Cranberry Country Triathlon - TriathlonOlympic

There could not be a nicer swim. my wave was tiny, the water was totally calm, and the shore was good for secondary sighting. I haven't had the wetsuit on in ages, and I couldn't get my breathing down for a little bit. I finally relaxed and got into a good rhythm. I lost my wave but the next wave (white caps) was slowly going by me for the 2nd half of the course, I had company. I was slow but relaxed. I was actually surprised by the exit - a good sign.

I had a chance to warm up in the water a little and didn't take it - silly.

I knocked over the rack - again! Luckily there were only two other bikes left, and one was a hybrid on its kickstand. Sorry!

This transition took forever. Part of it was the run up, but I had a lot of "business" going on. I'm sure I could shave some time here.

This course was my kind of course - lots of inclines, but not enough to break up the rhythm or require much braking. The road surface and traffic were bad in a few stretches, but for the most part I coudl just relax and ride.

The marshalls were everywhere, and avoiding position violations was really hard. I kept encountering the same 5 or so women - I climbed faster than them, but they pushed the downhills harder. We kept "crossing", and sometimes I couldn't pass or had to drop passes because of traffic, etc. I hoped that the marshalls would consider that - no violations, yay!

I REALLY ran out of gas in the last 4 miles or so - like 12 mph average, I think, except for downhills. Porbably because I diluted my Gatorade, but ending up not drinking a lot, due to the weather. I ended up singing camp songs to keep myself going - no, I'm not crazy.

Drink more Gatorade; consider the weather when making my mix.

Again, I am slow. Having my Yankz would have helped.

Well, there is something really wrong with my knee-hamstring area. I wrapped it up tight, but kept having to stop to readjust. I had some pain. Time wasn't great, but considering I was prepared to walk the whole thing, I'll take it. I drank no water, just Gatorade, so I had plenty of energy to finish.

Got a kick at the end when I noticed what turned out to be a very young-looking 39 year-old behind me - thought she was in my AG. So I pushed the last mile.

Um, snacks.


Hurt knee, failure to fuel enough.


I loved this race - great goodies, really well staffed, great course. A +++++++. I woudl have been happy with a 3:30 and really happy with a 3:15. I see room to improve, but I'm really pleased and, hopefully, wel on my way to breaking 3:00.