Bigfoot Triathlon - Olympic Distance - TriathlonOlympic

We started in the water. I was in wave 4. The start was even crazier than other tris I have been in with more people to bang into and try to get around. After about 100 yards I was clear enough to get into a groove and just swim. Was following one guy for almost the first half and then passed him. Passed a number of the women in the wave before me and started seeing caps from a number of wave 2 and even a couple of wave 1 guys. Seemed to either get a second wind on the way back or other people were getting tired because I was really passing a lot of people towards the end.

I think I swam a little longer than I should have because I seemed to get close to the bouys and then I was away from them so I might have been zig zagging a bit.

Nothing. This was a good swim. Maybe push a little harder, but wanted to save energy for the bike and run.

There was a very long run from the water to get to the transition area which was included in the transition time. Then I get to the transition area and they say I have to run to the other end before heading to my area. (See my comments at the end of this report.)

I got everything off fine and got my bike stuff and went.

I was 22 of 62 in AG and 157 of 544 overall in T1.

Understand where they are going to make you go in the transition area when picking out a spot.

As soon as I started out, I had people passing me. People were just flying by me. I kept a pretty good pace even with the rolling hills and the headwinds on the way out, but people just kept going by. That is a real deflater to have that happening over and over again.

I was keeping my pace and wondering if the wind direction would ever get out of my face when between mile 13 and 14 I had some inspiration or a cheering section if you will. I was going along and next to the road on the right was a field with a couple of donkeys in it. As I approached, one of them lifted his head and very loudly started braying! I gave a big EEAAWWWWW back to him and picked up the pace. Thanks to that donkey for helping this donkey!

Had one person ride by me and because he saw the carrot on the back of my jersey asked if I was from BT and if I was 1sttimeTri. Another guy thanked me for the carrot after passing me. If I can help others, then great, but I would rather be the one passing others!

Rain was falling for the last third or so on the bike but the wind was at my back slightly so I went faster and actually was passing a number of people. It helps when the sprint course merges with the olympic and I must have been getting the last half of the sprint peple because I was flying by them like I was being passed on my course at the beginning. (That's what happens when you are a strong swimmer and not so much on the bike - the bikers get out of the water and then gick your butt!)

Push more and train harder leading up to the race.

Came in and had to run up one row and down the other again to get to my rack spot. got everything off OK, but took a little time to make sure my feet were free of anything before slipping into my already wet shoes.

I was 28 of 62 in AG and 177 of 544 overall in T2.

Just go a little faster. Not much wrong here other than my rack placement.

Getting off the bike, I felt pretty good considering everything. However as soon as we crossed the bridge and entered the woods, the trail turned to mud and it was very slick. Had to find the little bit of grass that was left in parts to avoid sliding and where there was no grass, I had to slow way down for fear of falling. Walked up a few spots where footing was close to zero. Never saw anyone fall, but a girl in front of me had to grab the arm of the guy next to her or else she would have. The three of us walked up the hill together.

Lost a lot of energy aroud the bridge the second time around and slowed down even more. I started cramping in the gut and that never happens to me while racing. Don't know what bug I had late last week, but it was doing funny things to me now.

I have run in wet shoes before, but this time the combination of the wet shoes, the mud, the up and down of the trail and who knows what else really got to my feet. Big blisters appeared on the arches of both feet. I could feel them starting during the race and saw them after.

I was able to reach down deep and get something for the finish kicking it in and passing a couple people in the last 0.2 mile.

Wear cleats? Not get sick?

Walked a bit, got my race results and food (which I was not very fond of - I don't want breakfast after a race) and sat before collecting my things and heading home.


As mentioned earlier, I was not feeling well the two days leading up to this race. I don't want to make excuses because I felt OK on race day, but it probably drained me of energy during the race. However, can't complain about a PR!


I didn't think I had a good race when I finished. With the footing the way it was on the run and the number of people that were passing me on the bike, I thought I just didn't have it today. However, when I got home I looked at my previous results and I realized that I had just gotten a PR by about 12 minutes!!!

If I have one complaint about this race is that when I went to pick up my bib and drop off my bike, they did not explain how the transitions would work. I thought I had the perfect rack position picked out, but when we came in from the swim, they made us all run to the back of transition so instead of being able to go right to my bike, I had to run down one isle and then up another to get to my transition area. Had I known what they were doing, I would have picked a totally different transition spot. They really need to explain the flow of the transition area. I had even asked where the in and out was and they never said a word about having to run to the other end before going down the isles.

Also, they had the port-a potty's in the transition area and they were kicking us out of transition 30 minutes before the race. If they want us out of transition, put the toilets somewhere else!