Clear Lake International Triathlon - TriathlonOlympic

This swim went well. I got into a good rhythm and was able to breathe without any problems. This swim actually took less out of me than the sprint swim a few weeks ago. The only problem was I started to get a cramp in my left hamstring about 2/3 of the way through. I stretched it out and had no further problems.

I definitely need to get in some kind of warm-up to make sure my muscles are loose.

My rack was about as far from the bike-out as possible, but is was a straight shot to it at least. Goggles and cap already off, I put on my glasses, then...I felt I was going to be quick here, but somehow set up my helmet wrong so that when I picked it up off the bike and put it on it was backwards. I could feel that something was off as soon as I put it on my head, but a friend at the fence yelled to me that is was backwards just for good measure. I got it on the right way, slipped on my bike shoes and was away. I jumped on the bike, but had a bit of trouble getting into the pedals as quickly as I would have liked. At least I was making forward progress.

Double check that my helmet was facing the right direction.

The bike was good after the very slight trouble I had getting clipped in. I felt relaxed and made sure not to push too hard in order to save enough for the run. I made sure to take another gel and some water at about 20 miles to avoid the stomach issues I had at Lonestar. Overall I felt really good about this bike segment, especially with the headwind coming back.

Practice clipping in on the run more. It really only cost me a few seconds though.

Coming into T2 was sort of messed up. The bike and run courses crossed here and I had to slow way down to let a group of runners by. That just shouldn't happen in my opinion.
I came in just behind a guy walking through transition, so I entered the racks one row over and passed him before cutting over between racks. Helmet off, socks and shoes (still using Yankz!) on, and grabbed my race belt. Run, run, run.

I could probably run faster with the bike. Also, I need to remember to grab my Garmin off the bike and put it on my wrist strap. I left it right there in T2 on the bike.

I seem to be getting slower and in worse run shape as my training progresses. I don't get it. I felt ok for a while, but I was going by feel as far as pacing since I left my Garmin on the bike. I was running out of T2, then made a concerted effort to slow it down to a comfortable pace. I walked every aid station, taking water and Gatorade at almost every one. I took another gel close to the midway point. The last 2 miles were pretty tough anyway. Maybe I'm still going too hard on the bike. Or maybe I'm just that behind on my running fitness compared to the swim and bike.

I need to make sure to get my Garmin. I'm not experienced enough to pace by feel.

My missed training sessions, of course.


There were a few course issues that bothered me, but they were not major things. The most bothersome thing was that for 5 days or so I had no race results. Everyone else that I knew who did the race had theirs. Mine finally appeared and showed that I hit my goal of coming in under 3 hours.