Alaska State Triathlon Championship - TriathlonOlympic

Since there were only about 80 racers, it was a mass start. When the horn sounded, I just hung back and let most of the pack get in front of me. I probably started out in the back 20 or so, and worked myself over to the inside so I could make a shorter track to the first turn bouy. That lasted for a couple hundred yards until I had to work back over to the right so I would be on the race course! My sight breathing really needs work! About a third of the way into the swim, I started feeling really good and noticed that I was passing quite a few people, including Becky McKee, one of the race directors. I rounded the first triangular turn bouy pretty tight. Actually, I was swimming so fast I grabbed the anchor rope and did a skid turn. Almost. Not really, but I felt that good. Sight-breathed to mark the next intermediate bouy and noticed how far away from the transition area I was. WOW! All the other races I've done I would almost be done by now, but I felt really good so I didn't really think about it that much. The next sight breath I was inside the race course so I worked back over to the right - again. It seems like I repeated this process several times! I caught the heels of one racer to try drafting since I had never done it before. I really couldn't tell a difference. I guess that's something that you notice the difference on over several hundred yards. Actually, I was swimming faster than the person I was drafting off of, so I passed him. I looked up and just about swam into the next turn bouy. Grabbed the anchor rope and made a tight turn again and looked up at the last few hundred meters that was ahead of me. I wasn't tired, but I was really ready to get on my bike. It just gets old after awhile. It wasn't long until I was able to see the sandy bottom of Knik Lake, about 5 feet below (yeah, the lake was pretty clear). Next thing I knew I was treading water and running onto the shore. After getting to my bike, I noticed Jennifer (jeubank) had come up just behind me. I heard her say her time was 26 minutes and something,and I knew that I had just turned in the fastest swim of any race I've done. Granted, the wetsuit was a huge help and it's possible the course could have been short, but it's the highest I've ranked in the swim so far.

Sight breathe better!

I probably should start seeding myself a little farther up front in the future. Not that I'm blazing fast, but it doesn't bother me for someone to run into me and I think I can hold my own in a crowd.

I have no idea what T1 time was since they didn't list it on the race results page, but it was fairly slow because of the wetsuit. I saved some time by not putting socks on for the bike ride, and I didn't cinch up my shoes until I was out on the road. So overall I think it was a pretty efficient transition.

There were no transition times listed on the race results. I told them my race number when I came out of the water, and I didn't see any officials taking down numbers at the bike out. I can only assume that both transition times were absorbed into the bike time. The 28 seconds on this transition is so that the bike time rounds to even minutes.

Can't think of anything I would do differently.

Let me start by saying "thanks" to race director Bill Fleming who let me use his Litespeed Tuscany so I wouldn't have to bring mine. I took my saddle, aero bars, and pedals, and he put them on for me on Thursday. The fit was close enough to not cause any problems, so I was satisfied.

After leaving transition, I rode on the gravelly parking lot of the Knik Bar. I was pretty uneasy about that because I was afraid I would flat before I even got started. Made the turn out of the parking lot onto the road and a pretty good grade to start the course. Powered up the hill and settled in for a nice, scenic ride. I had ridden the course on Friday, so I knew there was a time- and leg-sapping incline about mile 7, so I went pretty hard to start out with. I cruised along the course with Knik Arm (an ocean inlet off the Pacific) on my left, catching glimpses of it and the towering snow-capped peaks beyond through the tall spruce, aspen, and birch trees that framed the highway. I could see similar mountains beyond the trees on my right and it really made for an enjoyable ride. After making the first right turn, the trees lining the course turned into patches of marshy wetlands that just screamed "big moose habitat"! It was pretty hard to keep my head down and facing forward because I kept looking either side of the road for moose. Unfortunately, I didn't see any moose on this ride, but the scenery had magnetism of it's own. It was absolutely beautiful! After I passed through the marshy area, the course turned into some rolling hills. Nothing too steep, but I was slowly gaining ground on a few racers in front of me. Of course, the cycling bad-a$$es passed me like I was standing still. Passed a couple more people then I hit the slow incline at about mile 7, just before the first turn-around. It didn't sap me as much as it did on Friday, so I was able to power up and make up pretty good ground after I made the turn around and headed back downhill. It wasn't long before I hit some good downhills and got to speeds up to 38mph. That was exciting! I sure would hate to look up and see a moose standing in the middle of the road! Fortunately that didn't happen, but I did see a porcupine road-kill victim. We have armadillos, Alaska has porcupines. Before long I was riding back through the wetlands and the view up ahead was just amazing. The road seemed to go on forever into the mountains miles ahead. It looked like something you might see in a travel magazine, and I really wished I had mounted a camera on my helmet! Just breathtaking! The rest of the course was more of the same, and really spoiled me! Now I'll want to see that on all my rides. I made it back to the race site without incident or wildlife sightings, but it was the best bike leg I've ever had, period!

