Fort Ritchie Triathlon - Olympic Course - TriathlonOlympic

I felt this was a good swim. I was bang on pace for what I thought I could do. One of the turn buoys broke loose and cut off about 50m/loop so I would have been exactly at 2:00/100 with the buoy in place.

I started at the back because my waves always go out too fast. Low and behold I was dropped from the pack within the first 50 as I started slow, then caught everyone as I went around the outside of the first turn buoy at 150m. Both the first and second sides had a lot of bumping and pushing, although it was more annoying than anything else. People kept swimming across the rest of the pack and getting in the way. I was kinda fun wrestling for position, but I was the one swimming over, not the one being swum over, so that may have something to do with it.

I tried finding some legs, but I was ahead of all the struggling folks and behind the quick guys. I caught a couple of people dropped from the front group and was passed by people on surges, but I'd hook on and they'd switch to breast or back stroke and I'd have to go around. I got out of the first loop feeling very fresh, so I sprinted across the beach, slipped and almost fell on the dock and decided to walk the rest of the way to the end. I jumped in (no diving) and had to readjust my shorts which rode up as I hit the water.

The second loop was a lot more chill. Just cruised my way around. I was a little out of breath (I suspect from the sprint across the beach), so I slowed pretty significantly during the first and second 150m sections to get my breath back. I began to drift right on the second 150m leg and on the 300m section across the top, but other than that I sighted pretty well. I began to get the start of a stitch in my right side on the top portion, but just relaxed and it went away.

I did loose some more time during the last section - there was a group of stragglers from the two waves ahead who were all over the place. I had to swim WAY wide to get around them, and even then I had some trouble finding a position to get to the beach. Maybe lost 30sec or a minute during the last 200m.

I'm happy with the MOP swim, but there is a ton of potential for improvement. It's going to be a big focus for improvement over the winter because there's some low hanging fruit. Plus it's my favorite bit.

Put on shoes in t2. Should've (and could've) swum with HR strap on, but wasn't sure whether I'd have to stash my tri-top in my shorts so I left it to put on in T1. I was prepared for a slow transition.

Focus more on being quick. I took it pretty easy because OLY is the longest distance I've done to date and I wanted to make sure everything was right.

Judging by the run, I went too hard on the bike. Without a play by play, here's where I think I went too hard:

- Initial ascent out of TA. I underestimated how steep this was when I drove the course. I pushed hard initially, and the first two miles were pretty much all climbing in short, steep sections (10-11%) followed by a flat. My legs were burning by the summit and had time to recover, but I think I used some matches I would need on the run.

- Around the loop in the valley I also burned a few matches up some short steep ascents. I spiked my HR and should've seen it was taking longer and longer to drop to where I needed it once I was on the downhills. There was a long false flat into the wind coming back into the bottom of the major climb which I went too hard on while trying to catch folks and keep my av speed where I wanted it. Once again, HR was too high and I should've heeded the warning.

- The final long climb I was pretty happy with. I found gear that kept my HR in the low 160s (above where it should be, but where I felt comfortable for the climb). I was patient and didn't attack. At the top my av speed was right where I wanted it.

- I didn't allow for a good number of short steep climbs coming after the big one and used a few silly matches tearing up them. Should've spun and saved my legs.

After all the effort I've put in to move my cadence into the mid-80s, I should've been more careful to stay there. I should also just let people who want to crush hills go and catch them later instead of pushing up the hills on my own account.

Forgot to unstrap my Garmin from the handlebars. Again, since I underestimated the grade of the hill coming back down to the TA, I was at almost 40 - I'm not messing around with a watch strap at that speed! I also took my time as with T1 so I didn't forget anything.

Not forget Garmin on bike, try and be quick.

It all fell apart on the run. The first loop was okay. I settled into a pace and did find some tired running legs after about 1/2 mile. I felt relatively strong on the first loop but I probably pushed too hard up some of the steep hill sections. I could've saved some legs and not lost much time by walking those. My stitch would come back whenever I pushed the pace, so that issue still isn't solved, although it was definitely my legs that limited me.

I looked at my watch at the end of the first loop and saw I needed a 26 minute 5k to finish in under 3 hours. I tried to push the pace, but I literally ground to a halt on the first hill and had to walk. I ran about 1/2 mile of flat, then with two miles to go I had to start walking anything even slightly up hill. I ran most of the last mile, but at an 11+ minute pace. At that point stopping would have been a disaster, since

People were super friendly on the second loop - I chatted with a few different guys and we all paced each other a little before splitting up.

Run a few more hills in training and learn to better pace the bike. This was a tough course - My dad said most people were doing a walk/run on the second loop with more walking than running.

Try not to pass out. They said I won the raffle as I came across the line, but I don't think I knew what a raffle was at that point. Got water, cold towel and a banana, tried to continue putting one foot in front of the other.


I'll give myself a little pass and say experience with pacing. I didn't really think about/know how much each of those little attacks was taking out of my legs.

First time at the distance, I'll take a finish and the fact that I felt okay until the last 5k of the run. Effort was 100%. Next time will be better!


A small selection of food, but they were running out of water by the time I finished. The cold towel and water bottle right at the finish line are awesome though!