Sylvania Triathlon - Olympic Distance - TriathlonOlympic

Really don't like the thrashing that goes on at the begining of the swim, so I started at the outside of the back of the pack. When the canon (literally a cannon) went off, walked into the water. Started swimming when the water got about thigh high.

Immediately found some room to swim. Not getting kicked early really helped me find my groove. Kept drifting to the left on the way to the first buoy. Saw a swimmer to my right who was going about my speed so I tried to keep the distance between me and him consistent. This worked out well; I stayed straight and didn't have to site as often because I could see him when I breathed.

As we came to the first buoy, I closed the gap between me and the other swimmer. Drafted off him on the back section of the loop. When we got to the next buoy he was starting to slow down so I left him.

With nobody to draft off of or site off of, I started drifting to the left again. At one point, I was so far left I hit some shallow water and could not swim. Had to do a few dolpin dives to get back into deeper water. Sited more often the rest of the way and stayed on track better. Got a few drafts with the next waves started catching us. When the water was about knee high, got up and started running. I was shocked when I hit the beach in under 30 minutes.

Absolutely nothing. Even though I kept drifting left, this was the best swim I have ever had. Felt strong and smooth the whole way.

This was a big transition area, so I was a little worried about finding my rack--turned out not to be a problem. Socks, shoes, and helmet went on about as fast as I could do it. A little trouble stuffing the gels into the wet jersey.

Started running with the bike and did not even think about it being on my left side. Hit the mount line and froze for about a second (I don't think I have ever mounted my bike when it is on my left). Ran around to the other side hopped on, got clipped into the shoes and I was on my way.

Run with the bike on the correct side. Tape the gels to the bike and stuff them into the jersey while riding. Overall a good transition though--much better than the last Olympic Tri I did.

Overall, a pretty uneventful bike. There was some wind, but it was generally a cross wind and nothing that I haven't had to deal with before. I saw very little drafting and no blocking out on the course. Having a USAT official out there really made a difference.

Got passed by a ton of people on the bike; I was having a solid ride and it was like I was standing still (definately some room for improvement here). I think the only people that I passed were the back of the duathlon pack.

Wind picked up with about five miles to go. Dropped down a few gears in attempt to save the legs a little bit for the run. Smooth dismount from the bike; entered transition on pace for a PR.

Besides train more on the bike, nothing. Overall this was a good ride for me.

Smooth transition. Got the bike racked and the shoes swapped without any problems. One of the safety pins on my race belt had opened up so I had to redo it--no big deal, only took a couple of seconds.

I'm not sure. I thought I had a solid transition but my time was not that great.

At the start of the race my goal was to go sub 2:40:00. I was feeling great and was definately on pace for this; so, I set a new goal of trying to set a new 10K PR. Only thing I was worried about was the heat and humitidy.

Passed a couple of people right out of transition. Did the first mile in about 7:30. Slurped down a gel and grabbed water at the first aid station. Did mile two in 7:30 and grabbed gatorade at the aid station.

Had a little trouble in mile three; towards the end of it, I started tripping over my own feet and felt my face getting flush. Took my time at this aid station--tossed one water in my face, dumped one over my head, took a caffinated gel, and drank a glass water. That took care of whatever was happening because I felt better almost immediately. This mile was my slowest mile by far (8:30).

Rest of the race was pretty uneventful. Dumped water over my head and drank gatorade at the remaining aid stations. With a mile to go, I was starting to get tired, but I knew I could set a PR if I could do one last 8min mile. Just bared down and tried to hold on. Crossed the line in 48:27, a PR by 33 seconds.

I think I held my own during the run--passed about the same number of people that passed me.



Push harder. I had a 10K PR in this race, but I crossed the finish line with a little bit left in the tank.

Found my dad and aunt; chatted with them for a little bit and then had some pretzels and gatorade. Once my body was settled down a little bit, grabbed a beer and watched the other competitors finish. Cleaned up my transition area and then headed to lunch.


Nothing. I had an Olympic distance PR and a 10K PR at this race. If I want to get to the next level at this distance, I need to spend a lot more time on the bike.


This was a great race (FAR different than the last Elite Endeavours race that I did). I've never seen so many volunteers. Great post race lunch.