City of Lakes Triathlon - Olympic Course - Triathlon

I was in the third and final Oly wave, there were two sprint waves after mine. I had some concerns about being last out of the water because I was in the last Oly wave and the sprint wave was doing one lap.

After the second wave started my wave was able to enter the water and spend 5 minutes getting ready. I went all the way under, filled the suit with lake water, got my goggles wet and set on my head and waited.

When we were given the go I was able to get around some of the people in my wave and hang on to some feet for a bit. The water tasted nasty so I tried really hard not to let any in my mouth. It was pretty clear, though, and I was able to see the bottom of the lake the whole time. I had people around me much of the time and used that as an intermediate navigational tool but peeked up every 8 strokes or so. Doing a quick peek was tough though because the people on the paddle boards/kayaks were wearing shirts the same color as the buoy.

I was happy with my effort level and as I finished the first lap I wasn't completely dreading the second lap. During the second lap I kept up the effort knowing that soon I'd be biking and today I don't have to save energy for the run.

As I got close to the shore I saw people behind me, one going sideways :O So I knew I wasn't last out of the water, yay! I swam until my fingers touched then stood up and ran. There were a couple of strippers so I let one of them help me then I put on my flip-flops, well actually they were someone elses flip-flops that looked just like mine but were in the wrong position to be mine, and headed to T1.

I am really happy with my effort and speed on this swim, especially considering the fact that my time includes the stripping and run up to the transition corral. However, I still need to work on my swim.

We lost a minute to the other teams in T1 because we were the only 2 person team. I did run with my bike but I was carrying it so that slowed me down a bit. The course turned left out of T1 and went down hill for about a quarter mile so getting up to speed was easy.

pretty happy with it but maybe try with no socks

As I said, the course goes down to a parking lot where we turned around and headed up the first of many hills. I pushed it hard up the first hill to break out of the traffic and begin the joy of passing people on the hills. I passed a lot of people but never knew if they were sprint or Oly. The ride was a pretty one and the road was in good shape.

Somewhere on the way out the first time I passed a farm where a truck was pulling out on to the road. The truck was out and clear with no problem. The problem was the dog that followed the truck on to the road. Unsure what the dog would do I slowed way down and went out and around him. Whew, non-event, mostly.

At the first turnaround I was slowed more than I would have liked because the man in front of me was being unpredictable. Once I got turned around I passed hime but he and I would pass and re-pass a few times before I left him for good on one of the larger hills.

On the way back on the first lap I rode past a girl who was stopped on the side and I heard her tell someone that she only needed CO2. I had an extra cartridge so I stopped and gave it to her then took off again. As I neared transition I saw DH and DS2 yelling for me. It was very motivating because I knew that I had only one more lap until I was done and because I'd told DS2 I'd try not to start him out in the back of the Oly. About that time I realized my yogurt was not sustaining my effort level. I'd put a package of shot blocks in my pocket so I started eating those every few minutes. That, combined with my Skratch, had me feeling right as rain by the time I got to the turnaround half way through the second lap. I continued to pass people and asked the guys at the turnaround if they'd moved it closer because lap 2 felt a LOT shorter. I was getting to the point that my legs were starting to burn on the hills but I pulled a Jens Voigt and pushed with all I had, because I didn't have to run.
As I neared transition DH was yelling for me, love that man, and DS2 was waiting at the gate to T2 to run in with me.

Work on bike fitness, start taking on calories sooner

No time was recorded for T2 but it was easy because we ran to the spot and I handed the chip to DS2 and off he went

After the bike leg DH and I carried my stuff to the car then we drove over to the spot where the race would end. We passed DS2 on the way and he looked great!

We got to the finish and DH went in to town to get water for DS2 and I because the race was out :\ I walked over to a spot where I knew DS2 would run past a couple times. I yelled for him when he passed and chatted with a lady I'd met when I volunteered at the kids tri a few weeks ago.

DH got back with water a few minutes before DS2 passed our spot for the last time then the course did a little spur up the street then headed back toward the finish. When DS2 got to us he told us the course was out of water so DH handed him a bottle. One of the nearby racers commented "two minutes" and I took the water back from DS2 and explained to both of them that it was outside assistance. Fortunately there wasn't far to go and we ran to the end where we gave the water back to DS2.


Genetics, training. I was pretty wiped out at the end so I know I gave it everything I had.


The RD is a friend of mine so it's hard to be critical. We started just a few minutes late so not enough to worry about. Running out of water at the finish and on the run is no bueno though. The RD is a coach and is all about the people who are out there trying so to run out of water for the back of the pack was bad.

The awards were pretty cool. Third place got a cocktail sized glass that had the race and year on it, second was pint sized and first was bigger still. DS2 commented that it's good we didn't get first because the pint size fits the other glasses in our cupboard. :D