Toyota Challenge at Deer Creek - Olympic - TriathlonOlympic

Nothing to write home about. Water felt very warm after standing on the beach freezing. Very easy to spot most of the race until the final stretch when the sun started to glare. There was a small patch of some big waves, but it didn't give me any trouble.

Focus more on more bilateral breathing and try to push a harder on the swim. I'm always worried about pushing too hard on the swim, but I have a feeling I could handle a lot more than what I currently do.

T1 felt like it took forever. Very glad I decided to put bandaids on my nipples in T1. Had some trouble pulling my socks on. Quick bite of a balance bar before hoping on the bike.

Need to figure out faster way to get socks and shoes on. Also probably spend more time drying than necessary.

Brutal headwind on the NE sections, felt like I couldn't go anywhere into the wind. On the second loop I was unable to shift into the lowest chainring on the hills at the end, so I had to stand up and grind up the hills in a higher gear than I would have liked to. Grabbed a Hammer Gel at the start of the second loop. Went down alright, but didn't care for the consistency of it. It also made my right hand a bit sticky which was annoying.

I think I had more in me on the bike, but it's still definitely where I have plenty of room for improvement.

Wore difference shoes for the bike and run, so T2 took a little time switching my tennis shoes. Took a bite of a balance bar and took off running.

Probably would be better to have some GU or something else to eat during the race, but I just worked with what I knew my stomach could handle and I had available.

First 2-3 miles felt terrible, and I was probably moving at an 11:00 min/mile pace or slower (or at least it felt like it). Around mile 3 or so I finally settled into a quick pace probably more in the 9:30 or faster range and was able to keep that up with a sprint to the finish. Oddly enough, I've found that the faster pace actually feels more comfortable and less painful in the legs. Stopped to use the restroom at the start of the run and around the 4.5 mark.

Force a faster pace earlier on even if I don't think I can handle it. I'm sure I would been fine, but mentally I think I was afraid of ending up walking if I pushed too hard early on the run.

Hobbled around, ate some free food. Had a bit of a coughing fit/sore throat a few minutes after the run, which I attributed to breathing heavily in cooler/dryer air than I'm used to.


Lack of confidence in my ability to maintain a faster pace after the bike.


Great place for a race, little to no traffic on any of the roads. A couple of rough surface roads, but otherwise it was great. I've not done any triathlons other than HFP's but I'm very impressed with how they run an event.