Triangle Triathlon - Triathlon

My first OWS since 2006, but I knew what to expect with the wave start. My previous 2 OWS races went quite well, so I didn't worry too much about it. Previously, I've always waited 15-30 seconds or so for the wave bunch to get going and then joined in at the back. That worked quite well in the past. This time, I was estimating that my swim time would be the only one of the 3 events where I might be relatively competitive in my age group. So, I slid up near the front of my group at the start, with about 2-3 people in front of me. Bad move. All of the kicking and arms flailing, combined with the water being muddy/dark enough that I couldn't see anything under water, really got me off my game. I was never able to settle into a groove, as I kept swimming into people and had to stop to change directions. It was a lot of extra effort at the beginning of the swim and I quickly got worn out. It felt like I had completely forgotten how to swim aerobically. I was out of breath the entire time. I eventually had to roll over on my back and kick for a good part of the swim distance. The pack never seemed to thin out until the last 1/3 of the swim. It could have been much worse, though. I still finished ahead of a few people in my swim wave, and was only passed by about 10 of the fast women in the wave that started 5 minutes behind us. LOL

Lesson learned. I'm going to continue to start all my OWS's 15-30 seconds behind the group. It's much more important for me to get into my aerobic groove early. I'll keep it slow, smooth, and steady as I pass the others when there is more room.

There was a pretty good run from the water to the transition entrance, and my spot was at the opposite end from the swim entrance. I was still a little out of sorts after the poor swim, but not too bad. Shirt got stuck on my wet back a little bit, but my organization and pre-race walk through of each transition paid off as everything else went smoothly. My time will be a little slow as I really didn't hurry much. I had basically the shortest run with my bike, as I was in the last row, closest to the bike start/finish. I was glad for that!

When I decide I want to try to make my transitions faster, I'll practice more. These days, I just want them to go smooth and to not forget anything important. LOL Mission accomplished for this race.

I was thrilled with my bike segment! For me, this was a great time. I had ridden the course 2 times before, so I knew to expect the hills in the first 2/3 of the course. After my poor swim, I decided to try to flex my bike fitness that I've been building over the last 5 months. I was good on the uphills, pushing harder than I normally would have, and shifting gears as needed quite well. I figured having the hills early, my legs would be up to the challenge and they were. For the last 1/3, I was really cruising on the mostly downhill parts. I turned back into the park entrance road with a mile left to ride and still felt strong. I hoped to get close to about 1:04 for the bike time, and I finished in under an hour! Now, it would be time to find out if I pushed too hard and killed my legs for the run or not.... LOL

Not much. I think I came close to my best performance for my current bike fitness level.

T2 went pretty smoothly and quickly. Dropped helmet, shoes off, shoes on, grabbed the race belt and decided to leave the hat. Off I went....

I was expecting my run to suck, based on my only brick training workout. Legs started off quite heavy as was expected, and both of my calves told me they were thinking about cramping. LOL I focused on a high cadence without pushing off much for the first mile or so and my legs and calves loosened up. They never did cramp enough for me to have to stop and stretch them. One small splash of water to drink at mile 1 and then I focused on keeping my effort level just above my aerobic zone, around 160 hr for me. Mile 2 stayed nice and steady at that level. I waited until about 2.5 miles before bumping the effort level up a bit more. Saw Dale cheering at the 2.75 mark and said Hi to him. That really boosted me for the last bit and I finished with a strong run pace.... not quite a sprint. LOL Overall, I might have had just a bit more in me than I used for the run, but I'm very happy that this run didn't suck, and that I didn't kill my legs with the hard bike ride. I'm sure the run time won't be all that impressive, but overall I'm really happy with it!

I always have to start this section out with "more brick training workouts." LOL Other than that, I think I got close to my best run result for my current run fitness level. I probably had just a bit more I could have pushed over the second half, but not much.

Grabbed water, then a coke and a slice of pizza. Caught up to Dale and chatted for about 20-30 minutes. After that, I stretched my legs pretty well before packing up my transition area.


I let the swim start get in my head. i'll be smarter next time. Bike and run were good at my current fitness levels.


It's taken me 10 years since my first Tri to finally do my "hometown" race. I had a blast, and really hope to work it into my schedule again for next year!