Spudman Triathlon - TriathlonOlympic

I was thrilled - THRILLED - with my swim. I took advantage of not having to stay left of the straight away buoys by moving a bit to the right at the start which kept me totally out of the crowd and did not add much distance, if any. I finally got into a little traffic at the first corner, but by then everybody was spread out enough that it didn't matter. I bumped a few people on the way back but nothing that really slowed me down. I was hoping for something around 30 minutes, but had mentally prepared myself for 35 or even higher, so when I got out and saw I was under 30 I was really pleased.

I just need to continue to train and practice swimming faster and straighter.

My T1 was fine except that I had a little trouble getting one shoe on all the way which probably cost me 30 seconds. The officials had announced that we were supposed to walk our bikes out, so I did, which also cost a few seconds, but I wasn't concerned about it at that point -- I just wanted to have a calm, clean transition.

I need to practice getting my wetsuit off my feet faster, and also make sure I have my bike shoes all the way open so I can get them on faster.

Considering how new I am to biking and the avg speed of my training sessions, I was very happy with 1:19. I was expecting something between 1:25 and 1:30, but my work on the hills over the last two months really paid off. I was a bit worried about traffic (both other racers and cars) on the long downhill section, but I ended up having a completely clear descent and was able to stay aero the whole time - and above 40 mph for a lot of it. The rest of the way I was able to maintain a good consistent effort that was just short of all out. I was a little worried that I was going too hard, but I felt good so I just kept pedaling. I ate two gu's and drank almost my entire bottle of gatorade during the ride with no problems.

Nothing. I just need lots and lots more miles in training.

As with T1, I wasn't trying to be super-fast, just calm and smooth. T1 and T2 were in different locations, and I had chosen not to set up T2 myself, but instead to send my bag with my running shoes and number belt with the volunteers, who would place it at the rack according to race number. I found the right rack quickly, but my shoe bag was down near the end of it and it caused a few seconds of concern because I didn't see it right away. But once I found it, I quickly got out of my bike shoes, into my running shoes, grabbed my belt and took off.

Set up T2 myself so I know exactly where my stuff is, and I can set out my shoes and belt.

Most people seem to have trouble getting up to speed after getting off the bike, but I have the opposite problem -- I tend to run too fast at first off the bike. My first half mile was probably under 4 minutes which is way too fast for me, so I forced myself to slow down to a more manageable pace. I was feeling good and getting pretty excited about my time. Before the race, I had thought that I would likely finish right around 3 hours, and I was prepared to be happy with anything. But as I started the run, I knew that I was on pace for well under 3 - maybe even under 2:50, so I tried to hold my pace right around 9 minute miles, and then figured I would just lay it all out the last 1.5 miles or so. Right around mile 4 I started feeling pretty fatigued, but I was close enough to the finish that I just kept pushing and tried to speed up a little toward the end. It was helpful to get encouragement along the way from other members of my triathlon club, even though I only joined a couple of months ago and don't know everybody really well yet. I grabbed a quick drink of water at the last aid station and then tried to run the last mile as fast I could.

Watch my pace a little more closely right at the beginning.

Water and more water. Chatted with my family, some other racers that I knew, and some club members.


Nothing! This was my first triathlon other than a mini-sprint last August, which I did on minimal training and 35 pounds heavier. I ended up way under my expected time and I felt great. I can't wait for my next race in two weeks (another olympic), and I'm definitely doing Boise 70.3 next June.


I'm new at this so I don't have much to compare this race to, but I thought it was very well run.