Buffalo Triathlon - TriathlonSprint

Man, I just couldn't get settled in. I started pretty well. I was in about the middle of the pack and found some clear water after a bit. There was little issue with encountering other swimmers but I definitely couldn't find a good pair of feet to hang on. I probably couldn't have seen said feet anyway. The water in this lake is pretty green. Not gross green but definitely low-visibility green. I managed to round the first buoy just fine but got a little freaked by a swimmer who was struggling and just laying on her back. Again, I couldn't get settled in and get my breathing feeling normal. I think its reflected in my HR, too. In the OWS I did the other day, I was looking at HRs in the low to mid 160's. Here it was an avg. of 178. HELLO ADRENALINE!

The thing that sucks about this is that I'm not confident in my swim skills in the first place. I'm not afraid of the water or other swimmers or anything like that. I just don't feel like I know how to RACE effectively. It has me a little freaked for the 1500m swim in my first OLY in just 40 some odd days but I'm sure I'll be fine. More time in the pool, more time in the lake, and another race on 6/25 should help.

Learn how to warm up effectively so that I can settle in, find my breath, and get into a good rhythm.

There was a pretty long run from the beach up to the transition area. Plus, it was uphill. I was really sucking wind. The wetsuit came off just fine and I was very quick in getting my shoes and helmet on and getting the heck out of there. One mistake was not opening up the straps on my bike shoes prior to the race. That cost me a few seconds.

Get some tri bike shoes! Or, at least remember to open the straps on the shoes I do have.

I thought my bike went pretty well considering the hilly course. I did have to rein in the HR at the beginning. I looked at my watch about 5 minutes in and saw a HR of 189. My bike LT is 183. I was sucking wind and knew I couldn't hold that kind of effort over another 35 minutes or so. As time went on I got better and better at cranking moderately hard on the downhills (got up to 38.6 mph on one) and carrying that momentum into the uphills. I was still getting passed like crazy on the uphills but I can't expect anything different at this point in my training. The winds were pretty strong throughout the course and only one section was a tailwind for us. The last 3 or so miles was a very heavy cross wind which it seemed everyone was struggling through. The true insult to injury moment is the relatively sizeable hill that finishes the ride. I'm not sure you could even get out of your shoes if you did have tri shoes.

As for the pace, my bike computer tells a little different story. The distance on it reads 13 miles and I was very close to the bike entrance and exit. Perhaps they have a little longer course than advertised. No matter, I averaged between 17 abd 18 mph and that's pretty good for me at this stage.

Assuming my current fitness level is something I can't do differently, I'm not sure there's much else I'd do. Perhaps bomb the downhills even more to ease the pain on the uphills?

A pretty good transition. I was quick to get my bike racked, helmet and shoes off, socks and running shoes on and on my way. I ran with my hat and race belt and put those on while running.

Nothing.

In the first half mile or so I really thought this was going to be a brutal run for me. My hamstrings were really tight as well as my right calf. All felt like they could cramp at any moment. Thankfully, that never happened and I managed to pace with a couple people for a while and chat a little. That always helps take the pain away. I was wearing my Team Dork Rocket tri-top and had lots of people commenting. One guy coming in from the bike on the OLY course yelled "GO DORK ROCKET" so loud that he scared the crap out of me. Another woman I was running with said she was a "Dork In Training" and we chatted for a bit. The first half was pretty slow because it took that time for my legs to come around but I did see 9:10 at Mile 1. I was reasonably happy with that. After the turnaround I was able to kick it up a little but it doesn't seem to have helped my pace much. Again, I'm not disappointed with my finish as I was hoping for something between 27:00 and 28:00. I kicked pretty well the last 1/4 mile to the finish and got a great shout-out from the race announcer.

CELEBRITY SIGHTING: A little background: Chris Legh and Natascha Badmann were racing and got about a 24 minute head start. So, Chris did a 1500m swim and a 40K bike in the time it took me to swim 400m and 20k bike + 24 minutes. At about the half mile mark of the run, he blew by me like I was standing still. Absolutely amazing what those top pros are capable of.

I might try to push it a little harder a little sooner and see if the legs will cooperate. I think more bricks will help me get used to what my body will let me do.

Got some water, Powerade, yummy little bread bites, 1/2 a banana, and a cookie! Sat and stretched a little. Managed to find Kelly and Mark and we hung out and watched Denise (Denise2003) and Dan (AcesFull) finish and hooked up with Autumn and family. A very nice time spent relaxing on the grass and BSing about nothing.


Training. I'm OK with where I am today but know that there's more in me. I'll just keep at the training and racing and see what happens.


A very excellently organized and run race. There were volunteers all over the place and they were very helpful. The post-race food was mediocre but I suppose that's what you get when cooking for 2000. I do wish they would've had a little more organized information in the race packets. For instance, I didn't know the intervals between waves and didn't know whether "Heat 11" meant that I was going to be in the 11th wave. We can assume things but it could drastically change your preparation.