HITS Triathlon Series: Marble Falls - Olympic Course - TriathlonOlympic

I hadn't swam since Galveston 3 weeks before, so I wasn't expecting a very good swim. It was pretty uneventful, the usual diagonal swimming guy crossing my path and such, but no kicks to the face so I count that as a win. Pretty average swim for me, which is not very good. When I get back into tri's next year this is what I'll work on. Unless I just go to Du's, which may be a solution for me!

Took the wetsuit stripper a few extra seconds to get my suit off my feet, and i took a second to put on socks. It was a pretty good run from the water up to the transition area.

I took 2 Gu's with me in the DarkSpeedWorks bento box, and had my PD aero bottle full of Skratch Labs pineapple. That is some good stuff right there. I took one Gu about 2-3 miles into the ride, and the other right at the end just before the run.
The roads from transition out to 281 were a little sketchy, so everyone took it pretty easy. Then once you were on 281, you had to share a lane with the run course. I thought this was a really bad idea, but the RD told me previously that the decision was made by the city, not by him. Since the sprint went 40 minutes before us, they were out running when we got out there on the bike. So for about 1.5 miles (the run was an out and back as wel), you had runners going in BOTH directions in the SAME lane as cyclists. Yeah, that sounds safe. At least it was only for a mile and a half where I had to weave around runners and other cyclists.
The hills were pretty tough, as I hadn't been on my bike in a few weeks. My plan was to keep my power around 220, or about 95% of my FTP. I had a new PT head unit and this was its inaugural ride. I tried to zero out the torque the night before, and wasn't sure if i did it right. So when I was going up that first hill out of town, I thought maybe it was off because my power was way higher than I expected at that speed. But over the course it seemed to be pretty much the same as the other head unit, so i think it was all good. I don't think I did a great job of having an even power pace on the uphills, but I actually felt like I could have gone a bit harder and been ok. Overall the bike course was relatively uneventful, although I got annoyed by the number of people who didn't understand what "on your left" meant. I think they thought I was being rude, when in reality I was just trying to follow the rules and pass on the left while they were blocking.
Nobody passed me on the bike during the race, which was surprising to me.
I ended up with an AP of 227 and an NP of 242, I guess I paced it about what I wanted to, maybe slightly higher. Being only my second Oly, I wasn't sure if I should go harder like a sprint or save some of my legs like a HIM, so I guess this was somewhere in the middle. It felt more like my HIM pace though.

NSTR

This was a tough run course. As I said previously, it was the same as the first few miles of the bike course, which has very hilly. I wanted to have a good run today, even if I wasn't really in the "racing" mood. Before the race I was thinking I'd like to run 44:00 or so. So out of transition I just focused on high cadence. My first mile was a little fast (6:45), so I brought it back a little. Then the first hills brought me back a bit more! Luckily at the turn around I had some good downhills. It started to get pretty hot though, and I was just happy to get a breeze from a passing car.
With about 2 miles to go, I got passed by a runner (the only one to pass). He asked me what AG I was, and I responded 35-39. He didn't say anything, so I said "what bout you??"
I couldn't hear what he said as he was about 3-5 yards ahead by then and a big truck just passed. I thought I heard "32", but I wasn't sure. I thought about sticking with him, but that moment quickly passed as I was hot and hurting enough. I wasn't sure where I was in the standings at the time and had no idea who was in front of me. I was kinda in my own little world.

Unfortunately in hind sight, I should have stuck with him. He ended up being in the same AG as me, and that one pass moved me into 4th in my AG and off the AG podium.
Just bad racing for me. I could have had it, but chose not to. Just goes to show, you should never give up and always push to the end. AND if someone passes you with only a few miles to go, re-evaluate yourself and STICK WITH HIM.
I still ended up with an ok time, but definitely could have pushed harder.

Race like I actually want to compete, and not just be there.

Found a bit of shade and walked around a bit to cool down. Finally made my way to the food tent and rehydrated with some HEED and water, some orange slices and a few ginger snaps. Went to the awards ceremony to cheer on a few friends and confirm I did indeed come in fourth (damnit!)


Just myself, not pushing at the end and not competing like I should have.


Nothing spectacular about the race other than the nice transition area. I thought they could have used another aid station on the run course, and they only seemed to have warm water at them. I saw sponges on the ground, but none were being given out.
So not a bad race, and for the money I'd say I got my value's worth. If they keep the prices the same next year I'll do it again. Marble Falls is a good venue. But I still think having the runners and cyclists on the same course is dangerous, and hope they fix that next year.