TexasMan Olympic - TriathlonOlympic

This was a great swim for me. Once we passed the line of buoys that marks the normal swim area, the waves started. The first two I thought that maybe a boat had just passed and it just the wake, but they just kept coming. It made it difficult to sight the first buoy. I got adjusted to the waves and starting getting pretty comportable, but I did have to stop twice to fix my goggles, and 2 other times to make sure I was going the right way. As soon as I was close emough to see the buoy up close I didn't have any more trouble sighting for the rest of the swim. I tried at one point to draft, but the girl stopped to sight and I almost ran into her, so I just went off on my own. My goal was to pass at least one person from the men's Olympic wave which started 5 minutes before we did, and one person from the Half, which started 15 minutes before we did. I ended up passing several of each so I felt pretty good. THis was my longest OWS, so I didn't know what to expect.

I don't really think I would change anything. I was very happy.

I'm not sure why my transitions were so slow, I guess I just want to make sure I had everything I needed.

I really liked the bike course. It was a little odd because there were 3 different races going on, and we all shared some parts of the course and then we would all diverge for various turn arounds, so it was odd to be out there alone and then after about 45 minutes I started getting passed by stong guys on nice bikes! I was amused at the raod markings where they drew a circle around a dead snake instead of moving it off the road - I thought it was funny - but I'm not sure if they were trying to be.

I need more work on my bike befor the Iron Star Half. I wanted to average 17.5 and I only got 17.2.

Another long transition for me. I'll work on that.

There were aid stations every mile, so I knew I'd end up OK, I just wasn't sure if I would have to stop at all the tables or walk at all. It turned out that I got water and Accelerade 4 times - I drank the Accererade and poured the water on my head. The Accelerade was at least twice as strong as it should have been and tased awful - but it I didn't end up needing to eat any of my blocks, so I was pretty happy with it. I ended up running the entire way, with no problems at all. In fact it was a great run for me. I never once questoned if I could finish strong or not, I just kept running. I was annoyed with myself because I didn't think to turn my GPS on before the race started, so I could not get a signal at first. I was counting on having it for pace info. It was a full 3 miles before I finally got a satellite signal and was able to see my pace. As soon as the pace came up I was running 9:30 which was perfect. I know that even if I walk while I'm drinking I can stay under 10:00 minute miles at that pace. So it was perfect. When I came around the final turn the finish line was so close I was a little disappointed that the race was over. There were lots of people at the finish cheering me on which was really nice.

I ate some pizza and talked with friends who had raced, both the Olympic and the Sprint. I wasn't tired at all - which I guess means I should have pushed harder, but I met my overall goal of finishing under 3 hours, and I was trying to run this race at the pace for my first HIM, so I am completely happy with it.


It would have been nice to get a medal or a dry fit shirt, in fact when I crossed the finish line I was thinking "which one of the girls has my medal?" I guess none of them did - but that's ok - I had fun and met my goals so it's all good.