Reston Triathlon - TriathlonOlympic

Tough start as around 100 people wade in and then are off. I was in the first wave and it was rough - lots of bumping and moving around. Took a shot to the eye right away but my googles stayed on.

About 200 yards in 3 of us broke from the pack and were off. I was in 2nd trailing my friend Dave (won my AG) and dropped back to third near the midpoint. Unfortunatly I overshot the turn around by about 20 yards (a volunteer yelled at me that I had gone to far) and by the time I got back on course the other two were too far ahead for me to catch up.

The second half I settled my stroke down and just kept it smooth and easy. I was tempted to turn it on and try to catch them but decided to save myself as I knew the bike was going to be tough.

Not overshoot the turn around.

My best T1 yet - no socks, no gloves, new helmet has visor on it so no sunglasses.

Nothing.

I was 4th out of T1 and tried to start by just keeping my cadence high and moving steady. First lap was tough and I did not find my legs until right at the end of the first lap (about mile 7ish). First lap I avg'd 20 mph and the next two I was above 22.

Took a few of the turns to wide and was passed on one turn but caught and repassed the guy a mile down the rode. Got passed by a total of 6 people on the bike so I knew I was in pretty good shape coming into T2.


May need to train on getting myself up to race pace faster or swimming hard and then biking.

Need to remember to wipe my feet off first and then put the shoes on. Tried to put my shoes on right away and had to take them off as they both had rocks in them.

Made it through T1 and I was just behind 2 other people - the top woman and a guy I swim with who has been doing tri's for a while. I knew I was in second in my AG and wanted to hold on to at least third.

I started off just trying to get my cadence up and turning it over quick. Legs felt relatively fresh and I thought I might be in for a good run as I was keeping up with the top woman and gaining on the guy.

It was a weird position - all of a sudden I was the hunter and not the hunted on the run. Picked off the guy first and the woman and I went back in forth over the next two miles. Eventually we caught the number one swimmer and passed him as well. Saw TahoeSteve on the course and that helped pick me up.

Right before the turnaround I was passed by my first runner. On the way back I saw a bunch of people that looked like strong runners gaining on me. I pushed to the point where I felt like I was going to be sick and kept it there the rest of the run. Was passed by 3 more runners on the way back and one of them was in my AG. Darn down to third but still placed in the top three. After I finished I learned the top guy in my AG (he caught my friend Dave on the run in the last mile) was hit with three drafting penalties (6 minutes total) which knocked him down to third - sweet.

Nothing - best run to date - had someone to run against most of the race and could not have pushed it any harder without being sick.

As soon as you cross the finish line they hand you a cold towel and water bottle - nice touch. After my stomach settled down, I ate some pizza and had some water.


Still my first year of really doing tri's so I need more experience and training. My coach really hit my taper right as I felt strong the entire race. :)


Great race - they have been doing this race 20 something years and it shows. Lots of volunteers and support. The swag is the best around - jacket, hat, water bottle, cold towel, etc.