Caesar Creek Triathlon - Olympic Course - TriathlonOlympic

shouldn't have been wetsuit legal, but they make the call not me. Used new goggles, started to leak a little right at the start, but once I cleared them they were fine. Struggled to stay oriented after the first turn buoy, but once I got to the turnaround I got settled with better form and sighting about every 10-15 stroke. Really got comfortable on second lap.

1. Don't use new goggles for the first time at a race.
2. Try to settle my sighting and breathing more quickly after the first turn.

wetsuit got stuck on calves, couldn't do the usual step and pull. kept composure and just worked it off. glad i practiced getting the new helmet on, as that went just fine. had to take a few extra steps to get up to speed to hop on bike, but did good to wait to hop on until after line.

not sure...body glide on ankles may have helped, but it felt just too tight around the calf, not the ankle. May experiment with more vertical crank position to get a decent starting rotaion.

didn't like the course, rough roads. Too much traffic in spots and cars were messing up pacing. They were getting behind bikes going slow and not passing them. Leaving the faster riders kind of stuck. I rode a good time at an appropriate effort level.

Pre-ride the course to get a better feel for corners and hills. I would better be able to gauge effort.

did better with getting shoes on, changing the insoles definitely did the trick. They were a bit tight and a little hard to get on, but way better than previous 2 attempts.

still too much screwing around. Pre-visualize - so I get away faster. Will drill holes in new insoles to let water out and maybe get them thinner.

How in the world did 44.5 minutes end up being fastest in age group? Felt strong most of the race with a screw-up at start of 2nd lap that cost me about 30 seconds, took a wrong turn towards finish instead of going to the turn around, slowed and retraced steps. Ran confidently and comfortably on the 2nd lap. Felt good coming in.

1. Pay attention, I was just following the guy in front of me, and I knew which way to turn,but I was on autopilot.
2. Suffer. I didn't burn all my matches on the way in. Mile 5 I could have gone harder, but felt like I needed to hold some back so I didn't blow a gasket.

ran another loop of the run course.


It was mostly mental. Too much second-guessing myself, looking around transition to make sure I did everything, slowing down because I'm not sure whether I'll have enough at the end, sighting a bunch at the start of the swim. Run fitness needs to be a bit better too. It is better than last year, but it is currently my biggest limiter.


1) Could have had a better bike course, last year was on better roads & less traffic - but some people missed turns. Also, found out later that the Park forced the last minute bike course change - they wouldn't open the maintenance gate.
2) Warm water at finish and pay for soft drinks - that sucks
3) awful food tent already picked over for those that do the longer event - although I couldn't have choked down much with the warm water.
4) directing cars to parking by going down a road with low hanging branches, when people have bikes on top of the car = brilliant
5) surprised so few people used the outdoor shower to cool off after the race...one of the perks of the site.
6) water is murky enough you can't see your own hand, but that is CC for you.
7) good crowd with good competition, and mostly well mannered and safe.