TriAmerica Olympic - TriathlonOlympic

Felt really solid on the swim, actually rounded the first bouy where I found out later many people had skipped, and still beat them all out of the water! Sighted really well and didn't veer off course like at Turtleman. Came out of the water and was told I was #6 from my wave out of the water. After, I realized I'd had a really good swim.

Nothing - can't really beat #1 in the age group! I was really happy with that.

Got out of the wetsuit well today, but the long run resulted in a respectable time for transition. Had a little trouble getting clipped in outside of transition, but got up to speed quickly.

Nothing - I typically don't have that much trouble clicking into the pedals.

Felt good on the bike. I learned at Turtleman that I need to actually consume the second gel pack to get the benefit for the run, so I did this time, and it made quite a difference. I felt like I was pushing pretty hard, but tried to save myself for the run some. I had some dude totally drafting me on the way back in on the second loop, but I dropped him on the way down to the final turn-around. Overall, I felt like I could have gone faster, but I am still learning how hard I can go to still feel decent with my run pace.

I'd go a little harder when I feel that good. I'm also planning to replace my ride with something new this winter, because I can watch my bottom bracket and chainstays flex under power on my 15 year old Trek 2300 and I know a stiffer bike would translate into more speed! The old bike will become the designated ride-with-my-daughter-on-the-boom-bike ride.

I came flying into T2, and even though I don't remove my shoes on the bike, I hit the ground running right at the dismount line. Even got a gasp from the crowd of people as I jumped off and immediately started running into transition. I racked the bike quickly, got my helmet off, switched shoes, sprayed my face with water, grabbed my race belt and was off in under a minute. I was happy!

Nothing - I felt good!

After a strong swim, strong bike that I thought could have been even better, I have to remember that I'm not a strong runner. All I was hoping for was to feel solid throughout the run, and I accomplished that. I felt strong, my HR was good, and I was able to kick up my pace in the last 2 miles, so I was happy. Even though I led my age group by 7 minutes out of the swim and by 4 minutes after the bike, I wound up being beaten by just under 8 minutes overall. I was happy, anyway, because I felt really good throughout the run - even on the hills!

Train for the run a lot more next season. If I'm going to become a runner, I need to focus on that and simply maintain my swim performance.

Stretching, walking around the finish area, downed a serving of Endurox and monitored my HR to see how fast I recovered. Grab my stuff to leave, check the results board and realize I finished third in my age group! Decided I probably won't make the podium very often, so I decided I should stick around and enjoy the moment.


My run ability was my major limiter, which was not unexpected. I know what I have to do over the winter to improve for next season.


Overall, I was happy with the race. I was a bit worried about the organization, but they pulled it off. The swim was really good, despite the deflated bouys. Bike course was well protected by local police (thanks, Ramsey County Sheriff and St. Paul Police). Run course was nice. Overall, a very well nice race day. Kudos to whomever was in charge of the weather department!

Unfortunately, I won't be participating next year, since I'll be two weeks out from Ironman Wisconsin!