Hy-Vee Triathlon - 5150 U.S. Championship - TriathlonOlympic

Excited to get a wet-suit legal race after hearing many rumors that the race had a 99% chance of not being wet-suit legal. Glad I brought it regardless. Was also able to get a nice warm-up in. Dove in from the running beach start (without having really practiced this) and my goggles filled up with water, so I had to stand up and readjust (basically negating my amazing "bay watch" run). Was not able to get into much of a groove until after the 3rd turn when we were coming back West into the sun, in which I began coming upon some swimmers and happened to get kicked in the face (had to flip to my back to readjust my goggles for the second time). After the first 400m, then I was able to get into a nice rhythm with decent sighting (even into the sun - thank you tinted goggles). By the time I was sighting to the beach, I was surprised how fast the time had gone. Overall, average swim considering my first 400m.

Next year, I will practice my diving start after running off the beach. Work on my turn-over, as I now I probably paced myself too slow - which allows my glide phase to get a little too long.

Transition was HUGE. I think I ran at least 400m from the beach to my bike. Had a nice transition from wetsuit off and into my helmet/shoes. I'm still wearing road shoes, so I have the nice task of running through transition in shoes. This race did not lend itself well to this tactic, as the transition was grass or should I say mud after all of the rain the day before. Difficult to move through transition in shoes. However, I didn't delay - 3:12 was about as good as I could have hoped for.

Invest in Tri-shoes next year and begin practicing shoe-entry on the bike.

Surprised with my bike splits, even feeling that I could have pushed the pace more. Disappointed in the penalty, but it doesn't really bother me since I'm not in the hunt for a podium. There were several upset about this, including a gentleman who would have finished 2nd in his age group without the penalty. Nutrition felt right on. 2 bottles of Heed during the bike and a 1/2 of a Hammer Gel around mile 15, with the other 1/2 around mile 21.

Push parts 1 & 3 harder. Watch people dropping back to avoid any drafting penalties. Attach 2 gels just in case, as I bumped the only one I had with my leg once - which made me realize, what if I lose that?

Again, long transition distance. Went about as fast as I could, putting my visor and # on while running.

Tri-shoes, so I can enter transition shoeless should make this process faster

L hamstring was cramping off the bike but settled down after about 1/2mile. After that, I was able to find my tempo. However, I had not run this route or really scouted it out before the race, so I was unsure of the terrain. Being my first olympic distance race, I was hoping to keep my pace at least under 7:45. To my surprise, I felt good, the course was flat, and under 7:30 was feeling fairly easy. I still held back, as I was unsure what was to come. I took water at mile 3 and gatorade at mile 5. My garmin told me my mile splits: 7:23, 7:16, 7:21, 7:15, 7:25, 7:21. Looking back, I think that averaging 7:10-7:15 would have been easily achievable. The last hill will be killer regardless, so might as well be miserable at the end with a faster average anyway.

Push the tempo about 10-15 sec/mile faster if able. Be aware of final hill.

Grabbed a Gatorade, banana, 1/2 bagel. Met my family and walked around a little bit. Followed it up with a massage and 2 cookies. Perfect weather and the state capital made for a nice backdrop. Surprised there wasn't more to do at the finish with this type of race.


The unknown of being my first time at this race and racing this distance.


Great event to race and watch the best in the WORLD race in the afternoon. Can't beat this race as far as an overall triathlete experience for the weekend! Will definitely put this one on the calendar every year!