Cascade Lake Triathlon - TriathlonSprint

- Stayed far right and towards the back of the pack for the first two buoys. Definitely didn't take the best lines, but it kept me out of the scrum.
- Between the 2nd and 3rd buoys I tightened it up a little as the pack had pulled ahead and there was more open water on the correct lines.
- Rolled over on my back twice to just collect my thoughts. Felt pretty smooth.
- Got passed by the leader of the second wave on the last buoy.
- Water was cool, comfortable with the wetsuit on, not nearly as dirty as everyone complains about, but then I'm used to the rivers in Southern Maryland.

I think I did fine for my swimming ability. I'd mix it up more and take a better line early if I was faster for sure.

- Heart rate was up to 170 just climbing the hill to the transition area. Made the whole transition a little shaky as it cambe back down.
- Easy to find my bike, wetsuit off clean, bike shoes on, sunglasses on, helmet on, bike off rack and I was off exactly as practiced.
- Transition area was recently mowed and covered in grass. I had a small towel to clean off my feet, which I used, but the grass clippings were just stuck to everything by then. Was a little annoying trying to get shoes on clean.
- I passed a number of guys in my age-group in transition who were fiddling with all sorts of nonsense.

Nada.

- Exit from transition is all gravel. Nice down-hill to start with. I used this to recover a bit more from the transition hill.
- At about mile 6 the right front brake pad actually came loose and was knocking around on the front tire, I disconnected the brake while riding and just kept going with only the back brake.
- Every turn on this course is directly into an up-hill, so any momentum you have going down hill has to bleed off on your brakes before making the many 90 degree turns and one 180 degree turn into the next hill.
- I literally ran out of gas on two of the hills and had to walk for about 50 yards or so till my legs could push the pedals again.
- I was utterly un-prepared for this bike course. The hills where I live aren't steep enough or long enough to even begin to train for this race. If I ever attempt this race again, I need a new training strategy.
- I'd read previous race reports on this bike course saying that it was challenging. Nothing I'd read prepared me.

Find a way to train for hills on flats. Not sure what I could have done about the brake. Lose another 50 lbs before trying that again!

- T2 sucks when you're just getting there and there are guys nearby cleaning up because they have been done for half an hour.
- Helmet off, bike shoes off, running shoes on, hat on, grabbed belt and gel just like I practiced. Decided I didn't need/want the gel and pocketed it.

Put on socks or buy new shoes...

- Exiting transition felt like a gigantic relief to just be off of that bike course.
- Hill down was a little precarious as it was very wet and steep.
- The loop is an out and back. The out is slightly down-hill and the back is slightly up-hill.
- My original plan was to get my heart rate to 150 and stay there until anaerobic hill where I'd go all out to the finish. Turns out I couldn't get my heart rate below 160 and keep moving forward so I just did that instead. I'm guessing this is because I was just blasted from the bike.
- Early in the first lap I realized that my shoes were rubbing the top of my arch raw. I'd run almost 25 miles in these shoes with no socks on prior and never had any issues so was a little confused. In retrospect, I think my feet were probably swollen from the bike and fitting differently. I ignored the pain and just kept my pace, figuring I'd deal with the blisters later :)
- This was one of the most comfortable 5k's I've run, blisters included. I didn't have to walk at all and felt tired, but good at the end.
- Everyone will tell you that Anaerobic hill at the end sucks. I'm here to tell you that if you've survived the bike course at Cascade Lake, Anaerobic Hill is like the punch-line of a bad joke... nobody laughs, nobody cries, nobody cares. Anaerobic hill is not the accomplishment to write home about at Cascade Lake. The bike course is.

Wear socks or buy different shoes. Possibly wear them for some runs after long ride bricks. Not sure.

- Race supplied vita water and cold-cut subs.
- Got a kiss from my wife! Drank what I could get down and walked a bit to keep from cramping up.


While I've lost 30 lbs training for Cascade Lake, I'm very confident that the additional 40 lbs I still need to lose was the limiting factor for going faster. Extra weight really shows up on those hills. Every pound just makes it that much harder.


- SUCCESS! My only goal was to survive my first triathlon, and I accomiplished the task. SUCCESS!
- 94% Humidity, VERY FOGGY!
- Sun showed up as we were racking the bikes on the Jeep after the race. (Angrily waves fist in the air)
- RACE DIRECTORS: Cut grass should be blown off of the transition area the morning before the race!!!