Memorial Hermann Kemah Triathlon - Olympic Course - TriathlonOlympic

This was tough for several reasons. Little did I know that I was coming down with a cold at the time. I felt off, but thought it was just allergies, but the following two days proved out that I was indeed sick the day of the race.

I jumped off the boat without hesitation and got out of the way. From there, I pretty much fell apart. I could not catch my breath and had to find a jet ski about 50 meters into the swim. I hung on for about 5 minutes and once I caught my breath, I took off and immediately hyperventilated again and had to find a kayak to hang onto about 50 meters down the course.

I hung onto the kayak for another 5 minutes and the very nice volunteer just said "Hey, you've done a lot of work to get here, let's see if you can swim in and I'll just follow you". I figured that was fine and thought I'd swim kayak to kayak.

I swam another 50 meters and had to hang on to another kayak for 3 minutes or so (progress!) and from there, I was able to swim buoy to buoy taking a short rest at each buoy. By the time I was 450 meters out, I was able to just keep swimming without stopping at the buoy.

Whew!

Don't really know what I'd have done differently here. There are limited resources to get the kind of experience that would have helped me in this situation outside of participating in races. So that's what I'll be doing - participating in more races and learning how to handle the adrenaline rush better.

I have to get better at swimming in a pack. The only way to do this is to practice with friends and do more races.

Thank you wet suit strippers!

I was so happy to be out of the water, that I forgot to hit the lap button on my Garmin - which is unfortunate since the timing chip didn't record my passing over it.

I took longer since I had to hit the head before going out on the bike.

This wasn't too bad considering - I need to manage fluids pre-race a little better so that I don't have to go in T1.

Jeez this was hard. 15 mph+ headwinds the entire way out. I averaged 9.5 mph to the turnaround.

I've got to get better on the bike, but I don't really know by how much due to some injuries in the month leading up to the race.

I had in mind to hold back since I'd had my training interrupted and I did a good job of that.

The wind was brutal, but the tail wind was great!

Nothing

Still had some GI issues so this was slower than it should have been.

Manage nutrition better to avoid GI issues

I had an equally difficult time on run due to some severe cramping.

I started off on a nice pace and made myself slow down in anticipation of the bridge at miles 4 - 6.

At mile two, my quads and hamstring on my left leg cramped severely and I had to pull off to the side alternating between stretching the hamstrings and massaging the quads. It took about 5 minutes to completely work out the left leg.

At mile three, my right leg did the same thing my left leg did and I repeated the procedure for my right leg.

The rest of the run was good except for the right leg slightly cramping about .5 miles out. I was able to pull off, re-stretch for 30 seconds and keep going.

I finally saw my family with .2 miles to go and my daughter handed me a bag of ice that I dropped down the back of my tri-top. The bag settled at the small of my back and was a real pick-me-up.

I talked to several people along the way and they really helped me keep going.

Again, don't know what I could have done differently. I've not had a problem with cramping before and could not have expected to be dealing with it in such a way.

All things considered, I think I handled it fairly well.

Got my legs into an ice bath.


Hyperventilation on the swim and cramps on the run.

My decision making was pretty good here as I was able to adjust my expectations as the day unraveled.


Looking back now, I'm proud that I finished this race. The injuries leading up to the race affected my ability to "go fast" (at least for me), but I had in mind that I would pace myself and be ok. Completing the distance wasn't a concern, but I did have to re-adjust my time expectations.

Also, with getting sick I can see that may have affected things as well.

I rated my decision making and overall race as good based on the other possible outcome of not being able to finish and dealing with a very disappointing start in a positive way.

I rated this race a 4. The only negative was the timing chip which I understand Onurmark has corrected for subsequent races.

I'll be back next year with some more health (hopefully), and a lot more experience and I think that will help turn in a better time.