Desert Triathlon - Olympic - TriathlonOlympic

TERRIBLE SWIM
I started on the inside and ended up getting boxed in the entire 1st leg. Plus the first leg went right into the sun and I was having trouble siting. I wasted a lot of energy in the first leg trying to go around some people, but I could never clear them until we made the turn at the first bouy. I tried to get into my stroke and started passing people from earlier waves but I could feel that my shoulders were more tired than they should have been.

Start on the outside. I should be fast enough to make it to the first bouy. Also, the 1500m swim the day before was probably not the best idea.

I practiced getting my wetsuit off faster and have gotten it down to a little over a minute. But that has always been in practice, and never after having done a swim workout. This time it took about a 1:30 which is decent for me. The bigger problem was getting my socks and cycle shoes on. Plus I decided to go with gloves. I'm not great on the bike and the gloves give me a little extra feeling of security.

Invest in some Tri Shoes and start riding sockless. Also ditch the gloves.

Just tried to keep my cadence around 85. I am happy with my 18+ pace. I was actually averaging closer to 20, but I started to gas on the last 4 miles back to the transition. Some people that I passed earlier, passed me back.

More bike work. Not just riding which I normally do, but riding outside my comfort zone. Also maybe get some aerobars?? But first I need to show some improvement in my bike strength.

I WAS TIRED! TOTALLY GASSED. I actually contemplated throwing in the towel and DQ myself...

Not to make excuses, but I came down with the flu the week before the race and it definitely took a toll on me at this point.

I ran the first 3/4 miles before breaking down. Spent the rest of the race walking for 1 min then trying to run for 1-2 mins. Totally brutal. Felt like I was going in reverse with EVERYONE passing me. Then on the second lap, they ran out of cups for the water. But the volunteers poured the water directly into my mouth for me, so that was cool.

Not get sick. Fight harder

I knew I wasn't going to have a great race after getting sick. My plan was to lay the hammer down in the swim, stay comfortable on the bike and just try to keep moving on the run. Unfortunately I didn't get to make a very big impact on the swim and used a lot of energy too. But I think that should be race strategy. The Swim is my strongest event, I need to start pushing the pace and stop staying in my comfort zone.


I noticed that there were a lot of super fit people at the race expo the day before. It seems like this race attracts a lot of good atheletes. Plus there were a lot of Tri Teams competing too. It is a great event and an excellent race to break into the Olympic Distance.