Orange County Triathlon - TriathlonOlympic

Since I have a race in a couple of weeks where I won't be able to wear a wetsuit, I decided to swim without one since it would be my only chance for a good OWS practice in only tri shorts and jersey. The water was pretty warm anyway, and felt very comfortable.

The Hudson is an unusual river with no steady downstream current since it is technically a fjord. The current changes with the tide and winds, and it really felt like there was no current at all. About halfway through it got very choppy, and it started to get harder to swim. I was 4 or 5 minutes slower than my usual Oly swim , but I'm not sure if it was because of the chop, any current or no wetsuit. Probably a combination.

Started to feel a little seasick towards the end from all the bouncing around.

Wear a wetsuit, probably sleeveless because the water was fairly warm.

Still felt a little seasick so I took a little extra time to catch my breath. Still way too slow.

This turned out to be a pretty challenging bike course with a lot of climbing, mostly in the first half. I'm not sure why, but it seemed to take me a while to get into a groove. Got passed by a few people in the first few miles, which I didn't like, but I also passed a few.

The traffic control on the course was excellent with plenty of police and volunteers which I really appreciated. Mostly left turns, and a couple of major intersections, but they really did a great job. Thanks, everyone!

The last few miles were mostly downhill, I felt good, and I was moving along pretty quickly, but near the end I ran into a little trouble. I had driven the last couple of miles of the bike course to get to the race site, and about a mile from the finish there was a steep descent with cobblestones for the last couple of hundred feet followed by a sharp left turn. I knew that would be a spot that I would have to take carefully, but apparently I didn't slow down enough. Hit the cobblestones, felt a really big bump, heard a bang, and skidded to a stop with a flat rear tire while somehow managing to stay upright. There was a big hole in my tire, so I knew if I just replaced the tube that I would just flat again. I didn't have a dollar bill to use for a makeshift patch, so I considered heading down to the intersection to try to borrow a buck from the police officer directing traffic, but then I saw an empty wrapper by the curb, and managed to patch the tire with that.

Got back to T2 without further incident. The actual moving time from my Garmin was 1:27:15 for an average of 17.15 MPH. Should have taken less time to change the flat, but the makeshift patch took a while.

Push myself harder at the beginning. Slow down for the cobblestones more.

I was a little flustered and aggravated, but this was way too slow. C'mon, man!!

Move faster.

This was a pretty hilly run. I was a little discouraged at the beginning following my bike difficulties, but I figured it was time to forget it and try to have a good run. I felt crampy in my back and legs from messing around on the ground with my tire, but that went away after a mile or so.

Tried to keep up my pace by passing people. I remember passing at least one and maybe two people in my AG, which turned out to be a good thing, since I finished 3rd in my AG.

Could have ran the hills a little harder.

Grabbed some water and packed up. Couldn't stay long because we were going to a party for my wife's cousin. Wasn't able to stay for the awards, but never in a million years thought I would have placed in my AG since I am slow and had a flat.

What really hurt was that I missed the post race food which was provided by a BBQ restaurant. There is hardly ever any meat after races,and I do love to eat lots of meat, especially BBQ'ed


I don't train enough. I'm slow. Flat tire.


Great race! Well organized, especially for an inaugural event, lots of wonderful volunteers, interesting and challenging course, and great post race. I am looking forward to making this an annual event.