Age Group National Championship - TriathlonOlympic

By far, one of my worst swims. There was only 2 min to warm up before each wave and they wouldnt let you swim that far from the start area. For me, it was really hard not having a warm up. It was a wading start and I started way to the right. This was the inside line, but for some reason everyone started on the left so I went right to stay away from the main group. I got off to a good pace, but swallowed a lot of water in the first 200 yards. This really thru me off. I settled down a little bit but after the first buoy, I took in another big gulp of water. This time I threw up a little bit (not fun while swimming). After this I had a real hard time getting into a rhythm and my HR was really spiking. I seemed to be in the middle of the pack and slowly started falling back. My confidence took a big hit and I had a mini panic attack. This has never happened to me. At one point I almost felt like calling it a day. Instead, I slowed it way down and tried to find a better rhythm. Once I rounded the farthest buoy near the lighthouse, I was able to pick up my pace and started to feel better, but now I had a hard time seeing the buoys as I was headed into the sun. I tried to follow the pack in front of me the best I could, but ended up way off course. Once I made the final turn into the channel, I ended up too close to shore. The weeds were thick and I could see rocks on the bottom. Needed to veer more to the left to get back to the middle. I was very happy to reach the ramp and start my transition. I knew I was way off my pace and I was still nauseous from all the water I swallowed. Hoping the bike gets me back on track, but I pretty much knew this was not going to be my day.

I really need more OWS practice. Just swimming intervals in the pool doesn't cut it. Not warming up properly also didn't help.

There were no wetsuit strippers so I unzipped my wetsuit while running and the had to sit down at my transition spot to remove my wetsuit (not something I practice a lot). It was hard to get off over my ankles. I really should have cut it down a little bit. I heard a lot of people did this. For this race I also decided to put my biking shoes on in transition and run out with them on. I was worried that there would be too many people weaving all over the place on the path to the road and it could be dangerous. I think it was the right move. I was able to click in and get up to speed quickly, while others were still getting their feet in.

practice getting wetsuit off. cut bottom of legs on wetsuit.

Overall, I was happy with my bike all things considered. I could have pushed it harder, but I really wanted a good run. I was also still feeling icky from the swim and had to slow down a little as I burped up some more water. The climb up 189 was a longer than I thought. but I wasnt warmed up enough to really hammer it. I started to to get into a better groove around mile 10. I past a good number of people, but also saw a lot of really strong cyclists wiz by. It was a fun course.

Not much. If I was feeling a little better, I might have pushed it a little harder. I think I also peaked a little too early in the season and my longer rides started tapering off too early.

Unbuckled shoes on final road into transition and spotted my family right before the line. Hoped off my bike a few feet short of the line. There was a little congestion getting into transition. Made my way to my space and took off my helmet and put shoes on and headed out while buckling race belt. All in all, not horrible for me, but still room for improvement.

practice more transitions.

That first hill was a beast and really had me gasping. I was barely running. It was around this time that my stomach really started to cramp. Even after I crested the top of the hill, I couldn't pick it up. I was really cramping and my HR had spiked too high. I tried to find my legs and slow it way down, but I kept feeling worse and worse. I was seriously contemplating stopping and throwing up. Around mile 2, I was feeling a little better, but not great. My cramps kept coming and going. There was no way I could hold the pace I needed to hit my goal. I did my best to hang on though and keep moving. I really wanted to stop and walk. I drank some Gatorade at Mile 2 and 3 hoping it would help, but it really didn't. It was very discouraging to see all the people zip past me so quickly, especially those in my AG. The mile 5 marker seemed to take forever and then picked up the pace a little bit and made one last surge once I saw the transition area. This was very painful, but it was a great feeling to run down the red shoot and cross the finish line. I imagine I looked awful since that is how I felt. I looked at my watch and saw 2:21:40. Not as bad as I though and only 1-2 min off my goal of breaking 2:20.

I really just need more time running. I don't do near enough, especially longer runs.

Walked around and looked for water. It was very hard to find and nobody seemed to be able to tell me where it was. This should be much easier to find. Luckily a nice woman let me have one of hers. I then drank a Gatorade recovery drink (not very good) and talked with my teammates.


Swallowing water on the swim and not getting a swim warm up. I also think I peaked too early in the season and wasn't able to ramp up properly for this race due to vacation timing and catching a late season cold.


All in all, this was a great experience and glad I went. There were lots of volunteers and most of it seemed well organized (aside from finding water at the finish). The line to get results was also way too long. It seems like the should be able to print these right after you finish and give them to you as you leave the finishers area.