Soma Triathlon - Triathlon

Since swimming isn't my strong sport, I self started to the very rear center of the group. Started off swimming up on, and over some other slow swimmers. Also had some faster ones come up on me. Didn't panic, just tried to focus on finding clean water. Within the first 200m, had one really good kick to my left hand. Almost lost my wedding ring, and am pretty sure that's the point I lost my Garmin GPS. Really focused on a steady pace, and continual sighting. Had a few occasions where I had to come to a stop and correct for other swimmers. The head cold never really affected me on the swim. Felt I did an okay job on sighting, as I stayed fairly well on course. I naturally tend to swim to the right, so lots of correcting. Very happy with my time, as my last event was an Olympic 1500m swim, which I did in 40 minutes.

Strap on my GPS tighter. Continue to work on refining my stroke and sighting.

Getting out of the water, the volunteers did a great job. First getting me up on the steps, then undoing the back of my wetsuit, then the wetsuit strippers. Great job by all. This is when I noticed the loss of my GPS. At first I thought that maybe it had come off when the wetsuit was pulled off my arms. I cradled everything in my arms and made it to my transition area. Felt like I took a lot of time looking through my wetsuit to see if the GPS was in there. No luck. A slight mooment of panic, wondering what to do next. Only lasted a second. Got the helmet and bike shoes on, unracked the bike, and ran out of T1. Very surprised, and happy with my T1 time. Thought i was going to be in the 3-4 minute mark.

Not much to do differently. May try clipping the shoes to the bike and getting those on during the ride.

Once I got onto the bike, I had to start doing some mental math. Without the GPS, I was at a loss as to when to take on fuel. I had everything calculated out, and inked on my arm, which became useless. After some mental math and reviewing the course, I came up with a plan for fueling that would hopefully be close to my needs. This took about 4-5 miles of thought. It was about this time that I also noticed my cadence meter was not working. Must have moved one of the sensors while transporting the bike. So, with no heart rate monitor data, and no cadence data, I had to just go by perceived effort. My last Olympic triathlon, I overcooked the bike, and fell apart on the run. So, this race was all about easy pace and conserving energy. If I felt like I was going too hard (hills), I would then focus on some recovery time to get everything under control. Felt good for the first 2 laps. On lap 3 I started running into some sit bone discomfort. Dealt with it, pain is only temporary. Nutrition and fueling were spot on, as I felt plenty of energy after the bike. Surprised with my time. During my workout rides, the easy effort always translated into 3+ hours.

Give the bike a thorough check out to make sure everything is working correctly.

Felt very good in this transition. Racked the bike, helmet off, switched shoes, grabbed race belt/visor/fuel and away I went.

nothing

Really missed my GPS on my run as I like to monitor my pace. So, just ran and focused on a good breathing pattern. Glad I took the time to match breathing patterns to heart rate zones during my training. The pace I was in matched a zone 3 run. I planned on fueling at miles 2, 5, 8, and 11. Turns out that was too much. Stomach felt very heavy at mile 10. Took on the fuel at mile 11 anyway. There were a few times I felt my pace slowing, and would concentrate on picking it up. Walked through all aid stations. Sipped a bit of gatorade at each, and poured cold water over the head. Was hoping for a sub 2 hour time, but am happy with what the effort and time.

Fuel on mile 2, 6, and 10.

After crossing the finish line, focused on walking around for a bit. My last race I felt very light headed and dizzy. So, wanted to avoid that this time. Still felt a bit light headed about 10 minutes later, but a short rest in the shade took care of that. Had some fruit, connected with family and friends, and focused on cooling down.


Head cold 2 days prior to event. Trained hard for 5 months with no illness, then 2 days before...wham!


Since this was my first 70.3 event, a lot of nerves leading up to the race. Had to mentally remind myself to trust my training,and get into a good mind set. Kept repeating throughout the race that I was feeling AWESOME! Great race and atmosphere. All volunteers were wonderful and happy people. They deserve a big thanks and a pay raise!