Hartsville International - TriathlonOlympic

There was a sprint triathlon going on at the same time but my wave was the first after the elites so there wasn't much traffic, until I got back to about the 1200 meter mark and started seeing the sprint participants. Water also was more shaded on the last leg which made it cooler. I thought I was going to have trouble on the bike with my stomach because of the taste of gasoline in the water, but it never bothered me, other than when I was swimming.

Not much. My goal was to do better than 30 minutes and I did that. I need to work on my breathing.

I don't have cleats, so I have to get my socks on and running shoes. I have had a hard time getting my feet into the cages so I end up riding a little with them not in.

Eventually get some cleats and pedals

I came out of the water ahead of quite a few people, and quickly was passed by about everyone. I was amazed how fast some people were passing me, as I felt like I was riding hard. Never seeing the course and thinking it was 27 miles my goal was 1'30 and with an additional mile i was 5 minutes over that so I was pleased. My riding needs to improve over the winter, as well as my strength training.

Train much better on the bike with harder training rides.

With no cleats and pedals my T2 isn't too bad. I basically take my helmet off, rack my bike and get something to drink then take off.

I'm not sure. I think I'll get better the more that i do them.

Brutal and very disappointing. The course was difficult and started with an up hill 200 yard run. It seemed to me like we ran up hill the whole race. I began cramping in my legs early on and mentally gave up. I had friends passing me encouraging me but I wasn't into it. I began to walk and run and plodded along. This is the second race where I've crashed on the run and I've got to figure it out. The race to that point was ok.

I'm researching diet and supplements and will work on them to see if they impact my training. I will definitely do a lot more bike to run bricks to get my legs more accustomed to the shock coming off of the bike. I got plenty of calories on the ride so I should have been ok on energy, but didn't have it. I've purchased some electrolyte tablets and will try them for the cramping. I wanted to be under an 8:30 pace and barely kept it under 10 minutes.

Got in the shade and stretched with some friends. Had some water and a gatorade and just cooled off. I went up for the awards but didn't stick around too long as I didn't feel real good. I couldn't eat and they had a nice chicken and rice meal. After a while I gathered my gear and got in the car for the ride home.


While i trained, I didn't train to race well, more to complete the race, which I did. The competitive side of me wanted to beat 3 hours but the run prevented that. I'm going to train over the winter, maybe do one more in October, and get ready to go for next season, and plan to do 1/2 IM


The volunteers on the course where excellent. At some points in the run they would start cheering you on by singing your number and encouraging you to keep at it. The food looked good, but I couldn't eat it. Very rustic facility, but overall good.