EnduraSport Mini - TriathlonOlympic

How cool was this, my first ever Open Water Swim. I peed in my wetsuit twice! I took 1stTimerNY's advice and made sure to get practice laps in. There was lots of medical staff and Search and Rescue teams standing ready. Pre-race the Police and medical staff seemed extra concerned because the water temps were 54 degrees. I kissed the family and went to the roped off area and swam a few practice laps. I was a little nervous because a.) of the water temps and b.) because this was my maiden voyage in my QR Hyrdofull. (FYI: I mailed an old tri wetsuit to triathlonlab.com and received a $150.00 credit toward a QR Hydrofull, so I got a Yamamoto #39 rubber fully-sleeved suit for $250 bucks! You can't beat that.) This was my first time swimming in a #39 rubber high-end suit and let me just say, it was like Heaven. The virtual pull buoy system really worked well and positioned me perfectly in the water. And no matter how fast or hard I stretched my crawl stroke, my arms were never impeded by the rubber.

From watching the HIM start earlier, I positioned myself toward the front on the inside - the quickest route to the first turn buoy. I'd never swam this distance before in open water, nor had I ever swam in a mass start, so the plan was to get good position and swim a steady/ moderate pace race. I was feeling good, feeling confident but like the first time I ran a 10k, 1/2 mary and full mary, I knew that I'd never done this before and I was better to take the moderate, safe, smart approach.

When the horn blew I darted into the water, ran as far as I could and then dove in. The melee wasn't too bad, and I only got swam over once. The first 200 meters was straight out to an orange buoy and then a 90 degree turn to the left, which was the start of the .6 mile triangle.

I sighted well to the first short buoy, a few times I had to slow down cause I didn't want to swim over people or get kicked in the face. I reached the first buoy quickly, turned sharp on the inside, and was heading down the first of three legs of the triangle. My plan of starting out on the inside, front of the pack worked beautifully. But then I ran into a little trouble.

About 350 meters in, my breathing was still a little erratic and uncomfortable, and that's when I drew upon my experience from my first sprint triathlon in the pool a month ago. I mentally reminded myself: "Relax." "Focus on the three stroke bilateral breathing technique I've been practicing twice a week for the last five months." "Turn your head enough to ensure you get an adequate pull of air."

Within seconds my breathing became more comfortable, my stroke smoothened -- I was actually cruising across the lake and enjoying the moment. And that's when I realized I was way off course! Oops, forgot about sighting! Going off course probably cost me close to 2 minutes, but collecting myself, which set me up for an enjoyable swim the rest of the way, was worth it. From then on I sighted well, drafted a few times, and I just really reveled in the moment and enjoyed the race. It was so damn cool.

At one point, a little more than halfway through, I felt so good that I knew I could go from 'moderate effort' to a 'race effort'. I upped the arm cadence and leg kicking, and that's when my right hamstring locked up and threatened to cramp. WTF? That's never happened before so early on in any of my training swims? (more on this later) Wisely I backed off and just continued on at a moderate pace.

When I came out of the water I smiled at the wife for a picture and waved to the kids playing on the beach. ** It doesn't get better than this! **

EDIT: Only 9 people of 173 swam sub 20 minutes, so obviously something was way off with the swim measurements. Many people remarked the swim was LONG. Oh well, better than short I guess... Not!

Not much. I have to learn to sight and swim simultaneously. I tend to stop look up and then continue on.

When I felt good enough and confident enough to ramp it up to race pace my right hamstring cramped. My last swim was five days prior. In the future I plan to do a moderate to light swim 48 hours prior to keep the swim muscles a bit looser.

In retrospect this was one of the highlights of my day. I had the 3rd BEST TRANSITION TIME OVERALL!! The suit juice worked like a charm, and due to the moderate effort in the swim, I had plenty of energy for a quick transition.

NOTHING. Well not nothing, I lost my shoe off the bike! Luckily I'd crossed the timing mat already. All the volunteers were yelling "Shoe! Shoe!"

