IronGear Sports Rio Salado Triathlon - Olympic Course - TriathlonOlympic

Longest OWS for me so far, so I wanted to make sure I didn't overdo it. I positioned myself at the front on the right side, away from a lot of the action but in front of most of the other swimmers. I started at an easy pace and tried to stay on course without sighting too often. Didn't bother trying to draft. Overall, I'm very happy with the way it went. Got out of the water feeling fresh for the bike.

Nothing for this swim. In the future, I'll start closer to the inner buoy, where the faster swimmers seem to start. I would like to start catching a good draft and maybe putting a little more effort into the swim. I need to work on pacing, as I may have been a little too fresh when I got out :)

This was a good transition for me. There were wetsuit strippers (1st time for me) which helped getting everything off. My T1 time was 6th OA, which is really surprising.

I need to stop looking around my transition area like I've forgotten something. I threw my stuff down, put on my helmet, then looked around trying to see what I forgot. It only took a couple of extra seconds, but I think it threw my rhythm off.

The bike felt really good. I think I gauged my effort well and didn't go too hard or too easy.
There were two near-incidents for me on this ride, which has never happened to me before. The first one, a police woman was crossing the road at the turn with her back to me. I had to yell out to her and she stopped in place allowing me to swerve around her. Not too big a deal, except the turn was a little tight even without here there.
The second incident was a bit more scary. On a fast and flat spot, a black car passed me, then started to slow down. As soon as I realized what was about to happen, it was happening. The car decided to turn through the cones to get into a parking garage or lot. I was on the aerobars and didn't have the time to switch to the horns and hit the brakes. I started to swerve to the left. I noticed the window on the car was down a couple of inches and started screaming at the car. It slammed on it's brakes mid-way into my lane and missed clipping me by less than a foot.
These are the kinds of things you don't usually expect during a race.

I was really happy with my bike overall. As I get more experience at this race distance, I'll get better with my pacing and know how hard I can push it without ruining my run. This was a new PR for this distance.

T2 went really well. Only issue was my big toe getting stuck outside of my shoe while trying to put it on, but that was it. Put on my number belt on the run.

Nothing

The run was OK. I was hoping for a faster run, but this was right around my LT pace right now. By this time in the race, I'm not sure I could go faster. The run is something I've been working on a lot in the past year, but I still have a long way to go.

I need to be patient with my run. I ran a similar course earlier at TTL (Marquee) and the results were virtually the same. With time and practice I'll get faster.

Hung out in the shade of the food tent with some fellow competitors. Chatted for a while, then went to find my wife and our new puppy.


Just need more time and practice in the sport. I'm happy with my performance. It's my first Oly race, so I wasn't completely sure what to expect - especially with the swim.


The event was well-run and the course was pretty nice. TTL is a nice swim venue, as is the run around it. The bike had a few too many turns but overall can't complain.