Giant Acorn International - TriathlonOlympic

This was kind of a crazy swim. All the college kids were in my wave (Navy, Virginia Tech, UNC-Wilmington, Georgetown, etc). They were talking tons of trash at the start line. I raced in a wave with these schools once before so I kind of figured it was gonna be a bit wild. It was a bit chaotic at first as things got sorted out. I hopped onto some feet but the guys were zig zagging all over the place so I left them just before the first turn buoy. Had clear water the rest of the way. After the second turn buoy navigation became an issue as it was damn near impossible to find a buoy. We were all headed back towards the general area but the pack ahead of me (the lead pack) was way off course. I think it was a combination of a long way to the next buoy and the sun was in our face. Finally found a buoy and got back on track (I was a bit inside of the buoys, while the lead pack was WAY inside the buoys). Them going off course allowed me to catch back up a bit, but they were still 30 seconds or so up on me.

Site just a tad better on the back stretch. I was sort of stuck in no-mans land. I need to get a bit faster (or start faster and hang on) in order to be with the front group at a race like this.

My snag here was that when I put my aerohelmet on it caught my sunglasses and I had to take it off and readjust again. Cost me a few seconds. They had just cut the grass (it must have been a foot high) so there were grass clippings all over the place. It didn't seem to get in my shoes (shoes already on bike) too bad though.

50/295 OA
7/27 AG

Practice getting my helmet on over my sunglasses.

Did pretty good on this ride. The first part of the ride was nice and quiet. A few of the college kids around to race against. 2 guys came by me from my age group. They were hauling ass. The second loop was pretty crowded. A couple of the turns on the second loop I really backed off cause I just wanted to make it through without having someone crash into me. Plenty of people were blocking, etc. Usual stuff. At the last turn a car was totally blocking the road, had to slow way way down as there were other riders near by which kind of sucked. Otherwise it was a good ride for me. Had good mental focus and raced.

Not much here.

This was decent. I turned into my row and got confused because I didn't see my stuff. My wetsuit was on top of my shoes/towel so that threw me off. Otherwise I was pretty smooth. Readjusted my shoes but figured I wanted to get them good and snug in order to run a 10K sockless.

44/295 OA
4/27 AG

Not throw my wetsuit on top of my shoes, but I don't remember doing that!

Got going really well off the bike. Really liked the trail section. I think it helped me to stretch out my legs. First couple of miles were 6:45s and I felt pretty good. The rollers on the way back hurt a bit but then I settled back down again on the way back out. Second loop got crowded. Was doing lots of passing again. People weren't really staying to one side of the road or the other so that got a bit annoying. Passed one girl as she threw a gel packet on the road. Told her that was bullshit. Middle few miles I focused on my stride and my breathing and then the last couple of miles I just left it all out there. Felt really good at the finish.

Not much here. This is one of my best runs in a tri. I suffered because I wanted to, not because my legs were hammered. IMO, that's the way it should be if you pace the bike correctly and train appropriately for the distance.

Jumped in the lake. Got pizza. Hung out with Ernie.


Clean up transitions a bit more. They are much improved but there is still work to be done. I thought I could go right around 2:20, so to be 4 minutes faster than that makes me happy. Good way to end a season that started off not so good for me - bike wreck, staph infection.


Setup is setup. They do their thing and you know what you're gonna get.