Cranberry Country Triathlon - TriathlonOlympic

Started off towards the back of the pack and found a pretty good rhythm right from the start. The beginning of the swim was surprisingly punch-free. Got a few hits and kicks but that was about it. Navigation was dead on 99% of the time, thanks to a tip from Mark (Stone). Also found some feet to follow about ½ the time. I think the roughest it got was in the last 50 yards or so, where everything was funneled to the exit. Ended up getting once in the head which knocked my goggles loose and caused some leaking, but I wasn’t about to stop to fix them. Overall my time was just where I wanted to be. Finished 20/43 in my AG.

Not much really. This was a good swim for me.

Long run from the swim exit to the bike racks. Almost fell a couple of times on the stone steps leading out of the swim exit. Managed to have my suit pushed down past my hips by the time I got to my bike, so all I had to do was push it past my calves and pull my feet out. Overall it was smooth and efficient. 19/43 in my AG

Not much, thougth it went efficient and cmooth

I really had no plan for the bike, other than to go comfortably hard. I knew the run was going to suck and I was going to be hurting whether I went fast or slow on the bike. I don’t really remember much from the bike other than I was able to stay aero and in the big ring for 95% of the ride. I tried staying on top of my fluids as much as possible. Managed to go through 2 bottles of water and my one nutrition bottle in the 70 minutes of the ride. Didn’t know if that was going to be enough but it was all I could get down. Also took 3 endurolytes each 30 min. There were a couple of times during the ride where I started feeling nauseous and had to slow down a bit until it passed. Never had this happen before, so I’m not sure what caused it, other than the heat. I did grab a bottle of water at the bottle exchange, but it was about as warm as you know what, so I ended up with most of it on my head. Just after the bottle exchange a guy passed me, and said he wished he had grabbed a bottle to do the same, so I gave him what was left of mine. Never know when you might need a little good karma. Overall 17/43 in my AG

Push harder. I think I could have gone faster and still not affected my run.

The last few miles of the bike, I was dreading coming into T2 knowing I was going to have to run in the heat and humidity. As soon as I sat down to change my shoes, I felt like I didn’t want to get up. I didn’t contemplate DNF’ing, but it was sure nice sitting there. Ended up 31/43 in my AG.

Stay on the damn seat :). or stop lolly-gagging

Ah the run, boy was that fun. NOT. First mile went through in about 8:35, but there wasn’t anyway I could hold that pace and second mile was in 9:17. Was taking as much water as I could at each aid station, but really wasn’t drinking a lot, felt like my stomach had shut down at this point. I also stopped keeping track of splits, because I knew it wasn’t going to be pretty. The only goal I had was to not walk except at the aid stations. Just focused on making it to each mile than reassessing. After Mile 3 I felt some cramping coming on in my left quad, so I took a couple of endurolytes at the next aid station which worked like a charm, no cramping after that. Between mile 4 and 5, I started to feel really bad, starting getting chills and the coming of a headache. Not good, dehydration and heat exhaustion coming on. Drank as much as I could at mile 5, and talked myself into not walking, that anyone could run 1.2 miles. I have no idea how I managed a sub-9 min pace, because it felt like I was going a whole lot slower than that. Ended up 22/43 in my AG.

Wear an air conditioner :).

Grabbed an ice cold towel for my head and one for inside my shirt, then kept re-soaking them to cool off. Found the rest of the BT crew and chatted and ate as much as I could (which wasn’t a lot).

Drove the 2 hours home, cramping the whole way, and feeling like crap.


HEAT and HUMIDITY. Overall I was pretty happy about the race. I finished 39 seconds slower than 2 years ago, on a much tougher day this year. I was faster at all splits except for the run which was 2:30 slower. Do I wish I could have finished the season on a better note, sure, but you take what the day gives you. I found out some things about myself during the run that I’ll be able to use in future races, so it wasn’t a total loss.


Great race, very well organized. The run aid stations were a god-send. The voulunteers were very encouraging and enthusiastic.