Stonebridge Ranch Triathlon - Olympic - Triathlon

The water was warm so wetsuits weren't allowed. This didn't bother me much as outside of racing I never wear or train in my wetsuit. It was a 2 lap course which changed midway through the race. The race director told us before we went off that on the 2nd lap we didn't need to go through the starting orange buoys on lap 2 but as I made the turn I almost ran into a kayak who told me I did need to go through them. It was a little frustrating but I saw I wasn't the only one getting redirected so I just swam on. My sighting was bad but I blame that on athletes wearing yellow caps and having yellow buoys for us to circle. I also should have pushed myself more on the swim as I can swim faster but for some reason I didn't want to overdo it and leave myself running on empty.

Swim harder and do a better job finding a line and fast pair of feet to follow

With no wetsuit this made transition a breeze. It was a long run to transition but once I got to my rack socks and shoes went on, helmet was strapped on and off I went. I need to learn to bike without socks and work on pre-clipping my shoes into my pedals but overall I was pretty happy with the way everything went.

Besides a short climb coming out of transition the course was very fast with a lot of downhills. This was by far my best bike to date and I felt good pushing the whole course. I took one Gu halfway through lap 3 but overall I felt very good on my bike. It got a little chaotic with bikes on lap 2 but everyone was generally respectful of staying to the right.

Nothing

I didn't realize how close the dismount line was after making the turn so I didn't have time to take my feet out of my shoes but I was able to unclip quickly and run to my spot. I once again had my lock laces snap on my while putting on my running shoes so I tied a quick knot and off I went. This is the 3rd time this has happened to me with Lock laces so clearly it's time for me to find a new pair of quick laces.

I enjoyed the run except for the steep downhills followed by steep uphills. There was a lot of ups and downs on this course which definitely took a toll on my legs. Around mile 5 I started cramping but I saw someone in my age group just ahead of me and I was determined to beat him. As I pulled up beside him I cramped badly so I dropped back and had just enough gas in the tank to sprint the last half mile and I beat him in the end by about 15 seconds. I was shooting for a 45 min run so overall I wasn't far off my goal and was happy with the end result.

Ate a banana, had a few oranges and got a massage while waiting for the awards ceremony, which took forever!


Race was very well organized and outside of the swim confusion it was a great race. I had fun and will be back!