Giant Acorn International - TriathlonOlympic

This is the first race I've done with prescription goggles. Holy cow! Way better when you can see! The water got choppy the farther up the cove I went. That was challenging. Sighting and counting my strokes was much better than my last OW swim. I was slower than I expected, however. My stroke suffered when I got tired. I also got a foot cramp, but eventually it went away.

I need to train more and do more drills. I have been taking swimming for granted.

7/7; 107/146. I was slow.
My shirt got stuck putting it on this time. And I wasted time putting on gloves. Maybe I should have skipped that. Extra time was largely running up the hill, though. I also had a wave of nausea, which took me by surprise.

I should get a tri shirt I can wear in the water.

I had trouble catching my breath at the beginning, but eventually settled into a good race pace. The wind was significant, especially crossing the causeway. Most of the course was very nice - few short uphills, but nothing terrible. There were a couple miles towards the end that were a slog - a slow, long incline - miles 8-9/20-21. Doing two loops actually made the second loop better since I knew what was coming. For instance, there is a sharp turn after a downhill that goes up. I did better on the gearing second time around. I had Clif Shot at miles 3, 6, and 12 or thereabouts.

Maybe take gatorade instead of water? I could have drunk a little more, but I realized heat was going to be an issue on the run no matter what.

3/7; 69/146. my best rank of the race! lol
Running down a hill to transition with bike was rough on the legs. When I was done and stood up to "run" I said "Oh Lord!" I was TIRED and it was HOT.

nada for the transition.

Man, this was a ROUGH run. First of all, it was hot and sunny and there wasn't much shade. More than I expected, but not much. Secondly, the two loops was so demoralizing. Finally, you run right past the finish FOUR TIMES before you actually finish! On the first loop, I kept thinking, "I can't believe I have to come do this again!!" My main problem, though, was with the heat. I was starting to get some heat exhaustion symptoms. The drink stations had water and HEED. I'd never tasted HEED. It has no sugar! That was not what I needed. I was hungry and running low on glycogen. Anyway, I did some HEED, and a couple more shot blocks, even though I felt sick. I spent a couple minutes in a port o potty. I walked A LOT. The first loop, I wasn't sure I would finish. The second loop I was determined to finish, but I though I might end up in the ambulance with heat stroke. I also had some abdominal cramps, though I didn't pay much attention. After walking some, I'd usually feel a bit better and run some more. The second lap actually felt better than the first. I felt really tight across my collar bone and in my shoulders. Nerves? And what limited me was my fitness - my lungs and heart - my legs could have done much more.

Train more, I guess. I did a bunch of bricks that went well, but I guess I haven't really run that much since having baby 8 months ago.

I sat down and drank water in the shade at the finish line. I wanted to cry. I was so spent and so glad to be done. I was bummed that I had to walk a long way to get pizza. After I got food and sat in the tent, I got really cold. It was windy. Weird. I was bummed that I couldn't find any bananas or cookies. Just gatorade, chips, and pizza. Listened to the awards a bit before heading home. I was feeling lonely since my boys all stayed home for this one.


Heat was the big one. Wind and chop contributed. Need to run and swim more. And lose more weight. I guess being 8 months post-partum didn't help.


My only complaint was the post-race food. Aren't oreos mandatory triathlon fare? Or at least choco chip cookies. That and bananas or oranges!