Cleveland Triathlon - Olympic Distance - TriathlonOlympic

good start, started hard, really didn't run into anyone or have any collisions, good sighting to first buoy, once out of the inside portion, it became more choppy and difficult to sight was fine until the turnaround, after which it was difficult to sight and I got off course to the right which may have cost me a couple of minutes, had to ask a lifeguard if I was on course, the course should have been better marked, huge dead fish floating near the raft where we had to jump in

maybe have worn different goggles or picked a different landmark to sight to after the turnaround, happy with age group and overall rank, hip flexor started to hurt during the swim, which worried me for the rest of the race, but went away during bike and run

had to use a ladder to climb on the raft then walk up the dock, other part of the transition was fine, no T1 time given

hadn't ridden much the week before, so if felt a little hard, the ramp hills didn't seem that steep, but had to go into the small ring a couple times on the uphills during each lap, didn't like the rough road surface on downhills on portions of the course, though happy with age group and overall rank and speed calc. (assuming 25 mile course)

not taper as much prior to the race

unclipped bike shoes so had to run a ways with bike shoes instead of leaving them in the pedals, a little trouble with race belt, and couldn't get GPS to reset while moving,

stop moving to get Garmin to reset so I have a separate session for the run

was happy with how I felt during first 3-4 miles of run, kept looking at GPS and was maintaining 7:45 or so pace comfortably, was psyched out as on the second loop, thought I would just turn back to transition for finish, didn't realize I had another mile or so to go!, went slower last mile as no one was behind me, and blisters started to develop on feet

double-knot shoes - shoes came untied 3x, also familiarize with course map so I don't get psyched out by a false finish

walked around, drank fluids, ate a banana, waited for race results


may have tapered too much, felt achy and sore with a headache after the race, felt better after Milton Man race


even though I'm sore and achy today, race was OK, enjoyed a downtown urban race, lake Erie a little dirty, roads a little rolling and rough, overall race was a good challenge