Deer Creek Olympic Triathlon - TriathlonOlympic

OK- I ignored all the advice on BT.com and waited until 2 days before the event to even try on the old school wetsuit I had been given by a coworker for the event coupled with the fact that this was my first open water swim in decades. Well, I paid for my lack of preparation dearly. I consider myself a strong swimmer, but nothing could prepare me for the adrenaline rush as I ran into the water, got cut off by another swimmer, cut another swimmer off and then gulped a bunch of lake water while trying to sight the buoys. All of this led to me hyperventilating as I passed the first buoy. I had read about this happening from reading other BT.com triathlete's accounts of their tri experiences. It was scarey! All I could do was a sorry breaststroke minus the leg motion since the wetsuit has a bit too small for me and felt restricting. As I guppy-breathed around the first buoy I thought to myself, "am I going to have to have a lifeguard come and get me?". "Will this tri experience end before it even begins?". Thankfully I calmed down, put my face back in the water and noticed another woman in a wetsuit to my left. I thought if I could keep her in my sights I could follow her lead. As I caught up to her I found that we had the exact same stroke pace so I stayed on her hip the rest of the swim. She was sighting often so I let her do the sighting work and it helped me to focus on my swim. As we ran out of the water I heard someone tell us to attack the steps so I did. Despite being a bit worn out from the swim I thought I recovered well and headed to T1.

More open water swim practice and get a wetsuit that fits! :) I thought, for some reason, that the swim was a 1/2 mile. I was happy to find that it was just under a mile. Yea! Now I don't feel so bad about my time for my 1st OW swim.

Got my wetsuit off, slung it over the rack and tried to make sure it wasn't dripping all over the person's equipment next to mine. I took the time to dry my feet, got socks and cycling shoes on, helmet and sunglasses on and unracked my bike heading out on a slow jog to the transition exit.

practice :)

The bike course was nice. My only comparison was the Miami U tri in April and those roads were bumpy and there were alot of hills. This course seemed very calm and friendly. The winds were up, but seemed to be cross-winds as opposed to headwinds. It was a beautiful day! Thank goodness for Aysel and her sign at the top of the big hill! Her cheers were just the motivation I needed to keep going :) I was able to pass some riders and the pace was comfortable. Saw 1 woman having trouble right out of the transition area and felt bad for her. Saw another man out on the course changing a tire and hoped he could get back out on the course quickly. The turns with gravel were a pain and slowed me down, but thankfully they were well marked. Made sure I drank all of my GU water before I dismounted in prep for the run. Had to completely stop and unclip at the transition line before I could run into the transition area.

push harder on the bike, but wanted to make sure I had enough left for the run

Got shoes changed quickly and took the time to take in a GU gel before exiting transition. Although it may have cost a few more seconds it paid off in the end. :)

practice, get more experience....etc., etc.

I thought that when my age and race info was marked on my calf that it was kind of obnoxious to let people know how old I was (ha! ha!). It proved to be helpful as I followed another competitor out of transition noticing that she was in my age group competing in the same event. This motivated me as we headed out on the run. I thought if I just picked up the pace slightly while increasing my turnover I could catch and pass her. I did just that and then felt as if I was being chased the whole way out to the turnaround (in my mind). Thankfully my competition had dropped back and I set my sights on catching more people ahead of me. Everyone was so supportive of each other as we passed along the roads. It was awesome. Having run marathons and halves I can say that you just don't get the same feeling from those events as I have gotten from my initial tri experiences. Everyone was great and I found myself giving thumbs up and "good job!" comments to other runners!!! I picked up another runner at the 2nd to last water stop and we paced each other the rest of the way into the finish conversing about our race experience to that point. As soon as I saw Aysel's sign I began to sprint and had a strong finish into the gate. I turned around and high fived my new racing friend thanking him for the extra motivation. The run was my strongest part of the event. Having run 10:20 min/miles a year ago I was thrilled with a 9:06 min/mile for this event and can't wait to improve.

keep training :)

a little walking, water, bananas and watermelon (yum!)


just me not pushing myself


Enjoyed this event. Will be back next year. Thank you to all the volunteers, race organizers and the Sheriff's Dept. who made this a safe and fun event.