St. Anthony's Triathlon - TriathlonOlympic

Tough swim. The wind was kicking up enough chop, particularly on the last leg, to make breathing and sighting very difficult. I passed a lot of people there. Otherwise, it went pretty well. I think if I had been able to stay out of traffic on the first leg, I'd have save 2-3 minutes. About 350 meters out from the start, all of the people who started way too fast slowed down, and we started to catch the previous wave at the same time. It turned into the most crowded 3 minutes I've ever experienced. There was nowhere to go without swimming into/over/under someone else. I finally found a break and swam 20 yards perpendicular to the course to get in some clean water.

Get into the start corral earlier so I could start at the front of the wave. Stay to the inside/outside until rounding the first turn buoy to avoid traffic.

Long run in and out. Overall 1175/3192. AG 119/219. A little slow getting the wetsuit off, but I wasn't really trying to be fast. Just swift and thorough.

Not much. Practice wetsuit exits, bike sockless, run through transition instead of slow jog? My time is MOP and my transition process it totally stress free, so I think I'll just keep it how it is.

Wow. Wind was brutal. Sustained at 19.6mph, gusting over 27 (according to airport weather station adjacent to the course). I pushed it too hard once getting the tailwind (it's just too fun to go fast). Averaged 24.3 for the last 5 miles, including dismount/run to transition time. Had a few tense moments. Down on Pinellas Point Rd. the guy in front of me came within an inch of catching his pedal on a curb. Managed to be clear of traffic and go around all but one of the speed bumps. Wind gusts coming around buildings in the downtown area had people being pushed way off line coming around corners (myself included). It's rare for me to notice a cross wind given my weight. I can't imagine how bad it was for the really light people. Came into some of the corners at the end at 28+ mph chasing a guy who passed me after the last little bridge. I managed to stay with him and actually pass him when he reached down to take his shoes off. With that said, we were going through those corners faster than I would ever have deemed prudent by myself. For Douglas Adams fans, we were in the vicinity of R17. For those who aren't, here's the explanation:

The aircar rocketed them at speeds in excess of R17 through the steel tunnels that led out on to the appalling surface of the planet which was now in the grip of yet another drear morning twilight. Ghastly gray light congealed on the land. R is a velocity measure, defined as a reasonable speed of travel that is consistent with health, mental well-being and not being more than, say, five minutes late. It is therefore clearly an almost infinitely variable figure according to circumstances, since the first two factors vary not only with speed taken as an absolute, but also with awareness of the third factor. Unless handled with tranquility this equation can result in considerable stress, ulcers and even death. R17 is not a fixed velocity, but it is clearly far too fast.

Not push so hard with the tailwind. Rest legs for the run. I did not finish my Gatorade/Hammer Gel bottle. I think I should have taken more small sips. I was feeling dehydrated coming into T2.

Nice smooth transition. Once again, I was taking my time to make sure everything went smoothly. Overall 1057/3192. AG 115/219.

Total time spent in transition Overall 1065/3192. AG 117/219.

Get Yankz for my running shoes. Run faster in and out of transition.

Started out feeling dehydrated. Drank a cup of Gatorade and two cups of water at the first aid station. That was pretty dumb. Nausea hit within a minute after that. For about half a mile I considered making myself puke, but decided against it. Then for another mile I considered if I was going to be able to avoid involuntarily puking. Things finally settled down a bit at the turn-around, but by then I was sweating a lot and I could really have used a gel. I stuck to just a few sips of water while I walked each aid station for the rest of the run. Also, between dumping water on my head, sweating profusely, and accepting every spectating homeowner's offer of a hose spray, my shoes were soaked by the end.

While I was only 4 minutes slower than my 10K PR, I DIDN'T PASS A SINGLE PERSON ON THE RUN. I even got passed by a guy with only 1 leg (and 1½ arms). My serious focus on improving my run speed starts TODAY. Or maybe tomorrow, since my shoes haven't dried out yet.

Finish my bottle on the bike. Drink more conservatively at the aid stations.

Found Cville and Scott, went over and sat next to the Hospitality tent. Talked to them about the race for a few minutes, had 2 slices of pizza, some strawberries & grapes, and a cup of orange juice. OJ sounded like a great idea, but I'll leave that for a few hours after the race from now on. Went back to the finish area to watch Steph come through. Considered going back to hospitality for black beans and rice (because I know how good the Columbia makes them), but decided picking up stuff from transition and getting back to a shower sounded even better. Packed everything into the car and went to Tijuana Flats on the way out.


Didn't get into my real training volume until 6 weeks before the race (due to the record cold winter). My run volume needs to come up by at least double before I'll be anywhere close to competitive in that discipline.


An excellent race. Not sure I'll do it anymore due to the high cost, but that's the only reason.

Results including only those who did the full-length swim:
Overall 1184/2484
Swim 954/2484

If I had stayed in the Clydesdale class (still 215#) I would have ranked:
26/75 Overall
25/75 Swim
18/75 Bike
43/75 Run