Fort Ritchie Triathlon - TriathlonOlympic

I was pretty pleased with my time on this swim. There was a lot of vegetation in the water. It was a little disconcerting at first, but I just figured if I pulled harder through it, maybe it would propel me forward more. I kept reminding myself to stay strong in the back part of my stroke and to try to be fast and high with my arms over the water. I really like the left turn course - I felt like I stayed a lot straighter and I was right on top of each buoy, so I think I took the shortest path possible.

I still need to learn to relax more. I found myself to be pretty tense still towards the end and probably working harder than I needed to. Other than that, I just need to keep working on my swim strength and keep building speed.

My wetsuit came off really fast - I was very happy! 3rd fastest female, 2nd fastest AG (I was in the Open division, but I have just figured out overall female and AG rankings for the sake of my race report).

I might have been able to hustle a little bit more, but everything went really smoothly. I still need to learn how to jump on my bike "flying squirrel" style and put my shoes on on the bike.

I think I ended up pacing myself a little more than I needed to for this one. The first climb right out of the fort really took the wind out of my sails and I think I was a little discouraged by how slow I started out. I flew down the hill to the valley and then really didn't push hard around the loop in the valley. My resp. was pretty low and my pace was definitely comfortable. I thought about pushing it up a bit, but I wasn't sure how hard the long climb would be and I REALLY wanted a sub-50 run, so I decided to keep it easy. When I hit the long climb, I dropped into my lowest gear and just tried to keep my cadence up in a hard but sustainable effort. I passed several guys near the top and felt strong coming home. I used my cherry drink, two dates (about an ounce) and one gel. I had another gel, but didn't use it. I felt like I was eating and drinking the whole time.

I would probably try to find a happy medium and get a little more out of my bike leg without sacrificing too much on the run.

I was the fasted female for this transition. Everything went smoothly.

Nothing.

I just barely made my sub-50 goal. I felt pretty good starting out. I walked twice per loop on a couple of hills to try to recover a bit. I felt like I was able to keep a pretty quick cadence and I felt strong and consistent in my pace throughout. I carried some water and took a gel with me but didn't use it. I had a little kick to the finish but not much.

Just keep incorporating speed work and bricks so that my triathlon runs are closer to the pace of my running races.

I went right to my transition area and started to pack up. I drank a coconut water and a lot of regular water. I picked up part of a banana from the race food, but opted for my turkey/hummus roll-up for more protein and nutrition.


I may have been a little weaker mentally than usual on the bike, but I'm not sure I would change my pacing strategy too much, especially with a run goal in mind. In the past, I have not worried too much about pacing on the bike to save something for the run, but I think that is ultimately a good strategy and good prep for my HIM.


This race was really well done. It seems to attract a somewhat less experienced crowd than the SetUpEvents races, for example. But Ken does an excellent job and it was a great experience. It was very well organized. The Open division prizes were nice engraved plaques, and the post race food included pasta and sandwiches. I would definitely look forward to doing this one again.