Lake Geneva Triathlon - TriathlonOlympic

Wow, what an experience!! I practiced a fair amount in the open water but I had never swam away from a shore. I felt like I was on the verge of a panic attack at the beginning. After a whole summer of training I seriously considered bailing because I was beyond scared of swimming away from shore. I had not idea I was going to have that level of anxiety. I have never quit on much of anything before so I hung in there. I was breathing every two strokes and I had to breast stroke a few times. I made the turn at the bouys and as I was swimming the second half I began to realize that I was actually going to complete the swim. I knew the course was too short but it was still an awesome feeling. I was ecstatic coming out of the water.

I used a wetsuit for the first time 3 days before the race. I obviously need more practice with the wetsuit to get comfortable. Hopefully, I will have more confidence and less anxiety at future races.

My time was obviously slow so this is an area that needs improvement but for my first real triathlon I thought it was ok.

Everything needs to be done faster, but I am confident I can do that without too much effort. I was trying to go fast here but I just wasn't making that big a deal about it.

I felt great on the bike. I think I was only passed by less than 10 people and I was passed a ton of people. My friends were giving me a really hard time about my bike. I rode a trek 531 touring bike that I bought (literally) 20 years ago for about $400. All I can say is that I passed a lot of really good looking bikes in my clunker.

I just felt very strong on this portion of the race.

My only question is given my run difficulties if it is possible I went too hard on the bike? However, I think the problem was my lack of brick workouts. I would really not like to change much about this effort except cave in and spend the $$ on a new bike. I shouldn't fight technology!!

This was a sloppy transition. I had put everything on my towel pre-race but when I needed my towel to dry myself off after the swim my whole transition area was in disarray for T2. Next time, I should bring 2 towels one to dry with after the swim and one to lay everything I need to grab in both transitions

See above.

I can't believe 1) how much I walked, and 2) that my time wasn't worse given how much I walked. I basically walked up almost all the hills. One of the BTers had opined before the race that the amount you exerted to get up a hill at only a slightly faster than walking speed might not be worth the effort. They were talking about Frank's Hill but I used this theory on several and I guess it worked. I was able to carry a pretty good pace on the flats and downhills because of the walking I had done. It was tough to give into walking given all my training but this course was an exception.

Do more brick workouts!!!!!!!! I knew I was in trouble on the short flat start next to the water because my legs weren't even close to ready for the hills.

Stretch. Put ice on both knees. Took some Motrin.


My lack of bike to run brick workouts definitely hurt. I went a lot harder on the bike than any of my training days so it was very difficult to find my legs especially with hills so early in the run.

I also need more hill work which is very difficult around where I live because it is very flat.


Well I tried to do a Sprint in Zion last month as my first tri but they cancelled the swim and I had a flat on the bike so I hope you will allow me to call this my first triathlon. In any case, this was my first Olympic distance triathlon.

I have to say finding this sport this summer has done a world of good for me. In June of this year I hit a weight I thought I would never see and I think some confidence left as the weight came on. My friends kept asking me to come out east to do a triathlon and I kept saying no. They finally told me to find one near me and they would come to me. How could I say no? However, they didn't know the awful shape I was in.

I found this website and found the 16 week Olympic training plan. I had to start it in week 4 (kids, don't try this at home) but from that week on I think I only missed 1 or 2 workouts. I stuck to the plan religiously. I got up between 4:30 and 5:15 for most workouts so I would take as little away from my family as possible.

Now, here I am writing this race report. I have dropped about 20 to 25 pounds and I really love the sport. The 3 sport cross-training mixed with the physical, mental and technical aspects of the sport are really great. I would love to push ahead at full throttle, but I can't deny that it is difficult to balance work and family life with the demands of this sport. This is not a negative comment, it is simply realistic.

I think my dedication to the morning workout does make it possible to move forward and do more of these in the future. I need to find a really good off season program so I am starting from a much better position next year. I thank those who made this sport grow and drew me into the web. I look forward to improving upon my first effort. I should also thank BT for the site and the training plan (I guess I'm past due to become a paying member) and all those that gave me so many great ideas on the site.

By the way, my friends are not happy that they got beat by the "rookie" so I think a re-match is imminent.