Best in the West Triathlon Festival Olympic - Triathlon

It was a good swim for me. The time is faster than appears above (and T1 is slower) as the swim time seemed to end at the T1 entrance. When I stood up to leave the water my watch showed 26:04. I got a strong start and passed people throughout; think I did a good job of sighting and drafting when possible; felt strong throughout. I believe this is my best Oly split, at least for open water.

Find a better way to keep warm before the start!

Time is probably slower than it appears owing the position of the timing mat. (Over a minute of running is included in the swim time rather than T1.) I also had a horrible position in transition--far from both swim in and bike out. Old ladies got shafted. Ugh!

Not sure. If air temps had been warmer, I would have raced in my sleeveless shortie to save time in T1, but it was in the high 40's at the swim start (about 55 at start of bike) and I needed the suit to stay warm. As it was I got really cold between the time they called us out and my wave start. I kept moving as quickly as I could and didn't stand there dithering about extra layers/gloves or no. For me that is progress. (I am truly world class at dithering.)

NP was 172. That is roughly the same (one watt higher, actually) as during my PB at Tri at the Grove last year, when I was over 2 minutes faster. I think just a harder course. Plus I was having some issues with gearing, equipment, and focus. Not as confident as I could have been--riding a brand new bike ("Andreas") in a new position. I had only ridden him outdoors once before this race, and not at race speeds on rough, hilly roads.

Better gearing choices--I think I was mashing too hard a gear up some of the hills; too lazy about going into my small ring. But most of the hills were fairly short so it didn't seem worth the trouble. I think I put my new aero bottle top on wrong before the race, which caused the stopper to eject at about 6 miles. Then I got splashed with cold water every time I hit one of the many, many bumps or rough spots. Clearly, need to be more familiar with my equipment and put it on properly! I was less confident than I might have been were I more comfortable with the position (some slight changes from my old bike, mainly aerobars) and handling on the new bike. It felt twitchy on the downhills (probably as my bars were closer together) and I wasn't that aggressive on them as a result. Need to ride it more outside before my next race.

I remembered to put on the race belt and hat as I was running out, not stand there doing it in T2

Not sure. It was a good transition for me. Again not the best position--not really close to anything.I was wearing running shoes I hadn't raced in before (had just put lace locks in a few days before after my other pair of Kinvara's wore out inside) and for some reason one heel didn't slip on right the first time; had to stop as I left to pull it up more. I have a bone spur on that heel and sometimes shoes get stuck there. Maybe need more practice!

I felt good off the bike--plenty of energy, no cramps, but just didn’t seem to have an extra gear, especially going uphill. I don’t think I was ever breathing hard; I just couldn’t speed up. I think maybe related to the long drive down from Boise the day before. I felt like my stride was shorter than normal and my legs had no snap. But I didn’t feel tired; felt like I could have easily turned around and done the run again at about the same pace, although I couldn’t speed up. A bit better on the downhills, but everyone else was running faster then too.

I think I was also mentally out of it--I kept passing/ trying to pass women with “OD” and “OT” on their legs. Kept wondering why they couldn’t be consistent and mark “Olympic Distance” or “Olympic Tri”. It didn’t occur to me until afterwards that “OD” was in fact the duathlon participants. (No, I was not short on nutrition or hydration, or overheated. I slept pretty well the night before for 8 hours. Just dumb, apparently. Or maybe I needed more caffeine!)

This was the only Oly I have ever done where I didn’t feel ANYTHING after--not sore, not out of breath, not particularly tired. Only felt sore after sitting in the car after the race and on Sunday driving back, and that just a bit beyond the level I would feel just sitting/driving without racing. ?????


Probably needed even more run warmup. Consider getting down a day earlier to give myself more time to loosen up. Nine hours of driving is a lot!

Didn't really do one. Walked around a lot getting food and drink for Mom and me. My legs really weren't sore and I wasn't all that tired. We went for a short walk (maybe one mile) before the awards, and then we decided to walk back to the car (about 1 1/2 miles away). That was enough warm down.


I think a lack of focus on the bike--new bike, aerobottle issue, and rough course distracted me from making good gearing choices, being more aggressive on some parts (downhills) and keeping power steadier. On the run, not sure. I don't usually feel like that in a tri run. Maybe the focus on longer distances in training, or just stiffness from the long drive (9-10 hours from Boise) the day before, left me without that extra "gear". It wasn't a fatigue issue--this was a recovery week and my legs were feeling really good before the drive down.

Not sure where else to put this--the pic shows me with the first place AG trophy. Incredibly, the first place woman (just under 2:27) was 45. But in this race there is no "double dipping" for awards. So I get first AG, although technically I was 2nd. Whatever.


This race is really well-run. It is advertised as "by athletes, for athletes" and clearly they have taken the time to do things right to make people happy! There were a lot of different events over three days and this was Day 3, but nothing seemed to get short-changed. The course was beautiful and clearly marked, with abundant aid stations on bike and run (every mile on the latter). Unique awards, great post-race BBQ, snacks, and beverages, plenty of things for kids and family to do,well-organized parking and transport. Really no complaints at all. There was one really rough section of road (recently repaved, seemed to be asphalt over medium-sized rocks) that took its toll on bikes, nutrition, water bottles, people, and bike splits. That was the only low point--but I don't think it's the organizers' fault! There is everything from sprint to HIM (including du and aqua bike for each distance), to a "Try a Tri" for beginners, to races for little kids, youth, and collegiate teams. Would highly recommend this, along with my hometown race, Tri at the Grove, if you happen to be in Oregon a the right time. It was well worth the drive back from Idaho! No matter where I have to move due to job/family demands, Oregon will always be home in my heart--I'm always happy to come back for any reason, including a race.