Pilgrimman - Triathlon

I've been working on using Total Immersion swimming for the past year. This was the first chance to see if it had paid off, but the jury is still out. I definitely feel smoother and less tired, but there was not a noticeable improvement in my pace - I am still a slow, bottom 20% of my AG swimmer. However, it's tough to compare this swim to past times because a) you came out of the water onto the beach twice during the swim and b) there was a long-ish run out up from the beach before you hit the transition mat. For me, coming out on the beach felt like it slowed me down some, just standing up and running out of the water and then getting back in got my heart-rate up and disturbed my rhythm. Neither were big differences, but big enough that I feel this swim was not a true comparison to Cranberry, for example.

I learned from my last race and had new, clean goggles for this one, so sighting was pretty easy, particularly as the sun was high and to one side of the course. Also swan fairly straight, compared to my normal zig-zagging.

Maybe I need to push harder on the swim. I'm working pretty hard when I'm swimming, but definitely not anywhere near as hard as I am on the bike or run. Bring on the misery...

A short uphill run to transition area. I still take a little longer than I would like to get my wetsuit off. Everything else went okay - not super-quick, but efficient enough and nothing forgotten.

Stomp on the wetsuit and put my helmet on at the same time, instead of after.

For some reason, I figured anything in this area would be flat, similar to the Cranberry course. Unfortunately, this wasn't the case. No big hills, just lots of little rolling ups and downs. And the downs all seemed too short to really get much of a rest or get some speed up, so it felt like a lot more up than down.

Plenty of other riders on the road, which I liked, as there were the other Oly waves plus the HIM riders (who did 4 laps of the same course). That also makes it tough to see how you were comparing with others in your AG, but overall I passed more than I got passed by, so felt okay with my pace.

I saw other riders having a tough time with cars and trailers on the road (lots of horse-trailers), but I got lucky and had no problem. Essentially, the cars couldnt pass other, slower riders, so the faster riders in turn couldn't get round the cars and trailers. (I also heard from other racers that one rider got into a serious altercation with a driver, but no independent confirmation on that) Next year it will be a closed course, which I think will be a very good improvement. But the course is pretty and the short hills keep it interesting. In cooler weather, I would really have enjoyed it. Overall,I ended up about 1 mph slower than Cranberry last year, which I was okay with, given the heat and the course.

Not accept a small plastic bottle at the bottle exchange. It made it about 100 yards in the cage before bouncing out. I noticed (too late) that they also had filled bike-bottles available for exchange - a nice touch. Not much else - I knew this was not going to be a fast time for me with the heat and the unexpected hills, so feel I paced it pretty well and kept something for the run

No problem - in and out.

The run was hot and miserable and slow. By now, it was around noon, and mid-80's and sunny. Again, I was (incorrectly) expecting a flat run, but it was more of the rolling terrain, and it just felt like a lot more up than down. There was one fairly flat 1/4 mile section along the road, which felt so comfortable, but other than that it was pretty hard work for me. I walked a couple of times for about 1 min each time, to keep cramps at bay and did a slow 10-minute pace when I was running. Like the bike, on a cooler day (which you might expect at the end of September) this would have been a much more pleasant experience. Aid stations were great - choice of cups or bottle of water and really enthusiastic volunteers.

Suffering more would have maybe gained me a couple of minutes, but I would have then risked serious cramping (a recurring problem for me) so I was okay with my slightly slower pace and a conservative approach.

Lay around and drank plenty. Paddled some in the lake - water was too cold to swim but felt good


Did I mention it was hot? and hilly? Apart from that, I had not trained in a disciplined way this summer. Instead after my HIM last year, I took it easy, did something most days, but didn't follow a plan or keep a log. With a little more serious application, I could have been a few minutes faster, but I just didn't have that much commitment this summer. I was also relieved to hear a lot of younger, fitter racers saying after the race that it was a lot harder than than expected also, so it wasn't just me feeling that way.


I liked this race. There were some complaints from the Sprint the day before about organization, but on Sunday a lot of those things seem to have been corrected and I had no complaints about any aspect of the race. I like late-season Olympic-distance races, so it's good to have another choice and Myles Standish State Park is a great venue for a race. Overall, I prefer not to do multiple laps for the bike or run, but two laps of each for the Oly didn't feel too repetitive. Packet pick-up was smooth and race started on time. Plenty of very enthusiastic volunteers and good supplies on the aid stations. Lots of food available straight after the race and then a bag lunch also, so no complaints there. Overall, I saw a few things which could be done slightly better, but for a first race this was a very good experience for me. I know the location has been changed for next year to another lake in the park, and the bike route will be closed, so I think I'll be back - and hoping for a more September-like day!