Brewhouse Triathlon - Long Course - TriathlonOlympic

This was my longest swim without having anything solid to touch the whole time. During the start I stayed towards the back so I could watch and stay out of the way of the people in front of me. Actually getting into the water and starting swimming wasn't bad, but I'm sure it wasn't the most efficient. I also wasn't warmed up, and so I wasn't ready to start swimming. The water felt cool initially, but it wasn't long before the temperature felt about perfect.

I don't think the swim went very well, and I really didn't like how I felt swimming for probably the first third of the way. Maybe it was my lack of experience in open water that made me so uncomfortable. On top of that, I felt very tired, so I couldn't get into a good rhythm. I would freestyle a bit, then side stroke or dog paddle to catch my breath before continuing freestyle. As tired and uncomfortable as I felt, I was never able to settle into the breathing pattern I have in the pool. About 2/3 the way through, I noticed that my neck was getting tight from only breathing on my left side.

After about a third of the swim was over, even though I wasn't swimming well, I did finally fall into something of a rhythm and even passed some people. Slowly, the beach got closer, but I was unsettled as I saw beds of lake weeds below me. Yuck. I've never liked that. Soon I could see sand and probably stood up too soon, but I was tired and didn't care. The swim was over.

Oh man, where to start. I need to practice swimming in open water much much more. I should have also swam a bit to warm up as well.

My my my, what a difference practice makes. My transition wasn't as fast as the top people in the race, but it was definitely better than average. Putting on socks slowed me down a bit and I wonder if I could have gone without socks, but I figured I'd have to put on socks either at T1 or T2, so it might as well be T1.

I had shoes clipped in and rubber banded, so things went very well. I am very happy with my transitions.

Not much different. It went pretty well.

Aside from transitions, the bike leg was my strongest part of the race. I felt good, I felt relatively fast. My computer said I averaged 22 mph, though the results say 21.4. Whatever. I was happy with my speed. Though I wasn't super-efficient getting into and out of my shoes while on the bike, that went relatively well. Into the second lap I started to feel my hams getting tight. I coasted and stretched by pushing my heels down a couple times. Yeah, it was a good ride, though I was hoping to pass a few more people than people who passed me. Oh well.

Practice getting into and out of my shoes a little more, but not much otherwise.

As soon as I hopped off my bike, I knew my legs weren't happy. I jogged with my bike, but it was clear that I wouldn't be running fast for quite a while. The transition went pretty well nonetheless. The biggest problem I had was getting my shoes on and tight enough.

I liked that everyone, after they had stashed their bike, had to run down around a far cone to equalize transition distance, but I was running slowly and was in pain. Those legs didn't want to move

I want a different shoe lacing system. What I have I don't like.

It took me about two miles before I felt like I was running instead of hobbling. My goal was to run the whole way and to finish faster than I started, which I did. The only person I passed I think had previously passed me, so I was pretty slow. Though my hams were very tight and I was slow, I actually felt relatively good during the run. I felt the best from about mile 2.5 to a little past mile 4. With about 1.5 miles to go, I decided that I needed to pass someone, and was able to pick up my pace a little bit more and caught the person in front of me. Then I decided that I couldn't let him pass me again since I heard him behind me. I surprised myself by having something of a kick the last quarter mile or so and I was very excited to see the finis in front of me. The guys with cow bells cheered me up, and I think I had a pretty big grin as I crossed the finish line.

I took off my chip and then collapsed on the grass. Uff-da!

Don't neglect running while training! Do more bricks!

Lay immobile on the grass. Eat and drink a little. Hobble around trying not to fall down due to the pain in my hams. Choke back a few tears from being proud of myself for finishing my first Oly. Give my wife a sweaty armpit hug. Eventually stretch. Collapse more.


My training this summer sucked. Plain and simple, it sucked. After Chain of Lakes I didn't have a set plan. In June I worked on a research paper constantly, so I didn't work out much at all. In early July, I went canoing and after that it was pretty hot so I really didn't train well at all. I totally neglected running and didn't do much swimming at all. Not good.


That was a big race. Wow. It seemed very well organized and there were lots of volunteers. The roads that the bike leg is on suck though. I don't know that I will be doing this race again simply based on that. Yuck. Overall though, it was a good race and I was happy to have done it.