The Nation's Triathlon - TriathlonOlympic

Start was pretty chaotic. Tried to start towards the back but there were so many people in the wave the before I realized it everyone had filled in around and behind me so I was pretty much in the front and middle of the pack. Decided to just put my head down and swim. Got hit. Hit people. Just keep my head down till I got out of the crowd. Unfortunately because I tend to veer to the right I got of crowd by getting off course. After about 200 meters I started to get into my grove. Having buoys every 100m made sighting a lot easier. My arms started to get tired around the halfway point. Not sure if it was because I was swimming harder or "shoulder fatigue" from the wetsuit.

Learn to sight better. Keep working on stroke.

Took a long time partly because the transition area was huge and I got a little lost. Also because I was a little disorganized. I need to get a T1 routine down.

Get a routine and consistent setup.

Felt very comfortable on the ride. I was worried about the turns with the road being so wet but apparently everyone else was too. People were being very considerate when coming around turns and not trying to cut each other off. Felt like I could have pushed harder but felt very comfortable and didn't want to wreck the run. I looked at my pace and since the course was so flat and I was averaging around 20-21 I decided to keep the pace where I was. Given my lack of experience and the very wet conditions I think this was a smart move and didn't really hurt me very much.

Push harder. Base on test I did my FTP is approx 300. I definitely could have pushed harder and frankly just felt a little too comfortable during the ride.

Almost got lost trying to find my rack. Went down right aisle but missed my spot then because of the numbering thought I was in the wrong area.

Walk both transitions to visualize things.

Felt comfortable the first mile and wasn't worried that the second was a little slow because I had to stop to tie my shoe. But I just kept fading. I never really cramped, burned or hit a wall, I just gradually slowed down. I would try to push it back down to 8:00 or below but it would creep back up.

I need more experience running shorter distances. More 5k and 10k with HoCo Striders.

Hung out at finish and waited for wife. Drank a lot of powerade and some Muscle Milk. Went to get some food but the post race food (burritos) were horrible.


I'm not sore at all the day after I think I could have pushed myself more but overall I'm very happy with my performance. I had a great experience and really look forward to doing more olympic races in the future.


The event from a race perspective was well organized. They didn't start on time but that's only because they wanted to wait for the bad weather to pass (which they announced well in advance). There were plenty of volunteers on the course. Water stops every mile on the run and people at all the sharp turns on the bike warning to help warn you. This was very helpful with all the rain.

The logistics surrounding the race were a nightmare. Basically no parking anywhere near by. The were about 200-300 parking spots on OH Drive. The tried to setup a shuttle but that was only for athletes. Since the race started so early there would have been no way for spectators take the metro and see the early waves start (first AG wave was originally scheduled for 7:08 and metro opened at 7am). A co-worker told me that the organizers of the Cherry Blossom 10-miler work out a deal with the Kennedy Center to let people park there. This would have been great since it is less then a mile from the transition area.

Then there was no food for spectators either. They had crepes and brownies for sale but nothing else. My wife wouldn't have minded paying for food but the selection was so poor we walked back to the Mall to find something to eat after the race. They really should get some other food vendors down for the post race "party".