Black Diamond Triathlon - Long Course - Triathlon

A new PR on the swim! I went out strong for the first 200 yds, and then settled into my alternating free and sides for the first half. On the second loop, I went to 40 sets of free and 10 side strokes, and then all free for the last 800 yds or so. I felt really relaxed and smooth throughout. It was a beautiful sunny swim, and after the initial congestion, it got very comfortable.

Try to start a little more to the outside. I got to the back on the start, but ended up on the inside. So I had nowhere to go but forward in the washing machine for the first 5 minutes.

A new first for me...I got my watch stuck in my wetsuit sleeve. I had to pull the sleeve back up in order to get my watch off. By this time I was to my transition area, and since I didn't have my watch fastened, I set it down. I didn't notice it until I got my bike clear out of the transition area, so ended up doing the bike without a watch! Other than that it went fine. I moved well in and out. Got my breathing down nice and relaxed before getting on the bike.

Not lose my watch!

Conditions were beautiful, other than a pretty solid wind that always seemed to be in my face! I just never had the big push that I felt I've had before. Stopping to provide medical assistance for an injured rider, probably didn't help my mental state. Having my left aero bar loosen up on me didn't help either. Overall it was enjoyable, I just didn't have my best stuff for the day.

Wear my watch! Monitoring my nutrition and hydration required a lot of guess work. It went fine, but I was probably on the verge of under-hydrating.

I took a little extra time getting my socks on smooth and applying sunscreen. Otherwise it was a pretty good transition. I remembered to get extra gels, which really saved me during the run!

Not much. The extra time was more than made up for by PR'ing the run!

What a great run for me, resulting in a PR! I blew the doors off of many runners, but spent the last 4 miles mainly alone. This really tested my mental toughness, as it was very hot! I ended up taking down 3 age groupers in the last 2 miles, which was a great feeling. I had a rough mental spot at about mile 5, but it was quickly relieved on a turn-around when I got a nice breeze in the face.

Not much. I made the most of pretty limited supplies at the aid stations, and they were spread out every 1.5 to 2 miles. I may have gone out a little strong (15:30 for the first 2 miles), but it didn't cause me to suffer at the finish!

A brief walk around the finish area and stretching on mats with foam rollers (nice touch by the AA Sports Staff!) Then after getting a little food and a beer, I went for a brief dip in the lake, followed by some more stretching.


My bike and biking ability.


A beautiful setting for a race. The roads were in places much busier than I'd like to be exposed to on the bike. Also, no mileage markers at all on the bike! Only markers on the run were at mile 2 and mile 11. That was absurd! Aside from that, it was a great way to end the 2014 season. I was really happy with my effort, and really glad I stopped to help Mike, and hopefully he'll make a full recover and be back out there soon.