Carlos O'Brien's Prospector Triathlon - Olympic Course - TriathlonOlympic

Terrible, terrible swim. Because of the wind, the water was very choppy and there were waves (waves!) to contend with. I just don't have enough experience swimming in those conditions, and I was unable to get any kind of rhythm going between my stroke and the motion of the water. I was repeatedly getting hit in the face with waves, which always seemed to be coming from the wrong direction. I was a little panicky, and I just couldn't find a way to breathe. The entire swim was a struggle, but I just kept fighting it. After getting hit a few times in the face on the back half of the triangle, I actually thought about cashing it in and taking a DNF when I finished the first loop. I'm glad I didn't do that, but I was having a really tough time. With a combination of breaststroke and constant sighting stroke, I finally finshed.

If I had more presence of mind, I might have tried the trick of exaggerating the roll along with the stroke. Going into a bi-lateral breathing stroke with a breath every third stoke (while counterintuitive) also may have helped. I also could hhave experimented with backstroke. I need more practice under thesae conditions, but it is tough to get in AZ.

Due to the water level being low, there was a really long run/walk up to the transition area. This time was added to the swim in the official times, so I estimate T1 at about 8-10 minutes.

No sense of urgency - I was rattled from the swim.

I really wanted to negative split the loops, but my performance declined a little with each loop. My weight is a real liability on the uphills, and my frame is a liability in wind - bad combo. I was very familiar with the course, so I knew what gear to be in and when, which helped and I was able to make up some of the time that I gave away to the field on the swim. My computer stopped reading about 9 miles into the course, so I was going blind most of the way with regard to speed. I rely too much on it. I knew what kind of speed I should carry at each part of the course and I could have compared my speed on each loop. I missed having the data and was going by HR and RPE. As I fatigued, I slowed down. The only bright spot is that my HR remained high through the bike course, so I know I was putting a proper effort in. I just don't think I was 'on' physically. It didn't help matters that I went into the race with no hydration/nutrition plan, and only took a couple of sips of electrolyte water through the bike segment.

Not much - I did what I could under the circumstances.

Estimated as it was added into the bike time. Additional time taken for a bathroom stop.

Fairly efficient, and the bathroom stop was a necessity.

The run started off fairly well. I completed the first half of loop one with a very good pace. After the turnaround, though, the uphill started and I hit a wall. The heat was climbing, I was starting to dehydrate, and my HR remained in aerobic zone even when I slowed to a walk. I struggled to the end of loop one. I used the downhill part of loop two to pick the pace back up. I even managed to get to the turnaround a little faster than I had on loop one. The uphill back to the finish stopped me in my tracks again, though. I ended up running loop two a little slower and was beat by the time I got to the finish. The Gatorade and water that I had taken in on the run was too little, too late.

Drink more earlier in the race. I also need to take in some calories during an Olympic - after 25 races, I should know that. Veteran/pride mistake.

Staggered around collecting my things and getting to the car.


Fitness, excess weight, dehydration, nutrition, too much mental/physical energy expended on the swim - everything really.


Definitely not the race I was hoping for, but comparable times to other challenging Olympic courses I have done. I just expected to see more progress than I did for this one, as training has been going well as I have been building for Silverman. The course was tough - I knew that going in, and with the exception of the swim, I handled it okay. The HR numbers indicate that the effort was there and consistent, but my body did not respond the way I would have expected. I did myself a disservice by not taking the race seriously and skipping nutrition and hydration. Having adequate fluids and some calories in could have helped. What really disappoints me is my performance relative to the field. I'm not sure if it was just a good group of competitors that showed up or what, but I got my butt handed to me by the field and finished way, way at the back of the pack. A few years ago, this was normal, but I have improved since then and at least feel like I am part of the race most of the time. It was pretty lonely out there toward the end - diappointing. I know that hills and wind are my nemeses, but everyone raced under the same conditions. I have four weeks to pull it together or Silverman is going to be a long, long painful day.