Grady Williams Memorial Freedom Days Triathlon - TriathlonOlympic

The mass start wasn't so bad, especially with a wetsuit. I didn't get kicked much, even by the guys. I kept calm, but I noticed I was on the inside of a triangle. I rounded what should have been the second buoy and wondered if I had missed the 1st. I thought the rest of the swim and part of the run that I would be DQ'd, but since I breathe to the left, I probably passed it and didn't know. All the other swimmers just seemed so much further out. I was making a bee-line for the buoy. My shoulders were a bit tight from the wetsuit, but it was worth it. I tried working on my stroke instead of pushing my speed.

Make sure to use defogger closer to event.

T1 went into the run portion. It was on the beach, so very sandy. It was hard to get my feet clean of sand, plus we had to pack everything in a garbage bag for them to take to T2. Took a little longer than I had hoped, but that is fine.

Would make it so I can sit down to take off wetsuit, and maybe have a bucket of water to dunk my feet into.

I made sure to keep hydrated on this ride, made sure to eat, and had about 3 e-caps. I used my granny gear shamelessly on the harder hills, and passed someone on most of them because of it. I then put it into a high gear for the downhill, as high as I could get.

Get out of the saddle more to even out my legs....I hydrated well, though, and ate well. One of my smarter rides.

Easy transition from running to bike.

Calves were crampy the first 2-3 miles, took one or 2 e-caps, and they loosened up. Not sure if they just warmed up, or if it was the e-caps, but I felt pretty good...was running a sub-8min pace for a bit.

Look at the trail the whole time so as not to slip.

No stretching...bad. Drank an accelarade, ate a Power Bar and a banana, and 1-2 bottles of water.


Inexperienced with hills and trail running, cramping of calves, sighting on the swim.


It was hard to find the lake and hard to access. Not much time was left to get there either. The mass start was fine, and the buoys were too far apart. Thank goodness there was a metal canoe at the front of the swimmers to sight off of.
The trail was not well marked, since it was chalk and much of the trail was powder. Many people got lost. The water stops were fine and evenly spaced, although one of them had water that smelled like it came from the lake.
USAT rule infractions:
1) Turns are supposed to be clearly marked or aided by volunteers. The trail was bad, the run start was not completely clear, and I almost went too far at the bike turnaround because the volunteers didn't know what was going on.
The finish line was also not clearly marked or labeled.
2) There should be a med-tent at the finish. NOONE knew of any med, let alone med supplies, for me to bandage up my legs. They said the meds were out on the course, but there should have been one at the finish, especially considering the difficulty and the heat.
3) They did not adhere to age group guidelines, and went by age on race day.
4) Personal preference, but there was no chip timing to keep things honest.
***Many others, I am sure, but those hit me first.

Overall, poorly organized, volunteers were uninformed and ignorant of needs, rules, etc. They ran out of water early as well, and no porta potties were available at the lake, nor at T2 (you had to run to the high school restroom, which was nowhere near transition.
The only reason I would want to repeat this is to better my time.
****I MISSED 3RD PLACE BY 3.5 MINUTES, AND I WOULD HAVE PLACED 1ST IN THE NEXT AGE GROUP UP!!!***