USAT Age Group National Championship - Olympic Distance - Triathlon

The swim went really well. I drafted off someone for the first 500-600 meters, then had a mini freak-out when I realized that I had no idea what pace we were going and I could easily be going way too slow, so I turned on the jets and set a goal to catch the next group up. The next "group" dissolved before I got there but I managed to pass most of them and found myself shoulder to shoulder with another guy for most of the rest of the swim. I didn't feel like drafting anymore so I just held my spot and tried to push a little. I wanted to be under 20:00 and I was surprised to actually get there, my swim training has been very inconsistent this year.

Nothing.

I tried a new strategy of pulling the wetsuit all the way off before I got to my rack. I figured that either way I have to do that standing still so there is no advantage in waiting, but if I get it off earlier I can fold it up while running and I will be lighter as I run. It worked well and I will do that every time from now on as long as the path is wide enough that I don't block anyone else when I stop (that is illegal). This gave me the 3rd best T1 in my division and 16th overall.

Nothing.

I reset my bike computer as I left transition so I would know what my average speed actually was (not including the slow jog through T1), I like knowing. I like getting out pretty quick and leaving the group behind to avoid any potential drafting situations and I did that without exerting too much energy. The rest of the ride was pretty uneventful as I was able to maintain a very steady energy output and keep my speed up with (what felt like) a fairly comfortable effort. I stayed in aero for the entire ride except when descending fast or making sharp turns (for safety reasons) and felt like my setup was immune to wind, there wasn't much out there but I was riding a comfortable 27-28 mph pace into the wind as well as with it, I have never felt that "slick" before. Going up the last climb I had the Garmin find satellites and put it in my pocket.

Nothing, it was a dream ride. Actually better than my dreams, I would have guessed a 58 high would have been my best-case-scenario ride.

Nothing new, did what I have perfected over the past year and nailed it. No wasted time. 18th fastest in my division and 61st overall.

Nothing

I'm not a runner, this is easily my weakest part of the race. That being said I still wanted to go under 40 and I thought I would actually be able to duplicate my run from Rev3 Knox a few months ago and go in the mid 38 range. I felt throughout the ride that I was riding within my abilities and not pushing too hard but I learned VERY quickly on the run that I actually was riding pretty hard! My quads burned and every step hurt. It literally took all my will power to not stop and walk. I gritted my teeth and groaned my way through the most painful run of my life and ended up missing my sub 40 goal by only a few seconds. Actually my Garmin (and everyone else's) said the run was actually about 6.25 miles and my real 10K was actually 39:52, which is my second fastest ever so I can't complain too much. I thought I was going to be close to going under 2 hours and the entire run I kept thinking that I was letting my sub 2-hour OLY slip away. When I saw my final time I was the happiest man alive! I knew it was good but I didn't realize it was that good. I am still surprised.

Get better at running. I let about 5 guys pass me on the run I think and 285th overall run just sounds really bad for me. I need to step it up.

Stood in front of an ice-mister fan for a while then went to find my results. Then jumped for joy and kicked my heels together when I saw my time and ran to find my little girl (13 months old) to run down the course a ways and cheer mommy in.


Probably biked a little too hard, but I don't know that slowing down would have helped enough on the run to improve my overall time, so that's something I need to play around with.


The race started a little late and the men's 40-44 AG got screwed into waiting in the water for an extra 20 minutes. And the awards ceremony was around dinner time and took a long time to get going so I left before getting to see my friend get his award. I was starving. They need to do awards earlier. Other than that it was awesome, probably the most beautiful venue I've ever done.