Tri-ing for Children's Triathlon - Olympic Course - Triathlon

Tried spotting people I knew (or knew of) to see about drafting off someone. Only recognized one girl and knew she could swim rather well. Figured take the chance and lined up behind her. Ran in when they said go, but everyone up front seemed rather short this time and were in swimming well before I was thinking of diving in. I just walked a little farther and then dove in. I seem to jump a lot farther than the others do and ended up right on top of a few after the streamline. Backed off a touch and took up a spot right behind the girl. Able to hold on for a bit, but lost sight of her and was bumped off. She had a flat gray colored suit on, so was hard to see.

We were out far enough that the overeager people should have died off and this was the elite wave anyway, most have some idea what they're doing. So I found the nearest guy and surged over to hold on there. Able to hold on out to the first turn buoy, but then my navigation skills went bonkers. Short leg over the the 2nd turn buoy and the small front group was gone. I was having trouble swimming straight enough consistently, so just swam my race. Everyone else was strung out in a line. I might have done a full mile if this was actually a 1500m.

Usually I just swim easy, but kept up a little more effort on this one to see how all that swim training has benefited me. Seemed to do well with it. Vegetation was flying by much faster than I can remember (it's a fairly shallow lake). Could feel I'd been swimming a bit, on the 2nd lap, but wasn't really in danger of burning up, so kept at it.

Got to the end and felt better than i can remember on an Oly or longer swim. Stood up and was able to start running immediately, no fogginess issues.

Maybe work a little more to hold the draft. Definitely work on going straight. Was getting way too far outside, well off the main line.

Would have been something to hold onto that girl as she did end up with the fastest swim of the day. She's a 20 minute pool swimmer. I was only 1:52 slower this year as opposed to 5:15 last year. 3 1/3 minute improvement over last years time.

Changed to bike stuff and went out.

Did ok, but still think I can be faster.

Was really hopeful of being able to go out and tear it up on this bike course, but the colder temps and additional wind really dragged things down this year. Did what I could to stay focused and keep pushing, but it was really frustrating to see 300 watts or more at times and be going 21 mph. The course is kind of a square, so was hoping that direction changes could bring some improvement, but somehow the wind was against us or blowing across all over the place. Every section was slower than last year even though I put out a few more watts. Stuck with it as best I could, dodging the others on lap 2, and then got ready to run, even though I didn't really feel like it.

I actually stopped quickly part way through to adjust the brakes as they may have been touching the rim on occasion, though not heavily rubbing. Something always seems to get bumped in transition. Didn't make much of a difference. Should have checked this more ahead of time.

About 4 1/2 minutes slower this year on more power. Garmin stopped when I did for the brake check and that took maybe a minute, so most of that time difference really was from the course being that much slower. Something about extra wind and cold temps really turns me into a parachuted brick.

Switched to run gear and was off. Could go faster, but did ok.

Wasn't sure how the run would go, so just kind of ran at first. Made sure to keep my feet moving quick as that's been the best way for me to transition. Garmin was slow to pick up the signal and it didn't start right when I crossed the mat. Realized this a bit later. It was a bit off from the markers, but close enough to be of use. And I'd still have pacing and HR to use. Feet were a little numb from the bike, but nothing hurt. I knew they'd come around. Saw my brother coming in from the sprint and nodded. Any more of a response from him at this point in a sprint would be to either f-off or include vomit.

Ended up running in a comfortably hard zone that I could have kept up for quite awhile. Working, but not really having to dig in for it. Was passed late by one guy, but he ran like 36:xx, so I wasn't keeping up with that.

Saw brother's wife a few times out there and she was just going through the day, so waving like a mad fool to anyone interesting. I caught up to her near an aid station. The two other girls right in front virtually stopped there, so I had to shove her a little to get around and avoid a pile-up. She's an athlete and thought it was hilarious.

Saw a few others that are motivation to keep going when getting tired or not feeling like it. One guy out there had to be ~400 lbs and he made it through in good spirits. There was also a one-legged girl doing this, and there wasn't *really* anything wrong with me so I was going to finish strong.

Not much. Knew I wasn't going to medal in the overall, so just got in a solid run workout.

Waited at the finish, brother came over and we waited for his wife. Picked out some food and waited for the awards.


Conditions of the day. Didn't peak for this race either.