Mayor's Triathlon - TriathlonSprint

Average swim. Even though it was extremely hot, I decided to go with my wetsuit based on last year's moderate success with it on. I was actually pretty lucky in that I didn't have much contact with other athletes during the swim. I got hit in the head almost right away and then about 50 yards into the swim I had a guy cross in front of me. So, from that stand point, things were good. What wasn't good was the uncomfortable feeling I usually get in the open water. Shortly after 100 yards or so I began to panic and actually flipped over for about 5 seconds. Then I told myself I needed to suck it up and start swimming. My form was below average as was my navigating. Rob, Tyler, and I talked about our struggles in the water afterwards and we decided that the only way to really get better at swimming is to swim more than 1 or 2 times a week which is what we do currently. Of course, that's easier said then done considering it's hard for us to get to the pool that much.



During the race, relax and be mentally strong. Before the race, more swim training, especially in the open water. I only did one OWS before this race thinking that I could convince myself that I would be okay with my wetsuit on.

This sucked for me. I never really felt a sense of urgency but the biggest mistake I made was looking for gels in my backpack that I never found. I had two gels in my tri top pockets but they fell out during the swim and I couldn't find them in my wetsuit so I thought I could grab a couple out of my bag real quick. After 30 seconds of fumbling around, I said to heck with it. Last year my T1 was 37 seconds so this was over a minute slower. I expected it to be a little slower this year because I decided to not clip my bike shoes in because of the hills that we go on right away but not this much slower.



Tape my gels to my bike which is what I normally do. I usually wear my speed suit but didn't this time because of the heat and so I decided to go with the cooler tri top which has pockets and I thought using them would be the way to go. I won't use those again.

Very good bike although I had hoped to be faster yet but I think I underestimate just how much the conditions factored into this race, even on the bike. Anyhow, I passed about five athletes within the first five minutes and a total of 9 or 10 on during the first lap. I managed to pick off a few more over the next two laps to finish the bike in third place. I was passed by the guy who took second overall shortly after turning onto highway 370.



During the race, nothing. Before the race, train more, especially at the course itself.

Pretty good T2 but amazingly enough, this was 8 seconds slower than last year. As soon as I got off the bike, my left quad began to cramp so I thought I was in trouble but that went away before I even made it out of transition. I also grabbed a bottle of water I brought to bring with me on the run for drinking and pouring on my head since I knew it was going to be so hot.

Nothing.

Tough run because of the conditions. I spent the first quarter mile or so trying to get the cramps out of my calves. I was able to do that, but I just couldn't get going much faster due to the heat and my lack of run training. I didn't realize that I was in third at the beginning of the run but at just before the bridge, I only managed to see two other athletes in front of me. I thought maybe there were a few more in front of them so I figured I was maybe in sixth place or so. After crossing over the bridge, I was able to see two athletes behind me about a quarter mile so my goal became to hold them off since I didn't think I was going to be able to catch anyone in front of me given how I felt at that point. Just before the turnaround point, I came across the guys in front of me and realized that I was in third. Also at just past the turn around point, I realized that one of the two guys who were behind me a quarter mile was closing fast and that was Swee. Coming back down from the turnaround, I came across Rob and he confirmed for us that we were in third and fourth respectively. It was shortly thereafter that Swee blew past me. At this point, I decided to take it easy since I wasn't going to hang with Swee and I thought I had a pretty good size lead on the guy who was in fifth at that point. When I hit the bridge (about half a mile to go and the spot I usually begin to kick), I couldn't see anyone behind me so I continued to go at a comfortable pace and saved my energy in case I needed to really kick at the end to hold off anyone. With about a quarter mile to go, I was confident no one would catch me but I did pick it up a little bit to try and finish somewhat strong.

Be mentally stronger. It wouldn't have mattered in the overall finish, but I really should have been able to run this at least 20 seconds faster.

Walked around, drank lots, visited with Swee and Rob, collected our stuff, packed up, attended the awards ceremony, then headed home for a nice steak lunch.


Not being able to train as much as I would like (as always) and not being more mentally tough.


Total time- 1:10:18; 4th overall, 3rd in my AG but because the overall winner was in my AG, I rolled up to 2nd. Hardware is always a nice reward at these things.

Overall, this was an outstanding race for several reasons: 1) I was very proud of my 4th place overall finish and my age group award; 2) Swee took 3rd overall and 2nd in our AG but like me, rolled up one spot to 1st place because of the overall winner; 3) Rob took 12th overall and 2nd in his AG. So, by doing so, we accomplished our goal of all coming home with some hardware.

Interestingly enough, in 2009, I finished this race with the same bike course in 1:07:29, almost 3 minutes faster. Or course, the conditions today were brutal so that certainly played a large roll. Still, I think I can do better here if I actually train how I know I need to, should, and want to. Like us Cubs fans always say, next year. :)

I plan on being back yet again next year as I age up into the 35-39. category.