Black Bear Triathlon - Half Iron Course - Triathlon

I was shivering from the cold waiting for the start and I did not feel comfortable pushing the pace off the line, so I immediately settled into my 'relaxed' race pace and tried to find some feet to latch onto. Eventually settled upon some that appeared to be swimming my speed. And, with a big kick, they were very easy to regain when I did lose them a few times. I was able to ease my effort further in the draft. I did make a 'check' a couple times to see if I wouldn't be better off just swimming on my own, but found with 'normal' effort I was only going to swim at about the same pace (maybe slightly faster, but not enough to make it worth the effort).

Felt fine most of the swim, though I did feel a slight 'twinge' in my left calf after rounding the turn bouy. But I simply relaxed for a second and it was fine--not the first time that's happened to me nor the first time I've easily dealt with it. Didn't really give it a second thought. But when I was about 50m from shore, both my calves completely locked up with cramps--even one hamstring began to spasm. I rolled over on my back and tried to relax to let them pass. Was able to roll back and take a few more strokes, but then they locked up again. Paddled on my back and 'dragged' myself to shore. Was eventually able to get up and begin (slowly) walking to transition.

Am betting actual "swim time" was at least 3min better. Maybe 4. Rated the swim 'Bad' based upon the end result, but it was nearly what I would have rated 'Good'.

Not cramp up? Guessing it was partly due to the cold water, but the fact that this was my first OWS in almost 2 years may have also played a role. That is, I may have just been too 'tense' and helped cause the cramps. Also, ideally I would have pushed a little more off the start and tried to find feet of someone a little faster than me that I could hang onto.

Rank: 170/170 :-)

Yeah, this was interesting. Had several bouts of cramping/relaxing while trying to get my wetsuit off and bike gear on. Spent much of the time rolling around on the wet grass, writhing in pain and shivering uncontrollably from the cold. Definitely considered that my day might be done. Even if I was able to get on my bike, I could not see how running would be feasible. But that was a long way off and I decide to try to see how things would go on the bike. Eventually got everything organized and began slowly walking out transition and up the hill to the mount line.

Oddly, not much. I had little choice on what I did here and am glad I made the decision to press onward.

Took it very easy to start, just trying to lightly spin my legs and make sure I wasn't going to fall off my bike with cramps. Shortly after getting out of the park and onto the main roads, I began to gradually lift my effort toward my intended race pace. Things felt OK, so I just decided to worry about what was going on at the moment and worry about the run later. Had plenty of people to catch on the bike (at least for the first lap or so) to help keep me occupied.

Did have to scrub speed several times as riders were blocking on the left. Hard to be too upset at most of these occurances, though, as they were on some of the faster downhills where the roads were quite rough--especially toward the right side. It would have been unsafe for many to ride those at speed in dry conditions, let alone the wet ones we had. At most, I lost a minute or so. My T1 ordeal made that easier to accept than if I was in full 'competitive' mode.

Toward the end of the ride before getting back into the park, I again eased way back on effort and tried to relax my legs. I had felt the calves tighten a few times during the ride, but never had to use them enough to cause any further cramping episodes.

Drank most of Infinit bottle (900 cal) and parts of 3 water bottles (exchanged twice).

Not much.

Rank: 30/170

Got off the bike carefully and walked down the hill back to transition. The downhill was very tough on my calves and I was having trouble seeing how I was going to be able to run when I was barely able to walk here. But after changing shoes, decided to just head out and see what happened. Wasn't sure if I was about to run 13.1mi or 13.1ft. :-)

Nothing.

I again started easy but, as the calves seemed to cooperate, gradually picked it up toward race pace--probably still kept it a bit on the cautious side for much of the first loop. The calves were definitely the worst on the downhills, but I was able to hold everything together and keep moving. Was able to pick up the effort towards the end of the second loop and finished running well.

Maybe be a little less cautious at the start, but I was too concerned about the calves to attempt that today.

Made my way back to transition and got some warmer clothes on. Then went to get some food and chat with some other racers, including James (who KILLED the swim with the top split--think he passed me shortly after the turn).


The cramping, obviously. Whether that was purely a swim fitness issue or something exacerbated by the cold water conditions, I am not sure.


A challenging course. Well run and supported. Will remain one of the races I will always consider doing. Hope they retain all 3 distances.