Pinehurst International Triathlon - TriathlonOlympic

The race was delayed by 15 minutes b/c the fog on the lake prevented us from seeing more than 300 meters out. Once the sun came out, it burnt up the fog pretty quickly, though.

The goggles I had on were definitely the WRONG ones to use. They were blue lenses. Boy, it was HARD to see anything more than a 100 meters out. I need tinted lenses next race.

I sighted very, very well during this race. I'd aim directly for a buoy and the next thing I knew, I was swimming right under it! One time I got a mouthful of water b/c I came up under one.

Made sure to extend/reach out as far as possible and pull all the way through. Felt fairly decent in the water, despite my AG placing in this event.

Best swim I've had all year.

I ran hard to T1, trying to minimize the time spent in this section of the race. I had the 10th fastest OA time and 2 fastest in AG.

Not spend that extra second putting on sunglasses. My aero helmet has lenses attached. I ended up taking sunglasses off (and dropping later in the race!).

Leaving T1, my left shoe hit the ground and popped off the pedal. @#$%&^!!!! I waited as a few bikes passed, then ran over and grabbed it. When I got back to my bike, I noticed that the liquid in my aero bottle was spilling out. @#$%&^!!!!

Put on shoe, jumped on bike, and then sped off. I was livid at myself for losing 20 seconds b/c of that reason. I am almost always very close to 21mph on this course without giving up time for stupid mistakes.

Started to hammer and was passed in the first couple of miles by a 47 year old AGer. WTF?! OK, strong cyclist. I let it go and kept at it. After that, I got into a groove and started to blow by cyclists. I remember FLYING down a hill and passing a fellow AG like he was stopped. I got ALOT of satisfaction out of that. I guess it was revenge for a time long, long ago when it happened to me. Later, I was passed by a 50 year old AGer (WTF x 2!) and I realized that I'm sooo not a FOPer. Then, a cyclist with an "R" on his calf (relay teams) passed me. FAQ! This was the last cyclist to pass me, though.

During the hardest part of the bike (the last 10 miles), I started to psych myself up for the run. I really wanted to throw down a fast run and saved a little during this time. Yes, I could have gone a little bit faster, but I wanted to have something left for a tough 10K coming up.

Take more care mounting bike and hammering a few sections a little harder.

Overall, maybe I went too hard. Over the course of the year and maybe 10 rides on that course, my fastest training ride has been slightly over 21mph. I was a good few minutes faster than all those other rides, so maybe I burnt up the legs in the excitement of the race.

Right before entering T2, a guy ahead of me was walking his bike in! NOOOO! I was about to run around him, but then he entered the "chute". I was very inpatient behind him, breathing a little harder than necessary to get him moving. Once a space opened up, I ran around him, racked bike, put on shoes, and ran out.

Fast enough.

Worst run ever. I came into this race hoping to go sub 40. Yeah, didn't happen. This is the worst run I've had since...ever.

Besides a cramp in my right side, I felt fine. I remember looking at my Garmin after it beeped and it read 6:22 for mile 1. OK, That's fine. I can still go under 40 if I average that pace. Then, the side cramp got worse and worse, until it HURT. It was the worst pain I've experienced during a race and there was nothing I could do to make it go away. Time to HTFU and "do your job".

At the end of the first mile and a half, I saw my family. It really picked me up. My wife yelled that Kern was ahead and I need to pick it up! Gah! Kern and I had a friendly bet regarding who'd finish first. I had my work cutout for me. He's a fairly good runner, so I knew it was going to be tough. :)

The rest of the run was just a lesson in pain...especially the downhills. The cramp was so bad I thought about walking. I decided against it and just kept shuffling along. HTFU, I though...HTFU.

Towards the end, I stumbled across David Fairbanks. I was surprised to see him that far ahead. Great job, I yelled! I was really happy to see him have a really good race. David and I work together and we also had a friendly bet. He KILLED me in overall time, though. Beat me by more than 5 minutes. Man, 0 for 2 so far!

Finished the race and hung out with Jeff, David, and then my wife was there.

I may have overdone it on the bike. Didn't feel horrible and I would have had a good run if not for that cramp.

Walked a bit, talked to my family, then we went and hung out by the lake. I jumped in the cold water and let my legs soak. Ahhhh. Water felt particularly cold.


Terrible, terrible, terrible run.

Although I've very happy with the overall race, I'm concerned with my run. Honestly, I have not been putting in the miles, so I know that's the problem. I relied too much on my early season run prep/base and am now paying the price for slacking. Lesson learned.


Good race, but a very hard course. I like the venue b/c the lake is a good place for the family to hang out afterwards.

As for the race itself, I labeled it just right b/c I have the opportunity to train on it regularly. If I hadn't trained on, however, I'd state it is "too hard", especially for your beginner triathlete.