North Country Triathlon - TriathlonOlympic

Having learned to swim this Spring, I struggle with this event. This was a better swim for me in terms of navigation, but the little bit of chop screwed up my rythym (or lack thereof). This was slower than I swam practicing of late (OWS)...ugghhh.

focus on form? I dunno...everytime I focus on technique I forget to sight and end up swimming perpendicular to the course. I am years away from being decent at this portion of the event, but that's okay!

First time I used body gide on my ankles...suit came off much easier! Still got to work on putting shoes on while on the bike...but not too bad.

Put less food on my bike...the lack of nutrition during my HIM a couple of weeks ago made me paranoid.

Okay...so my inexperience on the bike is killing me... I lost my chain with a late shift hitting one of the first steep portions of Chilson Hill. Lost momentum...toppled over. My rear wheel shifted out of place during the fall so I took a minute to fix that and get the chain back on. I didn't get the rear wheel in properly and it rubbed the rest of the way. I was so annoyed at the lost time I didn't want to stop and fix it. When I tried to get going again, which was REALLY difficult because of the steep grade of the hill. I did alright climbing the hill... I only got passed by two people when actually on my bike, which for me is really good. The thirty that went chuggin' by me when I fell on my a$$ are another story... Finally got to the top of the hill and then turned onto 74 for the descent. I hit 47mph and just sat up at that point. I was concerned whatever was rubbing on my rear tire was going to cause enough friction to flat the tire but couldn't really do anything to slow down. After passing back through Ticonderoga there are two decent climbs and then some fast rollers back towards Hague. Just as I got into this section and started moving along, I flatted my front tire. Two races in a row. AAAAHHH!!! Seriously frustrated at this point... Got the tube out and found it had blown out in a straight line...looked like someone had cut it. When it blew I was movin' right along (~32-35mph) and it sounded like a glass bottle shattered and then the rush of air. Glad I didn't wreck! Got the new tube in but my CO2 cartridge didn't seal and I barely got any air in. Rode down the road for another couple of miles until I came along an aid station. One of the race directors was there and he had a pump, which squared me away. Finished up the last couple miles of transition, not at all motivated to run after such a dismal ride.

Take the time to completely fix the bike after a crash...and not flat!

Didn't get my feet out of my shoes, came to a complete stop before dismount = really need to work on this stuff.

practice this stuff

Not at all motivated after the dismal bike. Got it done, but nothing spectacular.

Cheer up and appreciate where I'm at.

walked around, ate an orange


Crash, Flat, inexperience, genetics


Pretty competitive for a smaller Tri...the winners here are guys and gals who are Top 3 Age Groupers at M-Dot, Revolution, and similar events. Not an easy course but relatively scenic.