The AVIA Austin Triathlon - Olympic Course - TriathlonOlympic

Once I got in the water, I felt much more relaxed. I think the whole idea of having to tread water had me wigged out since I had not practiced it, but I mostly held onto the dock until we were off. Started towards the back of my wave, and my breathing was good from the get-go. Another gal and I bumped into each other, and we appoligized to each other. As it turned out, we swam most of the rest of the time side by side, which was oddly comforting. The 20-something guys wave was right behind us, and many of them caught us, but only a little contact. Finished without incident, and was not particularly tired, but was a little unsteady on my feet heading into T1.

Be less timid. I stopped way too much to sight instead of taking quick looks. I need to have more confidence in my ability to just keep swimming and trust that the group is headed in the right direction. I also swam very easy, mainly just wanting to make sure I had enough gas to finish. Wasn't until the very end that I started to pull a bit harder.

Long run from swim out. I put my sandals on, but that was a bad idea, so I shucked them. Got to my bike, and my feet were covered in dirt and grass, so took some time to wipe them off. Sat down to do that and put bike shoes on. Tested BG, and it was 360, ugh! But knew I still had insulin working from previous bolus, so left it alone.

Don't try the sandals. Really just need to move faster.

I'm very happy with this ride. It is the first time I have averaged over 16 mph in a race. Considering it was my first OLY and a somewhat hilly course, I am celebrating that. I also passed a number of people on the uphills (many of them caught me on the downhills), but that was also a new experience.

Not much other than continue to work on my bike skills and endurance. Interesting that my HR was not all that high and went down on each loop. Perhaps I could have pushed it harder.

Did not test in transition, so my overall slogginess was the only factor slowing me down here.

Run more w/ bike. I walked part of the way.

1st mile included a bathroom stop, so lost 1:20 there. By mid mile 3, my legs started to cramp. First top/inside of one knee, then the other. Then a couple different places on my calves. Walked a number of times to try and work that out...would ease up a bit, but the minute I stared running, they seized up again. Finally decided it was not going to kill me, and ran in the last mile with a minimum of walking.

Need to do more bricks. I don't think my legs were as ready for going from bike to run as they could be. The cramps, while painful, I think scared me more than anything since this was a new experience (outside the water), and I think I could have run more and walked less. Legs were the limiter, not cardio.

Milling about at the post race party. Found Jackie and her daughter, and found out that Jackie got 3rd in her AG in the sprint. Yay!!! Tried to get a massage, but got in line too late. Went to the beer tent, but could only drink about 1/3 of a beer. Opted for some coconut water insted, which was really good. Got to see Jackie get her award, and then we headed back to her house for a quick shower. Drive home took about 4.5 hours due to holiday weekend traffic, but that included a stop in West for some Kolaches to bring home :).


Since this was my first OLY, I was very conservative. Was really worried about the swim, and bike, and as it turns out, the run is what got me at least from a physical standpoint. In the swim, I need to swim harder in the OW, sight more efficiently and sight less. Definitely need to do more bike/run bricks in training.


Very well run race! Great job to the race director and volunteers! Swim was better supported than any race I have done. So nice to see all those kayaks out there. Volunteers were AWESOME. Wish I could properly thank the gal who handed me my bag w/ insulin pump in the swim out. Pre-race meetings were well done, and shirts, hats, finisher medals were awesome. Very glad that I got to do this one as my first OLY. Only suggestion would be at the bike split for more laps vs. final lap, to station the volunteers with the signs well before the cones. By the time I saw them, I was already to the right of the cones and had to go back through them to get back to the left and on the course.