West Point Lake Triathlon - TriathlonOlympic

Swim was difficult for me again. I'm currently working on my stroke and tried to concentrate on those items necessary for more efficient swim. However my goggles fogged after about 200M. (That defogging stuff is all hype). Got bumped more this race than any race I've ever done which I didn't expect given the TT start. Finally, got goggles kicked off my face a little and got some water in them. That cleared me for better navigation.

Next time get there early and do an adequate warm-up. I think I was trying to sight too much and never got a rhythm going. My best sections were when I was walking over the sand bars.

Cleared T1 quickly enough but as I was boarding a guy in front of me started weaving trying to get his shoes in. I was suddenly in the grass! Naturally, I started to struggle with my right tri shoe. There was a moment there where I thought I could go over. What a crowd pleaser that would've been!

Not much. I was third fastest in my group here. Socks (a necessity for me) still take a little extra time but I'm getting more and more efficient with them.

I was very happy about my bike. Getting better each race with this and that's been my concentration over the winter/spring. While recovering from Plantar Fasciitis, I wasn't sure about how I would deal with the run so I wanted to make sure that I had a successful bike segment. The walking around in the lake thing definitely put some hurt on my legs. It took a good many miles to loosen them up after the swim. Caught my wife at Mile 6. She had a good swim and was looking really good on the bike. It was exciting to see her motoring. Ate all my newtons in the first 6-8 miles. Gel'd with about 10 minutes to go in the segment. There were a few people out there who refused to give way with the passing or would pass right back before you cleared them but other than that it was a good fast field with lots of fast riders. I was also successful in my third event at removing and riding on top of my shoes the last 1/2 mi or so. A little tricky but cool.

Although I was over my LT on the bike I really tried to keep it down. I think I can go a little faster yet. Spin classes focusing on strength training are really helping. In many instances I was still in the saddle while others were out and pumping up hills that didn't seem that difficult. The long weekend rides are also helping gain strength and familiarity with my ride.

Just a good fast T2. A little time lost fiddling with the race number belt. Otherwise I was in and out of there. Fastest in my group.

Run out with the belt in hand. I've got my number so just fasten it as I run.

Gel'd coming out of T2. You can see the dam as you exit transition and enter the course. It looked a million miles away. Course was really well stationed and the weather was on our side. A guy that I had been jousting with for about 10 miles on the bike took me after the first water stop and I couldn't catch him. He was cruising. I focused on a steady HR even though it was now high. Passed a couple of drink stations and wanted to get out to the dam since it was the halfway point. Mile 5 has a nasty little hill follow by a slight incline out to the main road again. Lots of people walking up it. I just shorten my stride and increased the turnover to get up and out of there. My last mile seemed fast but I wasn't thinking this was going to be my fastest tri 10K. Finished really strong trying not to leave anything out there.

I was right. Not my fastest performance for a tri 10K but respectable. In review I think I could've gone a bit faster at the beginning of the run. With the injury recovery I hadn't done as many bricks like earlier in the season and my mileage had been a bit off. The run is usually my best segment but on this day I think the bike was my strongest.

Met up with Steamy and then went back down the road about a 1/4 mile to wait for Deb and cheer her on. Grabbed a water and a couple of diet cokes and walked around talking to folks. Massage was great. Chiro worked on my PF and educated me on further recovery techniques.


Swim for sure. I really need to get some focused swim coaching. 3-5 minutes here would be a huge impact on the rest of my race day. Also, a reduced brick and running schedule affected my run just a bit. I've logged faster times there.


This was a PR for me at this distance! I improved over last year's time by 14 minutes. Really pleased with overall accomplishment. I also met a goal to finish in the top half of my group which I did do. A little side note here that of all Clydesdales I was the oldest and only 40something. This race is a mainstay on my calendar.