Steelman Triathlon - TriathlonOlympic

I was very pleased with this swim, I was very comfortable. I swam the course a bit wider than normal and often found myself all alone. I guess that's good because I was in wave 4 and at various points I passed all 3 color caps in waves 1-3! The water was warm and this was my first non-wetsuit swim this season. It felt great, I felt very strong!

Perhaps stay closer to the buoys, but I'm not concerned.

No wetsuit, so much of this doesn't apply. I was satisfied with T1, but I still have trouble getting my shoes clipped in sometimes. Nerves/excitement, I think.

Go without a wetsuit more often!!!

I still need work on my hills. This was an up and down course, not alot of flats. You rode a straight shot, then turned around at a cone and headed back again. My average speed was 17 and I was really hoping for 18. It got pretty crowded ont he second loop as the sprint racers were entering the course. Suddenly it was mayhem with TT helmets, disc wheels, tri bikes, road cruisers, mountain bikes and water bottles. It was pretty congested for a while. Oh, and during the race there was a wicked crash. I came up on it afterwards. One girl taken to the hospital, she was laying in the road, bike off to the side, and 1 guy with wicked road rash all over his back and arms (he passed me on my second loop).

Hills, hills, hills. There's no secret. I think I needed more nutrition too. I only drank 1 of my 2 bottles, and took 1 of my 2 GUs. I relied too heavily on the Energy Shots.

Like I said, I pulled into T2 with too many people. It was like driving through the mall parking lot to find a spot......at Christmas!!! I was stuck behind a group and had to stop and wait for them to move before crossing into T2. Fortunately I was in the 3rd rack, so my time didn't suffer. At least since I had the extra time, I took my helmet off and ran with it and the bike.

Nada. I was happy.

I figured out part of my problem is that I have a bad attitude when it comes to running. So I made a decision yesterday to have a good run today. I told myself all through the run that I was doing a great job, that I was having a great race, and to keep it up. Guess what, it worked. I think starting out with a strong swim set me up for a good attitude throughout. I was hot and didn't feel like I was running very well, but I kept going. My goal was to run 18, walk 2. The first time I checked my watch, I had been running for 28 minutes, so I walked. Not for long, and not because I had to, just so that I DIDN'T have to in the near future. I saw Andy, Steve, Christine, and Ed, and just kept plugging away. It was very depressing though coming to the end of my run, the course was pretty desolate. Most everyone was done (and had been for a while) and I thought I was the last one out there. Well, I wasn't, but it wasn't by much. Although, now that it's over and I saw my times, 11:59 pace for a 10K is awfully darn good for me. I'll get it down though.

Run more.

I was a bit nauseous crossing the line so I sat infront of the fan till I got my stomach back. They gave out ice-water soaked towels at the finish. THEY WERE AWESOME!!! Drank huge amounts of water and eventually ate 2 chocolate chip cookies. By the time I could stomach anything else, all the pizza was gone :(


The 30 pounds I could stand to lose.


This was a great race for me and in general. The food was good (pizza, fruit, whole wheat cookies) and the giveaways were awesome. I got a hammer gel flask, a hat, and a road ID. The volunteers were great and there was never any confusion as to where the course lead. Oh, but if you ask a volunteer if there's water anywhere and they say, "next stop", thats like a cop telling you to go 2 lights and make a right!!! My only possible gripe is that I would love to get a post race massage sometime. but when you finish BOP, the sign-up sheet is way too full and I may still be in line waiting. I guess massages are for the fast and furious and first to sign up. I highly reccomend this race and got to meet another BTer (Daniel Arnett- I forget your screen name) who, I might add, finished 2nd overall. AWESOME JOB! It was a great day and a great race. Oddly enough, my splits today were almost identical to the Philly OLY in June, but I think this was a harder course. Something must be going right...