The Nation's Triathlon - TriathlonOlympic

HUGE transition area. They kept announcing that it was 14hundres something square feet. everything was sooooo far apart. I don't think I was dragging my butt w/ the cloths/gear changing. Just an eternity before you were back out on the course again. Massive traffic w/ people from the first few start waves leaving for the run while we were leaving for the bike.

Need tri shorts/ a tri suit. Swam in a speedo, changed into regular bike shorts and bike shoes. Changed again into compression shorts and running shoes.

Hit a draingage grate and flatted out. The official time was actually 2:16:10, but was standing around by the side of the course waiting for SAG part of that time. I used the time off my bike computer instead. If I want to do the race next year, I want to beat the time actually spent racing, not just the time that included standing around doing nothing.

Get a saddle baggie and LOTS of spare tubes and air cartridges. Even if I had been prepared w/ a spare; I still would have been stuck waiting for SAG. This repair went through 3 tubes and 3 cartridges. Maybe a new saddle and, again, the tri shorts. My bike limiter is a sore butt, not being at the limit of my endurance or speed!

Again just a HUGE transition area. Everything was so far apart.

Get tri shorts or a tri suit.

Apparently slow based on that pace. I ran almost all of it (walking the aid stations and a bit at the beginning trying to drink some powerade). Fell into pace w/ people to talk to for the last half of it. I think we might have settled into a 12min/mile pace; which I would have been happier w/ overall, but it took some time at the beginning to get there. I had been dreading the run. Hadn't been diligent w/ it in the past 2 weeks and even short runs left my quads aching for days prior to the race. But it wasn't all that bad.

food, walking from transition through all the tents/events, hit the bathroom, packed up my stuff, then rode the couple of miles through town back to the convention center parking lot.


That flat tire, and waiting around. I need to be better prepared; but I also think SAG took too long, and didn't have anything on them to help when they did arrive. If I had been prepared, that would have covered the 1st tube and 1st air cartridge. Not the 2nd or 3rd. If I had wipped out on that storm drain rather than just flatted; I would have been lying hurt on the road for an awfuly long time before SAG arrived. I rode on the semi flat tire 2 mi to where SAG was helping a girl who had wrecked. They could give her a ride back to transition, but the only option was to abandon her bike there on the side of the course. They weren't prepared to help her either, and she needed more from them and needed it far worse than I did.


The "not on time" was a weather delay. There was nothing the event direction could have done about it. The event was VERY well run considering they had to keep track of 7000 people!! I think I just like the smaller races better. Less intimidating, less infrastructure w/ having to take a shuttle bus, fewer start waves, etc