Hammerhead Olympic Triathlon - Triathlon

Swim went pretty good, primarily due to excellent navigation. The was out, it was hard to breathe on the right side because the sun was rising and there was a consistent chop of waves that would hit you in the face. Made the turn and felt like I was bobbing in the chop until I rounded the last buoy. The way back in was difficult to sight because the sun was now in your face making picking out navigation marks a challenge. I ended up settling on keepiing a large water tower off 10 degrees off my right side. Felt like I was going quick, not as quick as goal pace because I caught a large number of pink caps (6 minute head start) and a few green caps (12 minute head start)

Nothing good swim for me, I was hoping for

In transition, I took a hotshot, and packed up 2 gu's. feet were covering in muddy sand from the rain the night before, took some wiping to get my feet clean. My left groin was feeling tight and there were a bunch of people at the mount line, so I didn't get the normal jumping mount, I just straddled the bike and mounted then got going. pretty average for me on distance transition, slow for a sprint.

bring back my foot dunk bucket

Goal was to not blow up on the bike because i was scared of the temperatures and melting down on the run and the hills on the run were unknown. the first lap, i really didn't push too hard because I wanted to hold something back and determine a good pace. I took a gu at mile 3, forgot to take it right at the bike start.I was feeling a little nauseous from the hot shot I had taken in T1 but kept to the drink a sip every mile. On the second lap all the sprinters joined the course and this created a lot of slowdowns, so although I pushed harder on lap 2, I was 9 seconds slower due to not being able to shoot the corners and turn arounds. Overall the goal was to keep average HR 165-170BPM and a max of 175BPM, finished with a 168BPM average and a max of 176BPM. Wore my Kask Protone because I was worried about the heat and rain, I probably could have pulled off the POC Tempor because conditions were cool and there was no rain.

be more aggressive on the course. overall bike was in top 10% of all racers.

I was a hot mess coming into transition, almost ran down the wrong aisle and then struggled racking my bike. My legs were tired and it was a struggle to get my socks and shoes on. Also, left my bike tool in my shoe so had to get that out. I picked up 2 gus, my base salts, and a hot shot and was finally out on the run.

get it togther

Took a gu right out of transition. I came out really good for the first 1.5 miles, the all of a sudden hit the sprint turn around and running became hard, the cloud cover lifted and the temperature felt like it was soaring. At each aid station I took a cup of water and dumped a second cup of water. the lady 1 number lower than me pretty much paced me the entire way. At mile 3 took the second gu. I was taking base salt every .5 miles to make sure I wouldn't cramp. the really bad hill on duval road was at mile 3.5 and pretty much is an average grade of 2% but it broke half the field causing a lot of walking. This .5 mile segment is the only shade on the course. With 1.5 mile to go the course is mostly downhill and I got into a groove and was steady until the finish line except where my bib broke as I was rotating it forward, I took a couple seconds to switch holes and then ran it in. At the finish line I met the kids and we did a DAB photo which was awesome! Never broke the hotshot out, it was there in case of emergencies but since my stomach didnt like the one on the bike, I saved it for a cramp emergency.

I still feel I need more training in the heat, lose a few more pounds, and drop more running mile on a weekly basis. Slowest 10k of 5 Olympic triathlons.Not terrible in comparison to the field.

Waled to the water and just soaked for about 15 minutes. Started trying to stretch and my legs immediately went into cramps. Got out of the water, had a hot shot and some water. Pedaled the bike .75 miles back to the hotel and got cleaned up for awards.


the Heat (to be fare it was much lower than in previous years), overall this was an Olympic PR so its tough to say the race was bad.


This was a terrific race put on by DRC sports. The water is crystal clear and gorgeous to swim in. The bike is safe and well marked. The run is hot but there are plenty of aid stations. Spectators can buy breakfast and lunch from the on base facility near the race start. If you have kids make sure to pack swim suits because the water is amazing and there is a nice dock that they can jump off. T-shirts fit ok but were a hideous color spearmint. Awards went 3 deep in each age group with nice medals. Volunteers packed the run course providing lots of water. Only complaint was that they ran out of pizza at post race and that they didnt have any coke.