This is a self-admitted difficult course with a net loss/gain of 1500 feet in elevation. I must've spent 20% of the time in my lowest gear, another 70% of the time in my small ring all together. I was using my stock 12-23 cassette, when a 12-25 or even a 12-27 cassette would have been much more appropriate and faster considering all the climbing. I also think this course would be much better suited for a road bike than a tri-bike for many reasons. I'd get into them but I'm rambling enough.

Due to my lack of biking experience (I started just this past December) I just tried to keep it smooth and steady on the climbs and I was pretty conservative on the downhills. Between the ravines, jagged rocks, and my limited tri bike handling experience (and also seeing BT Member Courage -- Eric - cream into a deer just a month ago on this course) once again I thought it wise to stay conservative. And thanks to BT member Courage who took me though the course, I knew when to shift what gears, including at the end of a bombing descent where you have to pull a 180 degree turn and then commence a GRUELING 'I WANT MY MOMMY' 2-MILE CLIMB. Eric told me at what point to switch to the small ring so when I slowed down from 35mph+ into a hairpin 180 degree turn, and immediately start uphill, I wouldn't drop my chain. And sure enough I did not drop my chain, and sure enough there was a girl trying to put her chain back on.

During the ride I lost a water bottle, an endurolyte, and I missed the sign that pointed to the finish and I ended up riding a 1/4 mile out of my way. Not the end of the world, but missing the 'Bike In' entrance took a little wind out of my sails (pissed me off, really) and I was quickly realizing that sub 3 hours was going to be a stretch.

I rented Zipp 404's; given all the climbing and descending, I don't think they made a hill of beans difference.

Next year I will for use a cassette more appopriate for climbing.

Not miss the "Bike In" entrance, but if I do not let it mentally affect me as much.

Having missed the "Bike In" entrance I saw a half dozen people finish ahead of me, that really I should have been ahead of. It pissed me off that NO ONE was at the turn-off directing us where to go. I guess after a few people complained there was a cop there later directing people. Apparently there was a sign BEFORE the turn-off that pointed to the finish. But there was no sign at the actual turn-off. Whatever. I was upset but I didn't let it ruin my day.

I flew into transition and did a nice flying dismount. Off with the helmet and on with the Under Armour visor. I leaned over to slip on my racing flat and that is when the PAIN in my hamstring almost sent me to the pavement. The entire back of my leg locked up. The same thing happened with the other leg. I knew I was screwed on the run. I'd gone conservative on the swim and bike - the run was my strong suit and my time to shine, right? Not today it was.

Not miss the damn bike finish.

The weekend before I'd biked a hard 25 miles on rolling hills and then ran a 10k in 45 minutes 16 seconds with no problems, zero cramping. But today on Race Day, when it counted, my legs were cramping like they had the last two miles of the NYC marathon. My motto is too never walk even if it means a painfully slow jog. Due to severe cramping in my hamstrings and vastus medialis muscle the choice was "stop" or "fall on my face". My mind was racing, "Why the hell am I cramping?" It all started early on with the swim, it happened on the bike, and now it had me standing still during my strongest discipline. I massaged my legs, they loosened up, and I started at as fast a pace as my twinging leg muscles would allow.

My breathing was fine, no side stitches, I'd fueled perfectly, I felt like I had the energy to run 13.1 if I had to, but cramps would not let me. What happened?

One look at my training graph told me all I needed to know. The five days leading up to the race I had participated in only one swim on Monday. And then for the next FOUR FULL DAYS I did No real biking, No real running. My body was repaired and rested, but it was also stiff. Really stiff. This is why coaches (I now realize) have you doing short workouts the day before and leading up to. I took the taper to an extreme. A really bad extreme.

I met the family, drank some Coca-Cola (haven't had one of those in years!) and soaked in the bask of sweet Victory. I completed my first Olympic Triathlon. I survived in one-piece, the family had fun, and I LEARNED A Lot.




A five-day taper of almost zero activity.

12-23 cassette.




This was only my second Triathlon and it's one of the tougher courses. It righfully deserves it's name "Harryman".