Escape the Cape Triathlon - Olympic Distance - Triathlon

I set up in the front of the line to get out in the first group. Was ready for it and jumped in and took off. The water was fairly calm and it was a straight shot to the buoys. My sighting felt good and my swimming was very straight. I ended up swimming 80% of the swim with someone directly to my left side (towards the coast). We were about a foot apart for the swim - neck and neck. Unfortunately this ended up working against me because I needed to get in closer to the shore to have a more direct line for the turn buoy. I eventually was able to get a bit ahead and turn in, but was really fighting the current to make the turn without any significant loss. It was high tide so I was able to swim almost the entire way in and run out easily.

My swim was a bit off because usually I am higher ranked. i think some of the extra time was one the wide turn

I should have dropped back and let the guy swimming beside me go past. This would have allowed me a better line on the inside. Besides that not much, it was a good swim.

Fastest transition in the Olympic race by 8 seconds . Only 10 athletes within 30 seconds. I know transitions are huge and I have been sure to visualize/walk myself through them before the actual race. With such a long transition I knew this had the ability to be a game changer. Fastest T1 including the sprint competitors.
Thrilled with this transition

Nothing

After my wreck last race, I was a bit nervous with this ride. I knew someone was in front of me out of the water, so I was gunning for them. Flying mount went well and my feet were right into the shoes. Leaving the transition area there was a left turn -- I saw the guy that was in first had gone right. I circled briefly, yelled at some people about which way to go, and went with my instinct and went left. 10 seconds lost, but I was now leading the race.

The road was wet so I hammered the straightaways but really slowed on the turns. I had biked most of the course and knew where the trouble spots were. Around mile 11 I was cruising at 26mph when I was passed by the first biker as if I wasn't moving. I decided to race my own race. On the 2nd loop, the course was filling up with the sprint athletes and was getting fairly crowded. I was yelling "On your right" to pass people for about 10 minutes and then it suddenly dawned on me that it was actually "on THEIR left" and "on MY right". Whoops, that explains why everyone kept cutting me off.

I kept pushing the 2nd loop and headed into transition having only given up 3 or 4 spots. I was able to negative split the ride and feel that I may have left some on the course. This was my first solid effort with my new bike in a race and I was thrilled with the results -- Nearly 3 mph faster than last year on a longer, more technical course.

Trust what I read in the course map and not get thrown off by people making wrong turns. Learn my left and my right. Build my confidence back up on turns.

In POURED after I left transition and my socks (although covered) were soaked. I hate wet socks. I got everything on fairly quick, but was 8 seconds down from the top T2 time, 4th overall.

Not much.

I hit the run with a mission to catch the people who had passed me on the bike. This has always been my strongest discipline so I knew I had that going for me. I cranked through the first mile in 6:15 and picked off two of the three people who had passed me. I knew my heart rate was racing, it was hot, and there was still alot of run left, but I had set a goal of OA podium and this is where I would have to do it. I saw the guy in the lead (moped escort) and was able to determine he was about 30 seconds up. I was making up time on him and finally passed him at the turnaround.

From this point I kept hammering it through the run and the next two sand runs trying to put as much distance on the rest of the field. On the final sand run, I changed up my strategy and stayed in the dry deep sand rather than run down to the water for the harder sand. The strategy worked out well and I was able to pass a number of the sprint athletes and get onto the road without much traffic.

I hammered the last mile home and loved crossing the line to the announcement that I as the first olympic competitor. With the TT start, I knew there could be some other people back there.

Sure enough, there was one other guy who had a monster bike leg (beat me by over 4:30 on bike) and he beat me by 15 seconds overall. SO CLOSE, but I was super thrilled with the results. We were two minutes ahead of 3rd and 4th, 6 minutes ahead of 5th place and 10 minutes ahead of 8th place.

Run harder. I think I had 15 seconds I could have made up.

None -- saw my wife and family, cheered on my friend who was competing, met some of the other athletes, and celebrated.

I was so happy with this race that there is not much more I could have asked for


15 seconds on a 2 hour race is like a photo finish for a 100m dash. Low confidence on biking turns from recent wreck, unsure of turn our of transition, not pushing hard enough on the run.

I have had my bike for 2 months, so the longer I have it and the more I ride, the better


Delmo puts on the best events. I can't say enough about them.