Bartlett Lake Olympic Triathlon - TriathlonOlympic

Swim was really bad. Almost pulled out of the race after the first marker. I was cold, having trouble with the chop, and getting trampled over and had my first real tri panic attack. I had to tread for a few minutes and let the wave pass me. I then slowly began to swim, head up, with caution. Then, I got punched squarely in the jaw. ugg. Finally, once most of the women passed me, around the fourth marker (the one way out by the pier) I got into a rythm. The swim was already a lost cause, but hopefully, the kayakers saw I wasn't a total tool wasting their time.

I did REALLY like my new Zogg goggles. They worked way better for sighting.

Sign up for races with smaller waves. I had no problem getting trmapled in San Diego, but here it just kicked my ass.

Knew the day was lost and was not looking forward to the bike. Moved casually, but efficiently. No split was provided. Finished off the Gatorade before going out.

Nothing.

Wow. Just absurd. Stayed in the lowest of low gears all the painful way up the mountain. I still passed a few folks. I had to walk my bike a couple times on the first loop. Wind was blowing against us on the way up too, just to make things suck more. Reaching the turnaround point on the first loop was so awesome. Flew down. Didn't peddle at all, except the one very short uphill. Braked a few times as I didn't have a ton of confidence on the first of two descents. I had one VERY scary moment on the second descent. A truck driving up the hill the other way came way into my lane. I had to manuever a little and the bike began to shake. I was pretty certain I was going to go down, but kept as calm as possible and regained control of the bike. I didn't brake or steer, or anything, I just let the shake do its thing. Once I regained control, I felt I could do anything on the downhills. I let it all go and passed several people (most of whom were probably on their second lap. haha. Thought about calling it a day, but went back up the mountain again. Saw a cute girl on the side of the road and she was asking folks for a tube since she had a flat. Tossed her my tube feeling confident I wouldn't need it, and I didn't. Should have gotten her number (race or phone. haha). Had more focus and more confidence knowing I did it once. I'm sure I was a good clip faster and I only walked the bike once. Flew down the downhill again and it went much smoother, as most of the other bike traffic had cleared out. Finished very strong. I have to admit the feeling of flying down the mountian the scond time was fun and a source of celebration as I knew the run was the easy part. I was, like, 45 minutes over my goal. Could have never anticipated this, though, without going through it.

Not sure what to do about the truck veering. It could have literally killed me. Other than that, just avoid courses that are clearing beyond my ability.

Didn't really worry again, as the focus of the day had turned to finishing rather than time. Got everything off and everything on pretty smoothly. Wanted water, but they didn't have any. Was kinda pissed about that.

Pack more beverage at transition.

Hit the run and almost quit as the first thing you see was an uphill for a mile. Walked up, again, forcusing on just finishing. Girl in front of my was in sight and I focused on passing her. Did run/walk for first mile and didn't gain much ground. Started to get thigh cramps. Hit the water station and had 2. Then, hit the 2 mile downhill, which felt great. Openned it up some and caught two girls by the bottom, one more was just ahead. Had a pretty solid run/walk going back up the 2 mile hill. Cramps in thigh hurt, but tried to run between the flare ups. The last mile was awesome. I probably ran a 5 minute mile. Flew down the hill and had lots of fun.

Even though I was 5 minutes off my goal, I am very happy with my time considering I walked the first mile and what I did before with the bike.

More salt and better hydration prior to starting.

Pouted, chatted with other participants.


course was crazy hard.


Only have the two drink stations on the run kinda sucked. By the time I got water, it was already too late.
Course was crazy hard. They should either change it or work harder to discourage people from doing it. No way I'd ever do this race again.
The organizers were pretty nice & friendly. They did a good pre-race walkthrough and registration went smoothly.