Maybe take my bike. It's always a dicey situation when you don't ride your own bike in a race. Fortunately, the bike fit really well and I didn't have any problems.

I'm still learning how hard to push on the bike, so it's pretty hard to gauge how much gas I would have left in the take for the run.

I derived the T2 time of 1:10 from the video taken by Steve showing me crossing in front of the volunteers marking the dismount zone going into T2 from the bike course, then passing race officials who were writing down race numbers on the run out.

Build up callouses on my feet so I don't have to wear socks on the run. Use Yankz shoelace tyers.

The first half of the run was on a dog sled trail and was sandy, rocky, uneven and hilly. For me, this was a difficult trail to navigate the tough spots, but it provided a mental diversion from worrying about my knees. I had not been on the trail but a couple minutes when Veronica (AKtri) came up behind me, paced me for a few seconds, exchanged pleasantries, then proceeded to kick the hell out of the run course! It wasn't long before she was out of sight. I trotted along trying to avoid the rocks and roots, and to keep my footing in the uneven, sandy terrain. Then I had an acute case of cranio-flatulitis (a sudden brain fart) and stepped on a root the wrong way and landed hard on my right side! Great! Now I'll have to worry about a broken hip! A nice lady bent down to help me up but I waved her off, told her I was okay, and sent her on her way. I don't think I've ever felt as much like an old man than at that moment! Oh well... I got up almost immediately, and began my slow trot along the trail. To add insult to "injury", I didn't even get any blood streaming down my leg or a mark to show off. There was only one really bad hill on the way out, about halfway to the turn around, and I ended up walking it. I walked a short distance at each water station, but my total walk distance amounted to only a couple hundred yards. I finally made the turn around at mile 3.1 and the run course turned to pavement. Thankfully the hardest part of the run was over, only 3.1 miles to go! The back half of the run was pretty enjoyable because I was able to take in more of the scenery than on the bike. The only bad thing was that my knees were starting to get pretty sore, and my hips and upper thighs were starting to fatigue just a little. I'll credit the fatigue to the almost non-existant run training in preparation for this race. Cardiovascularly I was doing great, and my breathing never got labored. I really wish my knees weren't in such bad shape or I would have really had a pretty good test on my hands. I finally topped the final hill before the descent into the Knik Bar parking lot and the finish line. I could see the lake and the race site, and hear the race announcer calling out the names of those who finished ahead of me. Got a little spring in my step for a few yards, until my knees spoke up and said "mmmmm, NO!" I was going downhill anyway, so it wasn't a good idea to pick up the pace. Turned into the bar parking lot and made my way over to the grassy area that was the final 100 yard stretch to the finish. Knees be damned! I had to finish strong, so I picked up the pace and flew thru the finish line. Immediately caught a breath or two, then grabbed a banana, muffin, and a bottle of water. It was done. I had just finished my first Olympic!

Take care of my knees a little more diligently. I might not have been 100%, but I might could have been a little stronger on the run.

Nothing really. I grabbed a banana, some water, and a muffin that they provided at the finish line. I don't know if it was just that I had finished a long race or what, but those were some pretty dang good muffins!! I wandered over to Steve and his family and did my "post-race interview" for the video cam. Veronica walked up to chat a little bit. She had been there for about 15 minutes since she smoked me on the run.


Bad knees, and the lack of run training because of them. Dropping another 30 lbs. is going to do wonders for my knees and run time.


This was my first Olympic distance race, and I must say that I'm very pleased with my performance. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out what I need to improve. I just need to let my knees heal, drop a few more pounds, then start kicking in some longer runs and tempo work. Pretty much just follow my gameplan before the knee injuries.

If anyone has a chance to do this race, DO IT! It had the typical Alaska laid back attitude that you don't find anywhere else, but it was very professionally run. The scenery was great, and the weather could not have been better!