Lake Padden Triathlon - Competitive Course - Triathlon

This was my first open water swim. Started at the back of the last wave. Surprised myself by swimming faster than average and kept running into people, which would break my rhythm and cause me to stop to look around. After 5 run-ins I fell apart completely. Heart was racing, couldn't breath, and resorted to breaststroke with occasional front crawl.

Wear a wetsuit, warm up, practice open water swims, start in an earlier wave.

I was exhausted after the swim and staggered into the transition area. I moved slowly to catch my breath, have a drink, and try to relax. I spent most of the time just resting. No wetsuit for the swim so nothing to remove.

Do better at the swim so I have energy to move quickly through transition.

I bought my bike and learned to use clipless pedals only one week before the race. I had done zero riding on roads with cars or hills prior to the race. The course start was up a small hill so I walked up it before clipping in. Calf cramped up on the first hill so I eased up and rode it out. Overall pace was slow because my calf would cramp if I pushed it. Climbing the hills was painful and I set a PR for speed going down (35 mph). The final hill at mile 18 was steep but I managed to ride up without walking, just barely. I passed a dozen people that were walking their bikes up. I had one water bottle and drank all my water in the first half of the ride.

Have more than 1 week (2 rides) of experience with my bike and clipless pedals. I bought the bike and pedals for the race. Learn to clip in and out faster. Practice hills. Practice riding on roads. Bring 2 water bottles.

I walked my bike in, slowly changed into my shoes and stretched a bit. My legs were shot from the final hill at the end of the bike course so I took 2 minutes to rest.

Go easier at the end of the bike, run, don't take time to rest.

This should have been my best leg of the race because I've been running for a few years, but my calves cramped 1 minute into the run. Walked it off and kept going. Cramped again at the 4 minute mark. Stopped to stretch then kept running. Cramped a few more times but I ran through it. Finished the first loop in 26 minutes and the second in 25.

Save my legs for the run

Multiple cramps in both legs as soon as I stopped running. Calves, quads, and hamstrings all seized up. Manged to stay standing while the volunteer removed my chip. Walked it off and drank some water.


The horrible swim left me exhausted and set me up for a poor bike and run.


Good atmosphere during the start. A water station for the bike would have been nice.