Pleasant Prairie Triathlon - International Race - TriathlonOlympic

Knocked off almost 2 minutes from when I did this course 2 years ago.

Overall, I'm very happy with this swim time. Sure it could have been faster, and probably would have been faster last year, but with the swim volume I've been doing, I'll take it.

Out the the first buoy, and I was right where I wanted to be. Started to catch the wave in front of me and just kept plugging away. Kept focus through the first buoy and rounded it nice and close. Actually wound up passing someone on the turn.

Along the long back stretch, again kept focus and just tried to stay in a nice rhythm and form. Started to now catch up to the wave two in front of me. Knew I was doing well. I would start to catch someone, draft off of them for a little bit and then go right around them.

Made the last turn close to the buoy and passed another one for my wave. Half way back, I look to my left and I see an orange cap. It is from the wave right behind me. It is a girl. I just got chicked in the water. I smile to myself knowing it took her till 300m to catch me. I'm getting better.

Train more?

Much faster than 2 years ago. Then again, the layout was much different. Also took me a bit longer to get the aero helmet on.

Do it faster. :)

Second race with the aero helmet and the longest I've done it. Never done this route because it is different than 2 years ago.

Off on the new half of the course (new for me), and as I take off, my Garmin dies. Totally dead. I must have forgotten to charge it. Oh well, I guess I'll just rely on my totally unreliable bike computer. Miracle of miracles, it actually works. The whole ride. So I try to keep the pace up above 20, closer to 21 as much as I can.

On the first half of the course, I was only passed by something like 3-4 people. And I caught quite a few. We get back to the RecPlex and go onto the second half of the course and this is where the Sprint folks join up. I now really don't pay attention to who I am passing but how I am passing them. So many beginners and had to berate a few of them. Especially as I'm coming back in. There were a few that were hugging the yellow line making it impossible to pass. "ON YOUR LEFT" didn't work on one of them so I yelled "MOVE TO YOUR RIGHT" and he finally did. "You need to keep left buddy" as I blew by him. Ugh, I want more beginners in the sport, but it drives me crazy when they don't know the rules.

One of the last main turns and I catch up to miami. "Pick it up" I holler as I pass her. Next thing I know she is on my right saying "like this?". Yep, and then I drop her on the last overpass.

Loosen the shoes, feet out on top, into transition, and see Beth. She hollers that I'm about 1:10, which is right where I wanted to be and just like that, the bike leg is over.

As an aside, the course 2 years ago was almost a full 1.5 miles shorter and I was only about 3 minutes slower from then so this is the fastest I have ever done this distance. By far.

More base. I'm getting happy with my speed, but I don't think my base for it is good to carry this speed into the run. More on that later.

Not bad. Only 10 seconds slower than 2 years ago. Nothing to blame it on.

Nothing. Maybe finally build up enough callouses on my feet to not need socks on these longer runs.

So I KNOW that my run volume for the last 2-3 months hasn't even come CLOSE to what I should be doing. My fault. Too many excuses. Work and life getting in the way.

That being said, I was also my worst enemy on this. I did NOT drink enough on the bike and I started to pay for it on the run.

First mile or so out and I didn't feel too bad. It wasn't until I passed the water stop and just passed the 2 mile mark that I started to feel bad. Started to get the slightest cold chill fuzzy feeling. Even though it wasn't that hot out, I was over heating. Badly.

So I started to slow down. Try to get my cadence and breathing at a comfortable pace. And just try to slog it out. Made it to the second water stop at about the 4 mile mark and walked through the water stop. Downed the whole cup and dumped another one over my head.

Don't remember much about the run other than thinking, don't stop. Just keep going. Forget about a PR, just finish. Came into the last 1/2 mile and I knew I was going to finish. Crossed the finish line, kissed my ring finger and got a gift from heaven. A cold wash rag to put on the back of my neck. AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!! Grabbed 2 water bottles and went to cool off.

As an aside, I think this is the fastest I have ever run a 10k and it is about a minute faster than 2 years ago, with significantly less run volume.

Run more in training.

Grabbed another 2 water bottles and a gatorade to try to replace everything I just lost. Walked around with Beth and Mum and Dan. Meandered over to transition, waited for it to open up and get our stuff. Got it and left.


Low training volume. My fault.


I love this race. So well run. So nice. So flat. So fast. I'll be back next year and maybe I'll break the 2:30 barrier.