which I will do at my next race. I need to buckle down a little more consistency with my training and that should help alot.


So I would like to say a few things about this race. Overall, the race was amazing! great location, very well organized with a ton of volunteers and support everywhere. I loved the closed bike course, running past the monuments was pretty cool and just the vibe of a huge race in a major city made me feel really good. One thing I was dissapointed in was the after race party. I looked on the website and I guess they never updated it because it said the after race party would have burritos from Qdoba and the band Kristen and the Noise was playing. For me and the G/F, we love Qdoba and Kristen & the Noise is a favorite band of ours that we see every summer we are down at Dewey Beach. The combination of those 2 in an OLY race so close to home was a no brainer for us. Unfortunately, that didnt happen. No Qdoba, No Kristen & the Noise. All we got was a half a turkey sandwich, chips and a bottle of water. No post race beer either which I would almost expect from a race this size which advertised a rocking post race party. I just thought the post race activities were dull and nothing worth while to stick around for. We drove home and got ourselves some Qdoba to celebrate our race. I still thought it was a great race and I would definately do it again.