The Austin Triathlon - TriathlonOlympic

This sucked some serious ass. My wetsuit seemed significantly tighter than I remember (last time I wore it was at Lone Star in March, maybe due to my now bulging pecs, heh heh), so I was having a hard time breathing comfortably. After 200m, breast stroked it pretty much to the far end. Crawled most of the way back. Halfway back, someone from two waves back (green cap) literally swam right over me, pushing me a few feet under water and causing me to sputter a bit. Oh well - get used to it, right? Later, someone whacked my right calf and it immediately cramped up into a tight ball. So I'm laying on my back cursing loudly and I see one of the kayaker support people start to come over and I think "No way am I giving up now - I'm not gonna let this guy try to pull me out of the water". So, I turn back over and just keep on swimming without any kick at all. Amazingly, by the time I got out of the water, it had loosened up enough that I could run normally again.

Fastest time OA: 19:25 (1:18 / 100m)
Fastest time in AG: 24:25 (1:38 / 100m)
Slowest time in AG: 49:07 (3:16 / 100m)

I guess I need to do more open-water swims in practice. Twin Lakes is nearby - should check that out. Was even thinking of getting some people from my tri club together so we can practice drafting and getting used to being kicked and swum over.

Longest distance from the swim exit to transition area ever, but still happy with my time. Just got my suit stuck on my right heel, but it probably only cost me 5 seconds.

AG Range: 2:12 - 7:51

Run a little faster straight out of the water.

This was the most fun part of the whole race. Got up to 33 mph on many of the downhills and the uphills were never so bad that I had to shift down into the granny chainring. Had borrowed my friend's Bento Box for nutrition, but didn't mount it right, so was swinging over left side and spilling gel all over my bike and leg. Ate a ClifBar right after I got on the bike, one gel near the end, and a bottle of Acclerade during the ride. New saddle position felt MUCH better, no hamstring or butt pain =)

Fastest time OA: 59:08 (25.2 mph)
Fastest time in AG: 1:03:47 (23.3 mph)
Slowest time in AG: 1:34:32 (15.7 mph)


No more clifbars during races, that's for sure! Stick to sports drinks and the occasional gel.

Overall very happy with my T2. Legs felt great transitioning to running. Only thing slowing me down was the other people in front of me at the dismount line - there was like 10-15 of us all trying to stop at the same time. My sister was there cheering for me at the dismount, which was really nice.

AG Range: 1:10 - 3:46

Not a thing =)

Great improvement over IronHead, especially given that I had no idea what pace I was running (and actually thought I was going a lot slower). But at this race, it was a lot cooler too, so that might have had something to do with it as well.

Had some GI issues from a ClifBar I ate right at the beginning of the bike, kept getting reflux in the back of my mouth. Yuck.

Fastest time OA: 30:57 ( 4:59 pace)
Fastest time in AG: 37:05 ( 5:58 pace)
Slowest time in AG: 1:20:10 (12:56 pace)

Given training volume and no speedwork to speak of, nothing. But next season will definitely have to work in some proper tempo runs and intervals.

Stood around with some friends, cheered for people who hadn't come in yet. Drank lots of water and ate a banana.


Clearly the swim is my weakest link. I need to spend more time doing long swims (1600+ meters) both in and out of the pool. Mixing in some intervals (50-200m) at a harder pace would be helpful as well, especially to help teach me pacing in the water. Should also try a longer warmup running to get my HR up if they don't allow me to swim beforehand.


For an inaugural race, this race was incredibly well organized with a big turnout (695 finishers!) Adam calling out everyone's name super-enthusiastically when they were coming in, lots of crowd support, and volunteers. Couldn't have been happier.

Jack & Adam must have some sort of voodoo too, because they managed to keep the rain away for the entire duration of the race!