Belwood - TriathlonSprint

The time includes the run into transition - not terribly far.

For me this swim went really well. I did have to keep changing directions as I got off course several times. Not sure if the dam played into it. I'll just accept responsibility for not swimming straight. At the beginning i was nervous with everyone around but I kept swimming and breathing and taking breath as often as I needed and it worked out well!

So, despite not swimming straight this swim was excellent for me. I am a nervous open water swimmer and and over the last three years not only have i learned to swim and swim in open water but my comfort level is increasing. So, it was great because i kept with the pack for a while, didn't panic, didn't stop, just swam the whole thing straight.

Arrived a little earlier to warm up and assess the course more. I barely had a chance to look at the bouys before I was swimming. However, in some ways it was good - i just got in and swam.

I tried to leave transition in my socks. heh. I didn't get too far away from the rack before realizing.

Put my bike shoes on before unracking my bike.

This was great bike effort for me - regardless of the AG results. Anyway, I was using my bike much more effectively. Stayed aero for pretty much the whole thing save for turns and an occassional uphill.

I kept leap frogging with this guy on a grey Cervelo - his head didn't really seem into it. I noticed he stayed on his horns the whole time because there were no elbow pads on the aerobars and he just wasn't consistent so it annoyed me. About 18k he finally passed me for good though

There were a few spots with too much car traffic. I saw some 18 wheelers going too fast with on-coming traffic. It made me very nervous.

Nothing.

Nothing really to say here, transitioned pretty smoothly. I dumped a hat on and took a handheld water bottle. I should have straightened my hat - i think i must have looked funny because at the end i saw myself when changing and it was all crooked.

This run is interesting. It's on some trails - kind of jeep trails. But the first part across the damn is really pretty overlooking the river valley.

For the run my main goal was to not start out too fast. I haven't run much over the last few weeks and the weather could get pretty hot at any minute.

When I set out it seemed like all of the race was out there - the trail was packed! It was narrow and difficult to pass without taking up space from oncoming racers. I seemed to be keeping it evenly paced according to my garmin and i was huffing and puffing a bit at the start.

I managed really well and made sure just to chat a little to others I passed. I was really thankful the skies stayed overcast for the race because a friend said it got really hot last year - and I could see that -there was no breeze in there. I had no problem finishing and was happy to have toed the line today.

Nothing. i haven't been doing a ton of running - and haven't done much in the way of bricks so this went well and i met my goal.

None. Found D and i went to the food tent. I love the Subaru races - walked away with a nice goodie bag of power bars, yogurt, banana, sun chips, other granola bars. Gave the red bull to D and collected my pulled pork sandwich even though i wasn't terribly hungry for it.


I didn't treat this as a goal race, just tune up and an opportunity to test the swim and bike but for all intents and purposes it was a supported training day. This last week was particularly bad training-wise because of the heat.

I definitely didn't measure up to the competition but I am just not that strong on my bike or the swim yet - and am very happy with today's effort. I felt strong and in control.


Good race. I think the longer swim keeps more newbies away from the race. But good venue, tough competition. And as per the Subaru series, a well-organized event.