RAGE Triathlon Presented by Safelite AutoGlass - Olympic Course - TriathlonOlympic

Once they got the course announcements figured out (no thanks to cruse ;)), everyone sort of spread out in a big line. Started about waist deep water, and they were counting down 3....2.....1... I think I went somewhere between 1 and go. Wave was men 40+ and all clydes. About 100 or so.

There was one rabbit out very fast, then a line of a few of us. Some guy without a wetsuit with a pretty good stroke, stayed with me for a few yards, even pulled up alongside and I thought he'd blow by, but he slowly faded back. At the first buoy I was about 3d or 4th, hard to tell, but knew there were two people in front of me.

Just before the second buoy a guy passed me at the right speed and I grabbed onto his feet. He was going at a good clip, and I could tell he was taking a good course, so eventually just let him site. The clear water made following him through the prior waves pretty easy. About 2/3 of the way through though I had to give him up as he was going a bit too fast for the pace I wanted. But I could still see him in front of me so kept letting him do the steering.

Coming back from the last buoy, you could see the bottom clearly, and that gives a real sense of movement as the fish and underwater plants zoom by.

Eventually made the rght turn to finish up the boat ramp. Turns out I was 3 out of the entire wave, 1st in AG.

Nothing. or maybe stay in the water? It was the only cool part of the day

Holy crap this transition was long. Through relays, special waves, all the sprint bike, halfway up the Olympic bikes.... wow. But ran it all

Got the suit off and helmet, number, glasses and shoes on pretty well and off I went.

I had done this course previously a few years back at Pumpkinman, so I knew it was hilly. There are absolutely no flat sections. You are either going up, or going down. I decided just to pace myself like a HIM - never let the brn set into the legs, and back off when the lactic acid starts yelling. This was so I could save whatever I had for the run, when it was going to start getting hot. I have to admit i went in a bit afraid of the heat and let that affect my pacing. Probably overall not a bad thing.

Pacing was difficult in this terrain, but I decided to sit up and spin in an easy gear and drink on all the uphills, try to hammer the rest. I grabbed a water bottle at both aid stations and every few minutes drank a little and squirted some on my arm coolers and neck. It was so dry it would evaporate pretty quickly, but it kept me cool for the next few minutes.

Had Infinit in the Speedfil A2 on the stem and it worked beautifully, just continued to sip the entire ride.

I did give up a little time on the big downhills as I wasn't always in aero. The HED 3s got a little squirrely and I am not that used to them at present, so any little crosswind made 'em shake a bit. In retrospect it wasn't bad at all and I could have gone harder in those sections.

I had not used a watch so had no idea of my swim or overall time. I had put a garmin on in T1 so I had my bike time, I wanted to go about 1:18, an I was in that ballpark. About 18 miles in a guy with a "C" on his calf passed me. I had no idea if any clydes had beaten me out of the water, but this was the first guy to pass me on the bike.

Turns out he was the only one to pass me. I may not be a fast biker or runner, but I can swim fast enough to hold you off :) Thanks god it's Swim bike run.......

Not much. well paced effort for me on this training

Not too bad. Was fairly close to the bke in, so didn't have far to run in bike shoes. There were already a few bikes back in transition

the start of this run is the run allll the way back down to the water, where you turn right and onto a rocky rutted path. This ain't no smooth dirt running trail, it's got huge ankle breakers. So not only are you trying to get your run legs underneath you, you are trying to stay upright and keep some semblance of form.

there was a bit of a breeze coming off the water which was nice. Slight hill to the first aid station. I didn't need to take any water right away as I had my cold bottle (thanks again cruse!!!!), but I did take two cups of water at every station and pour them on my head/arms. The water was nice and cold.

Then there is a flat section, a short steeper uphill, then about 1.5 miles on a 2% grade bike path up to the entry gate for Lake Mead park. I just sort of held onto a pace I could keep without walking and plodded on, even though it was much slower than I had run at Oceanside (which was flat and 60 degrees, not hilly and 85+). I figured I'd keep this pace to the turn aruond, pick it up a little at mile 3, then turn it on for miles 4 and 5... funny how those plans never quite work out.

Hit the turn and it was all downhill. I saw my training partner Chris about .5 mile behind me. I was smiling, gonna high 5 him, but he's a serious cat, "Stay focused" he said. bah humbug. BUT he said he was going to try to run me down, since we started together. So I did have a job to do. Got to the bottom of the bike path and looked back, couldn't see him. At the mile 5 aid station he was behind me, and had made a little bit of time, but I didn't think he could catch me.

Down at the final turn above the lake, I looked back again, and it looked like he had stopped. Turned out he had some gastro issues and gave back whatever he drank, and had to stop for a bit. We had to run to the finish on s similar rocky trail, so it was hard to put any sprint in it (like I could have anyway), but I knew he couldn't catch me, I didn't see any other guys behind me, so I just ran it in.

Actually never felt that hot out on the run, as in scorching. I mean, it was warm and I was drenched. But in a dry heat it just evaporates. Never really felt that hot until the finish, then it felt real hot.

I had also been pouring some of the cold water at aid stations down myfront, where it ran down to my crotch. Keeping that area cool made a huge difference in how I felt.

Oh, Garmin had course at 5.99, so it was significantly short (odd, for an out and back course.....)

I am not particularly happy with the run given my recent running, but have to remember it was much much hotter than I am used to, so I think I am OK with it. It certainly would have been much worse 30+ pounds ago.

Stood around in the shaded finishers tent, and nearly made myself sick with 2 chocolate milks and a gatorade. ugh


heat. body weight somewhat


This was my first Rage in the Sage, second BBSC race. They do a good job. I wouldn't mind doing this race again with traiditonal temps of 80 degrees.