Grand Rapids Triathlon - Triathlon

I did not push too hard but harder than I expected. It was nice having the CC loop as I'm much more efficient breathing on my left side. I did OK on sighting. The wetsuit stripper did not know what he was doing and actually slowed my down.

I did about what I wanted for this swim.

I forgot to open my chew packages and wasted 30 seconds or so with this. The rain did not help. I had covered my stuff with a plastic bag, but things still got wet.

Make sure nutrition is ready. Have wetsuit OVER my watch prior to having it removed.

It rained on and off during this ride. I was shooting for 208W and nailed it. The rain and potholes made the ride a bit nerve wracking. One of the main turns was not marked and I nearly missed it. I just saw the guy in front of me turn. On the way back it was pouring rain and I caught up with the slow Oly folks that clogged the way. There were bottles that riders had lost all over the place and made the riding more dangerous. At times it was raining hard enough for large rooster tails. I lost a bunch of my chews due to them being slimy. I ate and drank alternating every 5 minutes or so.

I think this was about what I should have done. I drank plenty.

Things being wet made everything a bit more challenging. I retired my fuel belt. a bottle fell out 4 times in transition and I lost that bottle on the run.

Need new belt or not use one for next race.

This was my fastest HIM run split by about 18 seconds per mile. I drank regularly every few minutes. I had one bottle filled at an aid station 3 times with water. I passed the guy in my age group that beat me on the swim and bike between 9 and 10 miles. I figured he would try and come back so I kept pushing the pace. Having the weather cool made this easier. I forgot to put my Garmin to record laps, but the official time had me at 8:23 pace for the last 2.9 miles. I spoke to the guy in snd after the race who did try to catch me, running under 8 minute pace for the last mile, but he ended 2;59 behind me.

Organize transition better.

Nothing


I did about what I could. Having cool weather helped, but I think the rain slowed my bike time.


Things for the race were not laid out very well. Porta potties were all by the swim and not close to the long, narrow transition area for which I was WAY at the end away from the swim. They were not set up for rain and only had a few chairs. Chick-fil-a was advertised as one of the food sponsors but they had a local pizza place that only gave out one slice at a time.