Kokopelli Triathlon - Olympic Course - TriathlonOlympic

"Never try anything new on race day." That would include a wetsuit, right? I was fully aware I was violating this precept. Water temp was 77 so it certainly wasn't needed but it was allowed and I thought the bouyancy advantage would help. And it did at the beginning when I was doing freestyle.

I started at the back of the pack and kept a nice slow and efficient pace. The first quarter mile or so went according to plan and as the pack drifted away from me and there were fewer people to run into, things were looking good. I kept up a good pattern of swimming and sighting and was nearing the halfway point when the faster women's wave, that started about 5 minutes behind me, caught up with me. Splashing, bumping, overswimming me... I breathed in some water and almost choked. For a few seconds I couldn't breathe and had the rescue boat been closer I might have called for help. In the few seconds it took to find the boat 50 meters away I had managed to catch a breath and tread water and realize I wasn't going to drown.

Unfortunately, the swim went downhill after that. I never felt I could get enough air after that, and the wetsuit felt constricting. I went from freestyle to a lot of backstroke (which I couldn't do and navigate very well) or sidestroke (which went fine but was very tiring on the legs, especially with the wetsuit.) Three times on the return trip I stopped to catch my breath holding onto a kayak. Once I thought seriously about quitting but the volunteer was very encouraging and I resolved to keep pressing. Only because the current was helping push me toward shore did I feel a bit of confidence.

I developed a serious calf cramp about 100m from shore and had I been further out at that point I would have probably quit. As it was I half-dragged myself in and limped up to transition, relieved that the worst part was over and knowing at this point that I would finish... not fast, but I would finish.

Need more open water practice for swimming/sighting. Need more experience in my wetsuit. Need goggles that don't fog up, or a better method of clearing them mid-swim.

I've never cared about transition times and I didn't here. My calf was still cramping and I walked at a measured pace to try to stretch it out and methodically got my bike gear on. I still felt I couldn't get a deep breath and new the bike part would be tough, so I rested as much as I could and tried to mentally prepare myself for the rest of the race.

Nothing.

Knowing the hill was upcoming, I paced myself really conservatively for the first 3 miles. I was still fighting the leg cramp and lack of ability to take deep breaths, which helped keep me slow but didn't help when I finally got to the hill and tried to climb it. I made it about halfway before my calf started cramping up and I decided to dismount and push the bike for a few minutes. Once my calf relaxed I remounted and finished the hill and then slogged through the rest of the ride. I focused on keeping a good cadence and shifting, which I did well. Unfortunately I didn't realize how badly the wind was impacting me until I hit the turnaround and realized it had been in my face the whole time and I could probably have gone a bit faster in aero position.

My goal was to maintain >14mph pace and I succeeded in that goal, partly helped by getting 38mph on that killer hill, going down it this time.

Spend more time in aero position to fight the wind.

Nearly fell off my bike at the dismount line by unclipping the wrong foot. Whoops! Other than that I took my time to get the proper gear on, hydrate, GU, and even take a potty break before getting back on the run course.

Unclip the RIGHT foot at the dismount line!

Most of the race (and even pre-race) I had been dreading the run. 10K is my least favorite training and racing distance. However, by the time I got there, and knowing I could finish walking if I *had* to, I was comfortably confident. Fortunately, while I was way untertrained for the swim, and probably adequately trained for the bike, I had done running races the last two weekends and actually felt the best on the run leg, maintaining a nice easy pace. I had finally gotten my breathing back and the calf pain was enough to ignore. I took nice breaks every mile at the water stations, pouring water on my head and drinking gatorade at each one. Coming back the last 5K felt great and I was able to cross the finish line with a smile on my face.

Not much!

Had to get back to hotel in time to shower and check out and get on the road for a 2 hour drive so I didn't do much warm down other than biking to my car.


Swim. Training and sighting skills.


Excellent course, great staffing and volunteer support. Encouraging volunteers and other runners. Only "complaint" was the rough surface on the road in parts, but I heard they'll be repaving it over the next year so it might be better in the future.