Stonebridge Ranch Triathlon-Intermediate - TriathlonOlympic

Swim waves were Men Oly < 39, Womens Oly, Men's Oly 49+ & relays. 25 min minutes later they did similar start with Sprint competitors.

Start was a little rough because of the number of people. I started somewhat near the front but off to the far right. This ended up hurting me because I started drifting to the right early on and missed out on the 'current' of swimmers and the associated drafting. Overall, balance was good, rotation was OK, and catch was just OK. I just didn't feel as fast/smooth as I thought I should have been. Breathing was good (a little too much rotation on right side) and I wasn't too tired when I left the water.

Work on open water sighting and swimming in a straight line. Work on catch (saw too may air bubbles/not always enough foreare) and pulling past hips every time.

Lake exit was a fairly steep boat ramp (my friend Teri who was waiting to start her Sprint wave was cheering, also saw family -- uplifting), up a grassy hill, and back down the steep side. It wasn't too bad for me, but I imagine it was slick for the later waves. This was followed by a run through a parking lot into a long transition area. Probably a total of .15-.2 miles.
Part of my plan was to avoid a heart rate spike in T1, so I jogged to the transition area, rather than sprint (my normal approach.) Had to rinse grass off feet before socks and shoes, otherwise T1 was pretty good.

I could skip socks if I could learn to run w/o socks. I have no problem riding without them, but I always put them on before the ride since I'm going to wear them at some point anyway.
Figure out some way to wear HRM strap during swim w/o it sliding down so that I don't have to put it on during T1.

I had a good ride. I pushed fairly steadily and did well with the hills. Cornering and u-turns were very good. Used HRM to keep heart rate controlled so I wouldn't be too high before before the run. Nutrition: 1/3 bottle of Accelerade, 1/2 bottle of Amino, plus 1/2 Gu halfway through second lap.

Second lap was more crowded with many of the Sprinters now on the course; however, I was very pleased how well everyone kept to the left and moved to allow passing. My cycle computer showed a slightly lower average, but this is one of my best race paces.

Apparently there were some problems with the timing mats leaving

I wasn't hot, so I didn't end up drinking all the fluids I brought. Might consider only a single bottle on cooler days.

Entry to T1 was best yet - feet on top of shoes, dismounted just before line and kept moving. Transition area was large, so it was a pretty good jog to my rack. (Checked a couple times to make certain shoes didn't know themselves off pedals while jogging -- didn't want abandonment penalty.) Shoes on quickly (love the Yankz), but decided to forego the running cap, since it wasn't sunny.

Nothing.

Definitely felt slow starting off. Hoped to pick up pace around halfway point, but didn't feel like I was being successful. The gradual hills didn't bother me, but the steeper sections (the underpasses) caused me to start cramping. I was careful not to take on too much water -- skipped most stations and only took a swig at the others to wet mouth. This probably helped prevent any worse cramping.
Saw Aaron (JeepFleeb) coming back on one leg of run while I was headed out, but he was busy fighting off the trees that kept snagging his flag.
In last mile, picked up pace and passed back and forth with another BTer Gary, (ghart2). Good kick for last quarter mile.

Need to work on speed and finding hills for training.

Water, Amino Vital, oranges, bananas.


Minor cramping (side stiches) on the run


Trimania deserves credit for pulling off an excellent race, especially given the number of participants. Events started very close to on-time, everything felt well controlled, and I really liked the course.

Other nice touches: Technical shirt instead of normal t-shirt, finishing medals, the vendor expo.

I swim start was roughThe course was interesting and a little technical with the number of turns involved.