Giant Eagle Triathlon - Olympic Course - TriathlonOlympic

I went out in about the fourth row and was right in the middle. The first 200 yards was a washing machine especially at the first buoy. I got through that contact, but then there was increasing contact on that first long straightaway. I wasn't wearing a wetsuit and when someone tries to swim over you, it make it a little more difficult to get going again when they take your legs down. I had a bit of anxiety with the contact, but learned to slow down my breathing and relax. Unfortunately, I think I relaxed a little too much. I came out of the crowd and found some open water for the rest of the race. When you make the third turn and come into the shallower water, I would see guys doing some sort of swim/walk and actually making decent progress since the water was pretty shallow. That's pretty lame if you are doing the Olympic.

Wear my wetsuit and start at the outside of the pack. I also had less swim training in the few weeks up to this, so maybe some more time in the pool would have helped. Lack of wetsuit probably cost me about 2 minutes. From now on, if it is a wetsuit legal race, where the suit! That terrible swim time compared to everyone else cost me a bunch of places in the standings.

No wetsuit, but that doesn't slow me down anyway usually. I fiddled with getting my Garmin on my wrist as usual which costs me ab out 10 seconds. But then everything else was good. Glasses on, helmet on, S-Caps in the back pocket, and go.

For some reason the official results have the T1 time included in the bike. I pulled them out based on GPS data.

Maybe there is a velcro strap for my garmin. The traditional strap slows me down.

What a great course! Starts out with a good downhill. Then a few rollers, then downhill for the next 20 miles! I was only passed by 2 people (which means the people ahead of me in the results killed me on the swim and were already out there). I played a little leap frog with 3 other riders before eventually leaving them behind. A few bigger bumps in the road, but not nearly as many potholes as last year.

Note to anyone else who does this race: be on high alert through intersections even if there are police there. They try to do their best, but there was one time where a driver hesitated to go when the cop was directing him through and he almost didn't clear the intersection before I got through. It's fun to run the red lights and stop signs, but you gotta be on your toes and be ready for just about anything.

This was a great bike for me. My HR started out fairly high when I got on the bike (but not nearly as high as in my last race in NY), but it went down fast and settled into a nice comfortable range. I could gun it when I wanted to, but never felt too tired. I also took the turns very cautiously as I want to avoid wiping out from now on.

Was on mile 15 and barely through my first bottle of Infinit because it was so comfortable out there. That's when I started to drink a lot more to make sure I was well hydrated for the run.



Not sure, I could probably have gone a little harder. I imagine that I looked at my bike computer and saw I was killing it on MPH and took it easy. I probably should have pushed a lot harder But after NYC, I didn't want to push myself past the HR point of no return.

Quick turn on one street and the bike stop jumped right out at you unlike the first year where I felt I could see it coming. Regardless, I had no problem getting out of shoes while on the bike and hitting the ground running.

Got to my spot in TA and the guy next to me had racked his bike facing the wrong way, so it took me a little bit to move his a bit so I could get my bike in there. Socks on, shoes on, helmet off, glasses off, grab race belt and visor and off to the races.

Nothing really.

Went out nice and easy. When I start these runs, I usually look down at my watch and realize I am going out way too fast. This race was no different, so I spent time consciously slowing myself down for the first mile (This is going to be essential for the HIM coming up in Sept.). Then I settled into a great pace not looking at my GPS for pace, but running based on feel and occasionally checking my HR to make sure I wasn't pushing too hard. I have learned lately that once my HR gets above 164, it is very difficult to bring it back down. So I just kept going easy, enjoying the sights. With 1 mile left, I picked it up and hammered home the last 600. What a great feeling.

Maybe push myself. I felt great coming into the shoot like I still had a lot of race left in me. I should have pushed myself the last 2 miles and left it all out on the course.

Saw some friends, chatted with them for a bit, got a bagel, banana, and 2 bottles of water. Stretched a bit and waited for our transition bags to arrive so I could get home.


The swim. No wetsuit made me a lot slower. I also think some speedwork on the run can get me sub 2:20. But I'm done with Olympics for this year, so we'll have to wait until next year.


Great race put on by HFP. The course was much better than last year. Waited around a bit too long to get the transition bags back after the race. The results were kind of a mess. I saw 2 women with sub 30 minute 10Ks (obvious they cut the course). Also when you put overall women and overall men in 2 separate categories, it makes it difficult for me to pull out consistent results. Plus they totally missed T1 times and put them in the bike. Only reason I really care is because I am a data junkie. Other than the results issue, it was a great event.