Memorial Hermann Houston Towne Lake Triathlon - Olympic Course - Triathlon

Swim was good apart from being punched (accidentally of course) which caused me to lose focus for a couple of minutes. Also, decided to hug the turn buoys which sadly everyone else was doing which meant getting caught up with feet and arms flailing in all directions. Goggles fogged up on the home stretch which coupled with the rising sun made if difficult to identify swim exit. Had to tread water and clear the goggles before continuing.

1. Keep clear of the turn buoys by a good distance even it meant adding a little on to the swim. It would allow consistency rather than a stop / / tread / start routine.

2. Wear dark / mirrored goggles, the sun was blinding.

3. Practice, practice, practice.

It was roughly a 1/4 mile between swim exit and T1. Had a pair of shoes around 1/3rd of the way up the route ready to put on, not sure if it helped. Into T1, helmet on, race belt on, shoes on (no socks) all went well. Ran with bike to mount line.

Maybe start thinking about practicing flying mounts so that i can save time in T1 putting shoes on.

Wind on course was from the South therefore Barker Cypress and the route from Tuckerton to the Berry Center were a little slower than hoped.

Pushed hard but ended up playing chase / pass with two other riders until they dropped me on the 2nd lap at Tuckerton. Noticed a considerable amount of drafting going on along Fry Rd. Was passed by a couple of riders (No7 and No15). I'll take solace in the fact these are possibly elite racers!

I put a lot of effort into the race especially into the wind on lap 1 which may have been counter productive towards the end of the bike.



Train harder, i need to do more high cadence drills. Might also be good to see power when riding so that i can average my power to the correct level rather than simply riding by feel

T2 was frantic, almost left Garmin on bike (again) but spotted it last second. Picked up a gel bottle and water bottle in T2 to start the run. No socks for run.

Flying dismount to save time in T2.

This just fell away from me. I have been training 10ks at 48 minutes and not feeling like i'm killing myself but no matter what i did today i could not get my legs to move. Everything felt heavy and exhausted. Coming out of T2 I felt a cramp in my side which made me run a little scrunched up as it was painful, that soon cleared as i drank some electrolytes. I tried a Gu gel, more fluids, picking me knees up but everytime i looked at the Garmin the pace was getting worse. I'm not sure what was going on but it was not good. At one point i had to tell myself to get a grip and that i could finish, it was that bad.

Bike to Run bricks. More of them. I need to learn how to maintain the pace on the run after coming off a bike ride where i've been pushing it for an hour.

OnUrMark have large chlorinated bath tubs with ice water, submerged my entire body to bring core temperature down. Although painfully cold it certainly did the trick, heart rate recovered very very quickly.

Drank Gatorade recovery and walked around the post race party.


Not being prepared for the bike to run.


Great race as expected of any event organized by Aaron Palaian's OnUrMark Productions. The sheer number of volunteers makes these events fantastic, whether in the water, in transition, guiding traffic, handing out hydration, they all cheer you on as you go. When you're feeling low because you're not performing to your fullest it is these volunteers that help push you on to keep on going.

I'll be back next year.