Black Fly Tri - International Distance - TriathlonOlympic

As was the case with my last race last month, I had a difficult time getting into a rhythm. My breathing was much too fast and I had to start with the breast stroke for about 100' or so. I forced myself to calm down and began to freestyle swim with a breathe-stroke cadence. I could not get into a three-stroke/breathe cadence that I'm used to doing in training. Unlike my last tri, I wore a shirt underneath my suit and I think that affected my breathing--my suit felt more constrictive. I ran into major sun glare for the entire back half of the swim course after I rounded the second buoy and had a difficult time sighting. I had to stop, remove my goggles, and hold my hand to block the sun so I could see the next buoy. I really cursed myself for not taking my dark goggles with me. In training, my 1/4m is around 8.5 ~ 9 mins. Considering the run to the water, the hesitation to not cut my feet on rocks while getting into the water, and then having to run out of the water to the top of small hill to cross the timing mat, 9:44 was pretty good for my 3rd OWS ever.

Take my dark goggles, practice more in my suit to determine how constrictive shirt v. no-shirt really is, and I've got to figure out how to calm down so I can quickly get into my 3-stroke/breathe cadence. I could not get into that cadence at all during this race.
I ranked this swim good overall as it was good for my limited experience.

Wetsuit strippers really make a big difference. I was a bit winded from the swim so I took a couple of seconds to catch my breath. Overall, I thought this was a good transition for me. I had everything laid out well except my helmet was backwards. My towel was positioned well and I was quick to dry off my feet and put socks on (can't run/bike w/o socks). I did not bother with gloves this time and was glad I did as it saved time and they weren't needed due to nice temps. Overall, a good transition.

Orient helmet correctly next time, maybe prepare my socks better (roll them to make them easier to put on).

I passed at least 20 people on the way down but many of those people passed me on the way back. The last 4-5 miles (from the Devil on) was really slow. I passed a speed radar for motorists and it registered me at 8 MPH. I simply need far more hill training than what I've been doing so far. While I was doing some standing climbs (and a lot of heavy breathing) the elites were passing me doing sitting climbs. Many people passed me on the way back.

I need more hill training. I've ranked this ride as average based on my limited training. Compared to the rest of the field I'm clearly below average as I was in the bottom 1/4 of the field for overall bike time (325 out of 430).

My T2 time is slow because I had to stretch my legs, just like in my last race. My calves and quads are way too tight after biking so I had to loosen them up as much as possible. Aside from stretching (and a bit of catching my breath), I did OK. My biggest mistake was going down the wrong aisle. For some reason, I thought the run exit was in the same corner as the port-o-potties so I ran down aisle D from my aisle which was C.

I have to figure out why my legs get so tight post-bike and learn tips on how to mitigate that. I've already learned how to stretch my calves while on the bike and I did that while coasting downhill on the final 500' of the bike. I also need to pay better attention pre-race to memorize where the various exits are.

My run stunk and I expected this. Due to knee and ankle injuries I simply haven't been able to run enough and I knew I'd bomb the run. I came in 420 out of 430 which is what it is. I had to walk a LOT of the first mile due to calf and quad tightness as well as some mild but annoying hip joint pain and I stopped several times to stretch. I finally got my "legs" after mile one but due to poor run conditioning, I walked a lot of the run course. I estimate that I ran only about half the course, or possibly ran three of the five miles. I drank Gatorade out of T2 but I found myself really thirsty by mile one where there was an aid station. Mile 2.5 was another aid station and I also downed a fuel gel in addition to water/gatorade, which I think really helped me for the final half of the run. I forced myself to run harder for the second half as my watch was displaying my dismal race time. I simply wasn't strong enough in cardio and still ended up walking quite a bit, but it was better than the first half of the run. I also discovered a blister on each foot by mile two, which made the final three miles less than ideal.

I need to get out there and run more, preferably in warmer temps and immediately after biking a significant distance. Compared to last year's triathlon (my first tri ever, this race is my 3rd tri ever), my pace was much slower (12:50/mile versus 11 mins) so I have to rate this run as bad.

A wet towel around my neck courtesy of the Black Fly Tri. I also downed 1.5 bottles of gatorade and drank lots of water back at the hotel.


My slow recovery from the four sprained ankles I've had since October 2010, my ongoing patellar tendonopathy, and the needle procedure I had done on my knees in April 2011. It's been very difficult to get any significant running in with these injuries as my post-run recovery times are several days. Even though I clearly stunk in this race, it's my 3rd Tri ever and my first Olympic (International) distance so overall I'm really pleased that I completed it. I gave it my best effort and think I did pretty well considering the injuries I've had to deal with.


I didn't partake in the post-race activities as we had to leave but overall I was very pleased with this race and thought it was well run.