Black Bear Triathlon - Olympic Course - Triathlon

Started out OK, if a little cold. I had tried out a new wetsuiit the day prior, in warmer water, and figured I could go sleeveless. The reported temp was 64, but I think that was a little optimistic. Everything was going OK until the right goggle started leaking, and was getting worse. WTF? I swam a mile the day before with the new goggles, with no issues, but now it's leaking. Stopped several times to drain and re-seat. Arms started getting kind of tired about 2/3 in, probably swam too much the day before.

Swim less the day before. But the OWS practice was very valuable.

A little dizzy coming out of the water. Had to pee, again. Decided to really become a triathlete, and let it fly right in T1, while the wetsuit was coming off. Since it was raining, I figured it would all rinse off eventually anyway. Something I hadn't thought of too much, was wet weather, and how that can complicate getting shoes on. Since T1 had a long run on the grass, that pretty well sealed the deal on socks (went sockless) and pre-clipping, since I don't want to run in Look cleats.

Not much. I mostly need to get better organized, and get a "system" set up.

Getting started took a bit, to get both feet in the shoes. Wet shoes/feet don't slide well. Shifting went well, finally have the front derailleur working so it doesn't pop off the big chain ring. Still need to work on the flying mount. Should not have taken water, as I really didn't need it, and it just added weight. Tried an Allen Lim rice cake on the bike; need to work on wrapping material. Maybe make them smaller so I can pop a whole one in, instead of chowing down on it like a cheeseburger. Had a peanut butter Gu also.

Not take water

Popped off the shoes a bit early, ended up pedaling for quite a bit before turning back to T2. Got stuck in no passing zone behind a slow rider. Got a huge applause crossing the volleyball court sand, that was fun.

Not much

Did the run without stopping for anything, as I took a bit of extra water on the bike. Started out feeling a little gassed, trying to keep up with someone who I knew was in my AG, and ahead. Just couldn't keep up, though later in the run started feeling a little stronger. 1st mile was 7:35, with each lap getting a little faster. Except for the dam climb. By the end no one in site in front or behind, so I had to remind myself about penalties, and that you never know what's going on up front; someone could get a time penalty, DQ, DNF, anything, that could improve your position.

Didn't get a chance to really stretch too much, and need to bring a foam roller/stick


Not much, other than rain, and training.


The post race food was frankly pretty weak, compared with other races. Maybe it's that I've done more HIM length races, so there's more food for longer distances, but the setup was for a single-pass (they mark your wristband). A small container of pasta salad, one cookie, and one mini muffin. I think there was some fruit also, and water. There was also some kind of yogurt parfait. Understanding they can't predict weather, but something hot would have been nice also.

There was also some issue with timing, a lot of run splits were AFU, but the overall times seemed to be OK. I thought I had trophied for a bit, coming in 4th in my AG, however 1 and 2 in AG were 2 and 3 overall, so that would have moved me up to 2nd in AG. At least for a little while. Then the results updated, and my AG winner dropped to 6 or 7. Guess I need to train harder, this was a fast field!

Overall, it was about what I figured I could do, given my training level and the conditions. And not crashing on the bike was good as well, as I heard from some friends that there were some wrecks.