Greater Cleveland Triathlon - International Distance - TriathlonOlympic

Brutal Swim! Water was very choppy and the current was coming directly at us the entire distance. Race director said that after turning at the 1st buoy, you could swim in as close to shore as you wanted as long as your feet were still in the water. I saw lots of people walking through 6 inches of water as opposed to swimming. There were 2-3 foot waves at times that were crashing over us. I had a bad 1st 200 yards - had to stop a couple of times due to waves crashing on me while trying to take a breath. Finally was able to get into somewhat of a rhythm. However, still had a few more instances where a wave would crash over me while trying to breath.

Relax more at beginning. Not much could be done about the waves crashing on me - but would like to be able to keep swimming instead of having to stop for an instant.

Was too beat up from the swim to sprint up the beach and to bike. Had to just jog. Slowed down a little to take off wetsuit and then put on helmet and ran out.

Put on helmet while taking off wetsuit.

Started off slower than usual due to rough swim. Picked up the pace about mile 2 though and started cruising. Roads were slightly wet in spots due to a random shower right before the race start. Around mile 9, there was a short, but steep descent followed by a sharp left turn. I was going about 35 mph and started to slow down for the turn. However, the slightly wet roads did not cooperate. My brakes were wet (which I did not expect as the roads were dry more than wet). I could not slow down and my wheels slipped right out from under me. I slid on my left side for about 25 feet into the gravel median. Jumped up and saw some blood on my left elbow and shoulder. My hip was hurting too - but did not see any tears in my shorts or blood coming out. A volunteer was right there and said she did not see any other wounds and that there was an aid station about 1/2 mile up the road. I grabbed my bike and took off making sure my water bottles were still there. Kept looking at the amount of blood on my elbow and it seemed fine so I raced by the aid station. Then the hills started. I am completely surprised - but I did great on the hills. I was not killing my legs but was spinning and passing people left and right (must have been the extra adrenaline from the crash). Then the fun descents started. I was a little hesitant due to my earlier incident so I did not push too hard going downhill.

Start slowing down sooner for the turn as to not crash.

The dismount line caught me by surprise (I know - stupid). I got one foot out of my shoe in time but then had to unclip the 2nd. As I jumped off the bike, the clipped in shoe came undone. Luckily a volunteer said she would grab it for me.

Prepare sooner for the dismount by getting my feet out of my shoes.

The run felt great. It was very hot and humid by this point so I kept grabbing water any chance I could to dump on my head and to drink. I did not push beyond my comfort zone for this run. Probably could have taken some time off of my total here.

Push my pace harder.

Drank lots of water and had a little food. Tracked down my bike shoe that came unclipped during the dismount. While changing clothes, I immediately noticed what looked like a baseball size ball of raw meat on my left hip. It was all swollen and bloody, but I never noticed as it was covered up by my tri shorts.
Then they posted the results and I saw that I received a penalty of 2:00! I tracked down the official to find out why. She gave me a position penalty because when she passed me on her motorcycle, there was no one around me yet I was in the middle of the lane. I explained that I know the rule and always ride to the right unless there was bad road conditions (as there were a few spots with some rough patches). I knew I would not get the penalty rescinded but just wanted to explain myself.


Bad swim (due to the conditions as well as my poor swimming ability), bike crash


All-in-all the GCT is a great race (much more positive than negative). The wave starts ran late due to swim conditions. Times/awards seemed to take a long time to be posted - Lots of odd looking times in the on-line posted results (e.g. 23 mile bike split completed in 39 minutes!). I would still recommend this race to anyone.