St. Louis 5150 Triathlon - Triathlon

Wow, did this go awful. I started out with Josh right by me. I got about hip deep in the water and dove in. I immediately struggled. I need to re-assess my mental approach to racing. Within the first 200M I was physically exhausted. My breathing was extremely choppy and every stroke. When I sprint, I will frequently breath every stroke, but I was not sprinting now. I really struggled with finding my pace and rhythm. I lost sight of Josh and was pretty sure he was gone. It wasn't until I passed the halfway point that I felt myself relaxing enough to get into form. Even so, the first half of the swim I was just out of sorts. As I approached the last buoy I ran into quite a bit of traffic. I don't know if this was sprint course guys or just a school or slow fish. I, once again, ran into some guy leisurely doing the back stroke.

I'm pretty confused by this. On Thursday I swam 2100yd @ 1:40. I understand that open water is a different animal, but I felt that it should be well under 2:00/100

In thinking back, I can remember a few times thinking about tucking my chin, but I don't remember focusing on my high elbow catch or really gaining traction in the water.
I need to change my mental approach and settle down and into my stroke. Everyone says you should start out slow and build, but I am wondering if I instead need to sprint at the start to try to create more space and then settle into my stroke.

The transition area was a pretty long run up a grassy hill filled with ruts. I expected this to gas me, but I handled it pretty well and was able to pass many walkers.

I was able to get into the bike relatively quickly.

Until I get momentum in the Swim/Bike/Run I see no need to focus too much attention to trying to shave 10-15 seconds off of transition.

I actually felt pretty strong on the bike and was quite surprised to see my final bike time. I was rarely passed. I think I set myself so far behind on the swim that I really didn't catch too many people, but also didn't get passed by too many either.

In analyzing the date, the bike was really a tale of two halves.
Halfway through the bike there was one major hill. I did not hammer down the decent as I should have (I can't remember if there was a car, a corner or what, but there was some reason that I did not attack it was much as I should have).

My speed for that 1.5M section was only around 28mph and when I started the climb I could tell I had not attacked it well.

The 12 miles prior to the hill I averaged 21.66mph The 12 miles after the hill (not including the climb up the hill) I averaged only 19.57. That is a pretty significant drop off.

As I re-entered the resort, I think I just go too cautious. I knew there were a few descents with speed bumps on them and since I thought we were near the end I became a little tight and just coasted in. The problem is that there were probably 2-3 miles inside the result that I was not hammering on.

Throw caution to the wind! Actively identify others in my age group and chase them.

T2 went well. There was a bit of a logjam at the dismount line and so I ended up coming to a complete stop before dismounting.

Not much, see comments above.

The run started with a trek through the grass and some small hills. When I actually felt like I was on the run course, I hit a decent size hill. Still gathering myself, I walked for a few moments. This is when I saw another BT'er Randy yell out to me. Shortly I started moving. The course was hilly, but the temperature was great, the course was mostly shaded and there was a nice breeze. Although the terrain was tougher, this run was nothing like my run in Topeka two weeks ago. Although the times are not much different.

I kept plugging along and walked some of the steeper hills. My approach was basically to keep running on every hill unless I saw that I was not gaining any ground on the walkers in front of me. At that point, I walked them.

Two things: drop weight and get more miles in.

Running is still not natural for me and I feel I'm carrying about 15-20 pounds of extra weight that is slowing me down.

Also, when I do this event again, I will train more hill repeats. I have a hills route that I train on, but it involves 3-4 very long and steep hills, rather than a numerous smaller hills.

After the finish I grabbed a bottle of water and just relaxed. I was tired, but not comotose like I was 2 weeks ago. I hit the food tent and ate a few bites of a hotdog and a few bites of a cookie.


As I've stated before, I'm still getting the same results, even though I feel I'm training harder.

Two things: my mental approach is off. My friend Josh (finished top 5) has got this part figured out. I can beat him like a drum in the water every day, but he's beaten me twice on race day. He doesn't have a problem with his mind playing games with him.


Also, I need to lose weight. If I was 15 pounds lighter, I have to believe every phase was improve.

The challenge is there and I'm serious. I am setting a goal now to race Omaha in 3 weeks at 185 pounds. This gives me 3 weeks to lose 9 pounds. That's aggressive, but I think doable.


What a great venue! The course is beautiful. The road was awesome (minus the speed-bumps). The run was beautiful as well. I can see how this would be awful when it's extremely hot, however this year it was great.

Also, UltraMax really does a nice job with being organized and on-time.Every question is answered. I'm a little bummed that the t-shirt seems a little cheap, but that is a minor gripe.

The venue also worked great with my family. My kids loved playing on the beach during the race and and I enjoyed a dip in the water with them to cool off afterward.