West Point Lake Triathlon - TriathlonOlympic

I felt strong during this whole swim and passed a lot of people. There was one segment where I felt as though I wasn't moving at all and was being pushed right. I compensated by aiming hard left. I thought for sure my time would be much faster than last year's time. It was somewhat faster and I recalled after that last year's course seemed short and some said that this year's seemed long. I don't know. I do know that the water was warm and that it got my core temp up.

I had some trouble getting out of T1 fast because everyone was walking and they were in my way. I wasn't running fast (jog etc) but I was making an effort and everyone else seemed to be walking so I had to juggle around and through some folks with my bike.

I felt really good on this ride. There was one point during the middle that I had to remind myself that this was a race and to keep pushing but other than that I felt strong and "fast" the whole ride.

I decided before the race that I did not need my aerobottle for a 24 mile ride. I wish I had brought it though because the heat and warm swim made for a thirsty rider and I drink more when I have the aerobottle. I still drank enough but I slowed down every time I had to grab my bottle out of its holder. I went through almost 2 full bottles of water which is a lot for me in that short time period. Compensated with 2 endurolytes.

This is the first time in a race that I took my feet out of my shoes before the dismount line. I had a long run back to my rack and didn't want to do it with my bike shoes on.

It was hotter than hades out there. Little to no shade and the temperature was climbing. Running out over the damn was hot and miserable. My first mile was just over 10 minutes and I wasn't pushing at all. I told myself that I would definitely make my time goal. After mile 1 I got thirsty and reached down to get gatorade from my fuel belt. When I checked my pace afterwards I had dropped from just over a 10 minute mile to a 12 minute mile. I didn't come back from there. I got overheated and my heart rate was all over the place. I was thirsty but couldn't get anything down without cramping. I took 2 more endurolytes to help with all of the salt I was losing through sweat. The last aid station was also out of water (and so was I) and I couldn't take any more gatorade. All in all it was just not a good run. I walked a lot and I never walk during races. My run time was slower than my run last year and I am in much better shape now.

Not run in the heat although I don't think I have too many options there. Practice my hydration during temperature extremes.

I spent a good bit of time cooling down in the tent with the hoses. That was a nice idea and it helped get my core temp down.


The heat? My hydration. I usually do very well with hydration but I am going to have to put myself in situations like this again so I can figure out what to do for next time.


I really wanted to break 3 hours and I wasn't able to do it. The warm swim got my body temp up more than I anticipated and although I did well on the bike I overheated on the run. Good lessons learned but I am still pretty disappointed in not reaching my time goal.