Turtleman Triathlon - Triathlon

O.K. So this was my 1st Oly swim. Decided I just wanted to finish. They started swimmers every 3 seconds. I went out fairly slow. Didn't really sight much at the start. Just tried to draft off of swimmers as they went by me :). There was a sandbar about halfway out to the turnaround. I decided once I hit the sandbar with my hand, I'd walk for a while and almost treat it like a swim workout--get a few seconds rest and start swimming again. Stepped on a rock, which hurt. Getting to the 1st turnaround buoy seemed like it took FOR.EV.ER. I just started doing things that kept my mind off the swim. Ironically, I started singing 'Swing Low, Sweet Chariot' in my head, not realizing the next phrase of the song was 'coming for to carry me home.' I guess it didn't really bother me, because I figured it wasn't my time to go. It stuck in my head, probably because it matched my swim stroke cadence. I rounded the 2nd turnaround buoy, thinking 'when will this end?' I started doing math in my head, converting 17.4 mph to min/mile (the answer is 3.44 min/mi, btw :)). That kept me busy for a while. Hit the sandbar on the way back. Checked my split (34 min, this was supposed to be my target TOTAL time for the swim :(). I finally could see the exit balloons. Started swimming faster and chanting to myself 'get your groove on.' Actually it was quite silly, looking back on it, but it caused me to focus on my speed and my stroke. Got a serious 'weed burn.' A weed had gotten wrapped around the back of my neck and probably rubbed my neck for the last 1/3 of the swim, so I had a nice 'weed hickey.' :) Got out of the water, sprinted to the timing mat--42 min. I'll take it. Saw Becki at the swim exit cheering me on...thanks Becki!

Nothing. First Oly distance. Happy that I finished. 1 freakout issue at the halfway point thinking to myself 'can I finish this?' No problem, just slower than I thought.

No complaints. Socks on. Cycling shoes on. Hopped onto bike and up the hill.

Nothing.

Went out too fast. Tried to stay at 17 mph, but was really hard to stay below 20 mph. Very windy on the course. Made sure to thank volunteers on the way. Saw Darryl (county sherriff) and yelled out a thanks. Felt it at the end. Was struggling to maintain 17 mph by mile 20.

More nutrition on the bike...Hammer gel every 1/2 hour instead of every hour. Hold my pace.

Goofed up a little here. As I was coming to no pedal zone, I pulled way back off the bike behind my seat to stretch out. By the time I got into the no pedal zone, I was going fairly slow, so I started pedaling to get my momentum up. A race official shouted 'no pedal zone!' Felt like a doofus, because I hit my brakes real hard because it caught me off guard. I was slowly rolling into the transition zone by then. Thank goodness there was a downhill.

Pay attention at transition.

It was stinkin' hot by this time. I started running out fairly solid. Passed a guy that was obviously cramping, and trying to stretch it out. He started running again just as I was passing. I told him 'way to stretch it out and keep running.' We ran together for about 2 miles. I give a pace update every so often (we were running about 8:30s, but I told him I was going to try and run no slower than 9:40s). Saw Kelly early on and ran a few yards with her. We also picked up another runner, young guy, don't remember his age, but he had 3 friends on bikes cheering him on, riding on the opposite side of the street. Mobile cheering group :). Awesome idea. We all hung together for about 2 miles. My quads started cramping really bad about mile 4. I would stop at all the aid stations and take a Gatorade and water, but really, this nutrition should have started on the bike leg. Good tri lesson. Limped it into mile 5 and 6. Would glance down at my Garmin and occasionally I would be running 10 to 11 min/mi pace, so I must have paced much faster at the start to have an overall average pace of 8:45 mins/mi.

Better nutrition on the bike leg, besides that nothing else. Had a good run, running with folks I just met on the course. Made the run bareable.

Walked through the mist shower. Headed straight for the hotdogs (my favorite post-race food). Talked to folks in line about the race/race conditions. Had to chaperone my son's youth activity down in Mankato at 3pm, so left the food area fairly quickly so I could get on the road (noon). Saw Tom and Rodger as I was heading down to pull my bike out of transition, but talked to them for a while and swapped race experiences.


The usuals--wind, heat, nutrition. The not-so-usuals--weeds, the safety net of the sandbars (the temptation to walk and rest was just too much).


Great race. Will do it again next year.