Memorial Hermann Kemah Triathlon - Olympic Course - TriathlonOlympic

Keeping in mind I will be reading this race report when I get ready to jump off this damn boat again next year I will not get too descriptive.

This was my worst swim ever. The first 200 was OK but then the freak out. Hugged a kayak and met Dennis who was lovely and reminded me to take one buoy at a time. I counted the yellow buoys - 6. Swam, counted strokes, swam, went to breathe and inhaled a bunch of the gulf resulting in a coughing fit and there goes the HR again. Looked for Dennis but he is nowhere near, counted the buoys - 6, saw the boat picking up athletes and saw at least 6 people in the boat. Thought about getting in the boat but that boat has a motor which would mean surrendering my chip. I am not willing to do that. Nobody is going to get you out of this but you Keri so move your ass.

Not panic. This is my fault. Not enough OWS practice, not respecting the distance (even though this is my 3rd time doing this race), not being prepared with what keeps me calm - Rescue Remedy was in my tri bag but forgot to take in the rush that was my morning.

Wetsuit strippers on the left which threw me off. Got the suit off and started jogging to T1 when I quickly realized that much of the gulf in my belly has an immediate effect. Running had to turn into walking. Dropped the suit grabbed a water bottle and headed to the porta potty.

Taking the water bottle was a good call = bidet. HAD to go just wish I could have done this faster.

The headwind was pretty brutal. I hate wind but need to spend more time in it. Had a hard time with the wind and gusts keeping my power consistent. The tailwind on the way back was great but wishing I had hit it harder.

Go faster.

Again with the porta potty. My thought was to do this in T2 instead of during my run so it wouldn't affect my run time/pace.

The first mile I just could not move as fast as I wanted to. Second mile was better until 2.85 when the GI issues reared their ugly head BAD. Hoping for a porta potty at mile 3 but didn't see one. I did see a public bathroom, I reached for the handle and it was locked! A woman sitting there watching the race told me she could unlock it for me and swiped a card *angels singing* a toilet with paper and EVERYTHING! This took too long.
The good news is that was my last pit stop. I picked up the pace a bit until the bridge. I ran until I felt my calves begin to cramp up then ran another 100 steps then walked to just before the crest of the bridge, twice. Tried to pick up pace on the way down. Finished OK but not awesome, wishing I had picked up the pace a bit sooner. I only walked on the bridge so that is pretty good for me.

Not have GI issues, bring my water flask, go harder, not worry so much about blowing up. Keri, here is the deal, if you blow up you can slow down and get your HR back down and then pick it up again don't be such a pansy ass.

Met at finish by Ken and Karen followed soon by Tru Tri folks :)


GI issues. I know I also burned a lot of matches fighting the gulf.


Timing issues again but they are changing that finally which is all I can ask for. This is a great race, I hope next year I can do well here. The third time was not the charm.