Hueston Woods Oly Tri - TriathlonOlympic

Very calm water. An odd course start. Very shallow water. So shallow that a lot of people just ran almost the whole way to the first turn marker. Not sure why there wasn't an extra buoy to keep on your right as you started -- to make everyone head straight out to deeper water instead of the long diagonal run to the corner.
Good swim. Probably best swim I've had. But worse in the AG and bottom half OA. A little bit slow at the start, but got more comfortable/faster as time went on. Second lap was definitely faster than the first. Was my first 1500m swim in a race.

Practice more. Still have a long way to go to improve the swim times.

Smooth Transition.

Nothing.

Course was much harder than I expected based on the drive I did the day before. A couple steep hills and many long, gradual inclines. First steep hill just out of T1, probably about half as bad as East Fork Lake. Another good hill about half a mile later as you leave the park. Legs aching, so I backed off. For remaining hills, tried to take it easy. Acutally went to the small chain ring several times. Generally I stay in the big gears. First tight squeeze on Doty as a green van was passing returning Sprint riders and crossed way over into my lane. Fast section once you reach Oxford just past the Sprint TA for several miles (Sycamore/Bonham). Almost got ran over on Bonham by a black Saturn. Or was it an old Chevy Cavalier? He crossed the double yellow to pass me and suddenly a car was coming the other way! Probably a college student still drunk from the night before. Then uphill again along 177. Very fast on Sommerville. Max speed 42.5 mph. Got a little spooked and tapped the breaks a couple times. Return on Brown is flatish. Trying to relax and save enough for the run. Enter the park and climb a nasty steep hill, then down the other side to T2. Overall, I felt like the legs weren't quite there. Felt a little tired. I'm not a great climber. Probably since I do most of the training on the bike trails. I wonder if anyone else had more trouble with drivers at this race than usual. I've done about 10 of these (mostly sprints) and never felt in danger. But twice today?

Respect the hills! Do more climbing. Rest a little more the day or two before. May have overdone the training.

Had a slight problem finding the rack. This has happened a lot this year. It didn't belp that someone decided to use their hunting cap to cover the numbers on the end of the rack. I'm sure that made it real easy for him!

Think of a good way to mark my spot. One that doesn't affect anyone else.

About a minute per mile slower than my last 10k leg. Got passed by a lot of people. Worse than usual. Legs felt very tired from the bike even though I didn't push. Tried to enjoy the end of the first full Oly race and what will probably be the last tri of the season.

Need to push the run more in training. It's too easy to relax and set an easy pace. Need to work on the mental aspects.

Walk around for a few minutes.


I should probably have shortened Friday's workout. Didn't feel fresh at the start of the day. Also did GBC mini 7 days earlier (my first non-sprint). Maybe too much, too fast, too close together.


A tough course. Strange shallow swim. Bike had more hills than I'm used to. Liked the run through the woods. Felt like a small event. Only 88 in the OLY. I'll probably do the GBC again next year and skip this one.