Tugaloo Olympic Triathlon (Swank!) - TriathlonOlympic

Once again swimming is my achilles heel. This is a below average swim for my age group, but right where I was expecting to be. I thought I could do a 2:20/100 pace and that's exactly what I did. This was a wave start, and I was in the last group based on my estimated time to finish (39min). Might have held back a little too much, like my first sprint tri.

I would say swim more, but I have. Time for more lessons... I have recently hit a plateau and need some work on my technique.

I will also fudge alittle next time on the estimated start so I can get in a higher group. Hopefully it will be much improved the second time around.

Came out of the water to a good crowd greeting. My wife, parents, and sister were there to cheer me on. ** That was great ** I felt good coming out of the water and into the TA, but didn't try to kill it through the T1. Found my rack nice and easy. I was really worried about that because it was more crowded than any of my previous races. Got to my station and someone had knocked over my pan of water to dip my feet - so much for that. Ditched that idea and made sure I had good nutrition/hydration. Downed a gel, two shot bloks, and a small drink. Used my new tri shoes with the single strap Shamino TR02 --- nice! So much easier than my regular R130Bs - that buckle was killin' me...

Nothing, this was about the average T1 time.

This was a very enjoyable ride! A tough start out of T1 up a hill and I remember another hill somewhere on the ride that was a good challenge. I found brilliantjoy on the course and we chatted for a few minutes (good race brilliant!) I was able to ride on my areobars most of the ride, including the hills. The rides to Edgefield I have been doing the last couple of months really prepared me for all the rolling hills on this one.


Bike more of course, but I have made some good gains in this area.
I was happy with my time overall. A difference of only two minutes separated 34th from 26th place in age group.

Had to run with the bike longer than I would have liked through the TA, but that was just the luck of the draw. Legs felt good and I tried to concentrate on finding my rack. Had a more difficult time finding it in this direction for some reason. Tri shoes came off great, running shoes, fumbled with the race belt somewhat, gel, drink, visor, roll-out!

Maybe bike with the race belt and start trying to slip out of shoes on the bike. Once again this was about the average T2 time.

Okay, I managed to time my mile splits during the race. This says it all...
7:45 - 8:03 - 8:15 - 8:30 - 9:00 - 9:30 (last mile+ estimated)
I really wanted to keep a 8min pace and started off well through mile 4. Then BOOM came mile 5! Wow did the wheels fall off! At mile 4 you start down a campsite area and looped back uphill. At the top of the hill was mile 5 and most people around me were walking at this point. My lack of running really showed up on the back two miles of this race...

Definitely run more. Out of the whole race, I was most disappointed in my run. Laying off the runnning for 6 weeks due to the ITB and then only running once/week the last 4 week didn't cut it. I knew there was a good chance of this...

Had a nice greeting at the finish by the family. I was really tired after this race. It took me awhile to cool down and be chatty with the family again after being so focused for 3 hours.


ITB forced me to cut my running down the last couple of months. Luckily, it did not rear its ugly head during the race so I must have done a good job on the recovery.


Yes! My first OLY...
I was really happy about my nutirition and hydration for my first Oly. I make my goal of <3hrs. I had fun on the swim and bike, but disappointed on the run.
Overall, I had a fun time and this was a great race with good support. I plan to put this on my calendar for next year.