Himalayan Rush Triathlon - Standard Distance - TriathlonOlympic

The start was crazy. I was expecting to take the lead in the swim, but the race had a few South Asian Elite triathletes and they were gunning for it. So I started in the middle and it got very crowded. I held my breath for about 8 strokes to get out to the front but that did not work. It took a couple of minutes to regain my breath. Then I found some feet and dragged almost the whole way. It was a good thing because that start really took it out of me. I also didn't swim with a wetsuit. It was wetsuit legal for amateurs (not for elites) so I could have, I just never received the wetsuit I ordered (damn you Xterra!)

I should have started towards the side. Then I could have just waited for a few swimmers to emerge from the mess and then get on their feet. I usually swim about 1:35/100 m so I thought that would be the front pack for this triathlon. It would have been if we didn't start with the elites.

It was fine. I didn't have any clipless pedals so it was fairly easy to do a quick transition.

Nothing.

This was definitely the slowest part of my race. There was no way I was biking up the whole hill so each time I had to walk it. And each lap I had to stop earlier in the hill to get out and walk. At least I was holding back because I knew I needed to keep the run in mind.

I have to get stronger on the bike. Maybe squats? It's hard to work on hills when you live in one of the flattest countries in the world. Also, I didn't have clip in pedals so that was a disadvantage.

Decent

Nothing.

Good run. The hill got so rough that I could barely keep from walking. But I kept from walking and that served me really well. The 4th place guy was sneaking up on me so when I saw him on the turn around, I was able to fly down the hill and fend him off. I went 27 minutes for the first half (up the hill) and 21 for the second half (back down the hill).

Not much. I'm pretty happy with that run.

Almost fell over. I was dehydrated. There was one water station at 2.5 km and one at 5 km and it was hot. It would have been better to have a camel back for the bike portion.


Bike training and hydration.


This was in the himalayas so it was gorgeous. You swim under the mountains and then you see the mountains 4 times on the bike (for a about 5 minutes on the loop). The only thing is that they could have improved the water stations--it was hot and they could have used a water station in the transition area.