Tugaloo Olympic Triathlon - TriathlonOlympic

When I got to the beach, I didn't have my glasses on (they were in transition where they were supposed to be), and that meant I couldn't see anything. The race director started to describe the swim course and I couldn't see any of the buoys! That got me a little panicked again, but I just prayed I would be able to see each one as I got closer to it. And hopefully the people around me had good eyesight. It was a time trial start and I'm guessing I started at least 15 minutes after the first person. After running into the water, I swam too fast and hard for the first 25-50 yards, mostly because of excitement. But I was able to talk myself down. I felt really good and strong in the water. I kept passing lots of people. But my gloggles quickly fogged up and pairing that with my bad eyesight, I had no clue where I was going. When I finaly spotted the first buoy, I was way of course. The rest of the swim course went pretty much the same. I would swim really well and pass lots of people, but then get a bit off course and lost a little time. I did finally get a little better at folowing the people around me closer to the end. Which was good, because the sun was shining right in my eyes headed back in and I was completely blinded! Even with the sighting problems, the swim turned out much better than I anticipated. I wasn't scared at all in the water and although I swallowed a ton of lake water, I felt light and fast in my stroke.

Buy prescription goggles and get some better anti-fog. Practice sighting more. I think swimming could possibly be my strongest of the three.

Coming out of the water, my heart rate was out of control. It was a long run up from the beach to the transition area. By the time I got to my spot I was out of breath. I had practiced trnasition quite a bit, so I knew exactly what to do and could have gone faster, but I needed to sit still for a minute to let my heart rate drop. It didn't, so I took off anyway.

There are little things I could do like get bike shoes with velcro instead of laces. But the most limiting factor was my heart rate being so out of control coming out of the water.

I started the bike with my heart rate way up and it took me 3-4 miles to calm down. I probably went too hard for those first few miles, but I was able to finally talk myself down and get into a rhythm. I was really happy about the pace I was able to keep, even though on some of the uphills I felt like I might start rolling backward. I got into a rhythm of trading places with Elaine from TNT. She was faster than me on the straight flats, but I kept catching her on the climbs. She finally passed me for good at mile 13. At abouyt mile 5, I saw the first five cyclists come through headed back toward the transition area. They looked so strong and fast. It was quite inspiring! About 20 minutes into the ride I realized I hadn't been drinking anything. I had trouble remembering to drink for the rest of the ride and only finished about half of one bottle over almost two hours. I ate my gu's every half hour as planned though. Toward the end of the ride I began to feel kind of sluggish in my legs. There was one long flat section and it was the hardest part for me! I guess my legs were so shot from hills by that point that the constant pedaling of the flats was too much work. I kept trying to remind myself that I still had to run and not to push too hard. At about mile 24, I started to get some cramps in my side. At that point realized I hadn't drunk nearly enough fluid and started paying more attention to the drnking. I decided that when I got to transition I would walk my bike and start the run walking so I could let go of these cramps. My last two miles of the bike were considerably slower than the rest of the ride, but it's what I needed to do to be able to do the run.

Pay attention to staying hydrated! Do more hill work in training. But really, I felt so good out there and I'm happy with my performance.

From the moment I dismounted, I walked until a minute into the run. The cramps were gone by the time I finished in transition and as soon as I took my bike shoes off, my toes regained some feeling. This transition was very smooth, if a bit slow due to the walking.

I probably would have shaved some time off if I had run through the transition, but then I would have started the run feeling awful and probably just lost the time I gained.

This was a 10K PR for me!! Woohoo!! I felt really good for the first three miles and was happy with the steady decline in my spilts. The first mile felt good, if a little sluggish after just coming off the bike. The second mile was mostly uphill and I was shocked to see that my spilt was slightly faster than the first mile. On mile three I was starting to feel my knee, so I ran backward down a particularly steep hill. Part of that mile I ran with some one who was part of a relay team. She was a bit faster than me and I eventually had to drop back, but it was nice to chat. And, it got me my fastest split! After that my times started creeping back up. I had seen a friend who was about a half mile ahead of me and had fantasies of catching her, but couldn't quite get up my speed. During mile four, right after passing two women, I heard, "Is that Karen?" I looked behind me and I had just passed Elaine (who I'd been trying to catch on the bike)! I wished her luck on the run and kept plugging along. At the beginning of mile 5 I started to feel like I might bonk. My head was feeling light and a little dizzy. I had been drinking steadily throughout the run, but I think my lack of hydration on the bike was catching up with me. So, I started downing gatorade as much as I could and seemed to hold it off. By 5.5 miels, my knee pain finally kicked into full gear. I had to stop and walk more often than planned. but surprisingly, I think my last mile split was about 12:20. I felt like I was limping most of the end of the race, but I was able to run through the finish line.

Given that I was unable to train for the run as much as I would have liked because of knee and IT problems, I am really pleased with my run. And I PR'd! Still, My splits range over a minute difference in some places, so I would like to do a better job of holding a consistent pace. Plus, keep up with my physical therapy so my knees can get healthy for good!

I wasn't sure how far behind me my partner was, so I just hung around at the finish line waiting for her. I waked around a little and stretched my legs. She arrived about 30 minutes after me. We then went to get something to eat and our t-shirts and returned to the finish line to wait for two more friends to finish.


Knee and IT band problems that kept me from training as much as I would have liked and flared up during the race.


I was a little disappointed with the support available to those of us at the end of the race. The time limit was posted as 4 1/2 hours, but much of the support was gone before that. I finished under 4 hours and when I crossed the finish line the photographer had already left. No finishing photo for my first triathlon. :( My partner finished under 4 1/2 hours, and they had already taken down some of the course signage by the time she was finishing the run. She actually ran longer than she needed to because they had removed the cone that marked the turnaround headed back in from mile 5! I understand that they need to start cleaning up after the designated time limit. But people who finish within the timelimit, but at the back of the pack, ought to get the same support as those that finished at the front. We pay the same registration fees and do the same course. At least leave the course put together until after the official time limit.