Over The Mountain Triathlon - TriathlonOlympic

Having done this race in 2008 I was familiar with the course. This year I felt much better and stronger during the swim and the 4 minute faster time showed it. I knew running to T1 the swim had been good because I felt great. The OWS sighting still needs work. I do consistently find myself swimming a zig-zag and have to correct.

Not much. The swim itself went as well as it could other than better sighting.

I was sort of shocked at the T1 time. I thought it would be between 3-4 minutes. However, taking the suit off always takes longer than I think it does and you do have to make sure everything is in your bag that you leave.

Try to go faster? I don't know. After the uphill run from the water I may not ever go faster than 4 minutes in this T1.

This is a great bike course. I really had my lunch handed to me here 2 years ago. You have to know how to ride this course and I was happy with how I did. My time did not improve as much as I thought -7 minutes- but overall I was happy with the ride. I did not push until after the crazy hill at mile 23. 2 years ago both quads were cramping by the time I got to this hill and it destroyed me. This year I passed everyone I could physically see on that hill and never looked back. Prior to that I was spinning in line with everyone else on the long pulls. The hills were easier this year and I did ride the downhills better. The Felt drops like a rocket on a downhill.

Maybe go a little harder the first 20 miles. I was sick during the 2 weeeks prior to this race and just did not have a good feel for my fitness. I knew i could push some but did not know where it would run out. My goal was sub-1:40 and I did get close. More importantly I got off the bike ready to run instead of a hobbling wreck.

Not much to say here. I got racked, took another Anti-Fatigue and 2 endurolytes and headed out.

Nothing

Took off on the run and was amazed at how good I felt. Due to the being sick I had not done a planned brick but it didn't matter. The legs felt good right off the bike with no calf cramping at all. I took a gel in the first 1/4 mile or so and settled into a pace. Little did i know I was going a bit faster than the race plan but it felt good so roll with it. I remember seeing 9:06 for the 1st mile marker on the road and thinking I was running faster than normal. I hit the turn-around cone at 28:30 and turned back down the long straight stretch leading up to run start/finish. at this point I took 2 more endurolytes and maybe did not take enough water. Within 1/4 mile I had to pull to the side for a short period dry-heaving but I kept walking. The spell passed and i started running again but I knew the PR was gone at that point. I was dousing my head with water as well as drinking at the rest stops and it seemed to help. By this time it was getting pretty warm on the course and lots of people were walking. I walked 1 more time at the turn-around rest stop at the high school. The hill there didn't seem so steep or long on the first lap! On the straight stretch coming to the finish I was clicking off somewhere between 8-9 minute miles so the endurolytes finally did kick in.

Running at that level of exertion may require taking the endurolytes 1 at a time.

Met up with friends, hung out. I was really pissed there were no more chicken legs.


Not much. I really did not know how hard I could push until I got to the run. Nutrition was good and so was hydration. I would like to have PR'd the run but I'll settle for knocking 27 minutes off the time from 2008!


This is a great race. The town really turns out to put on this event. All water stations had water and HEED as well as plenty of people handing them out. I have to thank Love2tri (Alice) for telling me to get the Hillacious DVD for the trainer. I really think that helped with the bike ride this year as it mimics the bike course so well. Overall a good race for me and shows the improvements I've been making in the run and swim. This is a tough event to manage but I think SetUp does a great job with it.