Reston Triathlon - TriathlonOlympic

I was in wave 4 out of 7. No idea what time I put, but I think I should have been in an earlier wave. Went out hard when the gun went off and I was one of the front people with clear water for a little while. Was OK with sighting on the way out and found some feet to draft off of. Too bad she couldn't sight and I was off course a little. I started catching people in the wave in front of me and had some chop as we got to the turn around. No issues going around the buoy. Navigation and sighting wasn't so great on the return trip. The buoys weren't large and in my opinion, they needed more of them. Felt like I pushed it hard for the entire swim, but when I looked at my time at the swim exit, felt I could have gone harder.

Better navigation.

My rack was up the small hill in the transition area. Had no issues getting my wetsuit off and it didn't get stuck on my heels. Sat down to roll my socks on and get my shoes on. Helmet and sunglasses on and I was off. John was volunteering and was nice enough to throw my wetsuit in my bag (due to the two transitions, we had a bag for our T1 stuff which was then transported to the finish).

Nothing. I went as fast as I could.

Worked on getting HR and breathing under control. HR was high as soon as I got on the bike so I tried to spin up the hills to lower it a bit. I think I was breathing heavy for nearly the first loop. Roads were mostly dry, but they were in rough condition. Finished the first loop feeling good and saw FeXYies on the corner of Twin Branches and South Lakes. Took a GU at mile 8. Pushed it more on the second loop as my HR and breathing settled down. Saw Ward and Bailey with flats. Brad passed me soon after that and yelled "on your left, sexy" as he passed. Good to see him on the course as this was the first time. The FeXy cheering squad moved to near the HS and was yelling as I went by to finish my 2nd lap. It started to rain on the 3rd lap and while it wasn't pouring, it was a steady rain. I stayed aero for nearly the entire ride, but was more careful with the rough, wet roads. Saddle actually gave me no issues, but I've found the harder I ride, the less my saddle hurts. I was feeling some fatigue in my legs on the hills on Lawyers and got out of the saddle for a change in position. Hit South Lakes and hammered home taking another GU.


Nothing. Pushed the bike the entire time which I usually never do.

Fairly seamless T2. Had to open the plastic bag w/ my Newtons and race belt.

Nothing...I'm glad I had my shoes in a plastic bag as it was nice to have dry running shoes despite my wet socks. Worth the extra time to have them in the bag.

Started the run and felt pretty good. There are some steep up and downhills in the first mile of the run. When I hit the downhill, my right shin was SCREAMING. I mean excruciating pain. I actually thought I'd have to walk the remaining 5+ miles of the 10k. My HR was high on the hills and I had a hard time getting my breathing under control. I hit the first mile marker and see why...went out a little too fast. I backed the pace off to get my HR and breathing under control. My shin, while still hurting, wasn't quite as bad as on the steep hills. Soon after mile 2, my shin pain goes away and I'm really only feeling muscle fatigue on the hills. I continue to keep a steady cadance and make up some ground on the downhills. Hit the turn around and start the gradual climb back. I knew the last few miles were net downhill and was hoping to make extra time. When I felt good, I kept telling myself to "be in the moment" and run like I knew how. As silly as it may sound, it kept me focused on feeling good and forgetting the first 2 miles as they didn't go as planned. I also mentally took myself back to the 15 miler I ran last week which was an effortless run for me.
Miles 4 and 5 ticked off and felt good. I hit the hill for the last climb back to the stadium and turned left at the brick wall to hear the FeXY tent cheering. I turned onto the track for the final part of the run and thought back to all of the FeXY track practices on the same track and dug a little deeper to finish strong.

Not sure where the shin pain came from. It never was there after about 2.5 miles. Could have been the steep hills in the beginning of the course, going out too hard or my Newton's needing to be replaced...or maybe a combination of all 3.

Found Brad, grabbed food and talked with FeXYies. Got changed into dry clothes, loaded the car and watched the awards ceremony.


This wasn't an A race, but I was able to take 10 minutes off of my Oly PR from 2009. I was coming off a big week of training ending with a 16 mile run on Friday night. I'm really happy with how the race went given those factors. Was able to push on the bike and work through things on the run.



This was our first time doing this race.
Pros: local, good swag, familiar bike course, good post race food, prompt awards
Cons: rough roads, not enough volunteers on the run, communication

The thing that made this race was our team. We had 30 team members racing with countless others volunteering and cheering. There were always people cheering, yelling your name or yelling FeXY. It was so amazing to have that much support on the course. Quite an amazing group of people we have and I feel lucky to be a part of it.