Blue Lake Olympic Triathlon - Triathlon

great swim - relaxed, focused, good sighting - did not know how many buoys were in the long line before the turn, so some anxiousness as to when the last buoy was before the turn, also hard kicking at end, seemed to help avoid 'drunken' feeling out of water

make sure I understand the course and # of buoys ahead of time, kept second guessing which was the last buoy

nailed T1 for the first time, got suit off well, peeleed off heels with hands well, some traffic on bike mount but still able to get onto bike well and into shoes without issues - also first time that racks were tall enough to hook bike on the saddle instead of the bars

should have pushed to bike mount a bit faster to get ahead of the other 2 riders that I had to weave between to get on bike

great ride - estimated power from Strava 218w
average cadence 89 - this was a focus during and made a huge difference in how I felt, feel like it helped save from blowing up on the run
some headwind on the out, but nice tailwind coming back - heat did have me drink up entire bottle on the bars at 2nd turnaround - took a gel and some water to keep fueling up.

maybe push up another gear and see if can still get the cadence up to 90, but that may have pushed too much, hard to say

nailed it this year, great dismount and faster than last year

not a thing

the heat made the run hard, especially miles 3-4 where there was no shade to be found - hit every aid station with water and gatorade - pushed the last .1 or so mile hard to the finish (after the last little hill in the park)

maybe take a gel around mile 3-4 to help with another boost, try to focus the middle miles of the run more - that always seems to be the place where I slow down, even in longer races like the 1/2

stretching, hydration


the heat hurt the run a bit - about 1:30 off from last year, otherwise nothing


compared to same race in 2014 - took 2 minutes off the swim time, 30 seconds off the bike for a 22.3 mph split! Both transitions better than last year (T1 took off 43 seconds, T2 took off 13 seconds). Run was 1:41 slower than last year but the heat really made for a hard run this year so still happy with the pace. Really felt it in the glutes post-race and not surprised as I felt I was working hard on the bike, something to work some strength training on.
Really happy with the results and great way to start the season!