Buffalo Triathlon - Olympic Distance - TriathlonOlympic

This was a good relaxed swim for me. The first 200 yards or so were a bit of a clusterfuck as usual, as people fought for position. I didn't get too worked up about it b/c I knew it would all thin out and I'd get past most people soon enough.

Not much to say here... felt good, felt smooth, occasionally had to remind myself to not get too relaxed, to keep my form from falling into lazy territory. Passed a few of the elite wave peeps, who had started 2 minutes before us and were easy to spot b/c of their bright red swim caps. Suckerrrrrrs!

Not too much. Getting away from some girl that was on my feet with 500 yards to go made me swim faster... maybe I should have been swimming that fast the whole time.

Looong run all the way across the huge transistion area to my area. I'd rather be running with my wetsuit than running with my bike, though. They set the 20-29 Oly group right near the bike in/out exit, a nice advantage if you ask me!

Saw Scott along the chute in the transition area, he is the great fan!

Not much, I felt fine.

I really liked this bike course. Out in the country and full of rollers. Minnesota has good bike riding roads!

I just tried to stay smooth and relaxed during the bike. I felt really good. Scott appeared somewhere down the course and linked up with me for a little while (riding on the other side of the road). I am sure some racers thought he was a whackjob racer on the wrong side! Haha. He reminded me to not rubber band... keep the effort smooth the whole time!

I got passed by loads and loads of men who were cathcing up after their later swim waves. Only one woman passed me, though, so I was feeling pretty good about my ride. I had no idea how fast I was going b/c I didn't wear my garmin and didn't know how to work the computer thing on Kelly's bike. Speaking of which, it worked out really well and felt fine, except for my crotch. My vajayjay was not too happy with the saddle.

The bike seemed to be over before I knew it! It was such a gorgeous day and I was loving the riding through lake country that I didn't want to stop!

Saw the lead male oly runners out there and whistled at a few of them just for kicks.

Ate 6 shot bloks throughout the ride. One bottle of H20.

Nothing, I guess. This felt great. Perhaps if money were no object, have my own bike with my aero bars on it. Or to really get indulgent, be riding a tricked out tri bike! I had such bike envy at this race.

Was able to do the whole bare feet on top of shoes while riding thing so I dismounted and was able to run in to T2 without clip-clopping along in my bike shoes.

Had a bit of trouble tying my shoes and said out loud to myself: calm down, calm down.

Had to run all the way to the other end of transition for the run out but again I'd ratehr do it in my sneakers on the way out than with my bike on the way in. Perfect transition spot!

Not be spastic while tying my shoes.

It was warm by this time so at the very first aid station I dumped a full cup on my head. It felt like heaven!

This run, going with the theme of the race, felt really good and really smooth. Upon reflection I wonder if I should have pushed it more to where I wasn't feeling so good. But hey I'm happy with this entire race, so no regrets. If I were racing more often I'd be more inclined to throw caution to the wind and risk a big bonk. I set a goal to do better than a 50 min 10K time, so to be running 7:30s was just fine with me.

It was a bit crowded with the sprint racers going out with us and coming back on the same stretch. We also had the bikers on the same road so I had to be aware of my running path.

Felt superb the whole time. A woman passed me at mile 2 and I did not give chase. Another one passed at mile 2.5 and I did not give chase... just determined to stay right where I was for pacing. As I was coming out of the one small little loop we did, I saw a girl entering the loop that was moving OUT. (checking the results afterwards I saw she ran a 6:26 pace- she had the fastest run split of our age group) I thought "try to hold her off! hold her off!" In fact if I had been able to, I would have placed 3rd in my "real" AG results. But when she passed me at mile 4, to have tried to chase her down would have been folly. She was mooooving.

I dumped water on my head at every water station and it felt glorious. I was soaking wet the entire run and I'm sure this helped me to keep from overheating. I had a good time yelling at the teeenage volunteers to make noise for me as I passed. Some were a lot more willing than others to make fools of themselves for my benefit. Really enjoyed myself on this run.

I stayed right around 7:35 for miles 4 and 5, and then tried to bring it home strong.

Again, this leg of the race was over before I knew it. Finished feeling strong and fabulous... perhaps that's a bad sign? Should have picked it up earlier. Announcer guy (my fav local racing announcer) was booming "Here comes Bridget Dyer and she's visiting from Littleton... that's Colorado folks! Bridget, how do you feel?" And I did a big Arsenio Hall arm/whooping thing as I was coming into the final turn.

Maaaayyybe push harder from the get-go... but that may have made me blow up later. I don't know. I'm pretty happy with this. Racing at lower elevations makes it all feel so easy.

Immediately got two bottles of water and chugged them b/c I was as salty as can be. Lots of sweating going on out there. Jumped in the lake for a nice rinse off, it felt splendid.

Linked up with Scott who was the picture of awesome support out there. He then went out for a little more riding since I knew it'd be awhile before the awards ceremony. Couldn't find the results for the oly, only the sprint, so was resigned to wait in agony to find out how I did in my AG.

Walked by a massage area nad low and behold there were only three people in line before me. The woman up front had a Boulder Running Co shirt on so I asked "Oh! Do you live in Colorado? I'm just visiting from there!" And she said no that she and her husband were just recently there for vacation and she just had to get a shirt she's really just a poser, yada yada, as if I were calling her out or something but really I was just trying to make conversation. Then the guy right in back of her said, in a dreamy Australian accent, "Oh yeah? I train and live in Colorado." Turns out it was Chris Legh! I had mistakenly thought this other tall blonde guy was him; there were a bunch of guys that looked pro-level fit. He was totally friendly and down to earth and we chatted until it was his turn to go up there... I get the general idea that that is how the pros roll in this sport. Anyway the same guy that massaged him was my masseuse so I said "Give me the Chris Legh treatment." Har har, I'm so funny.

Waited around for the awards ceremony with some BTers and it turns out they had a special 23 and under age group category, to encourage sport in the younger generation (CO maybe should take a clue from MN in this area, and lower race fees so us younger and broke kids can actually afford to RACE!). I placed first in that category, so I got a gift certificate for a free wetsuit! Hot diggity dang!


Lack of sleep the entire week probably didn't help. Unfamiliar bike couldn't have been an asset either, but all in all I think this was a solid race and I'm really happy with it.

I guess I just need to race out of state to place well and get free stuff!


I had done a bunch of races in this series last year but missed this race. It was my first olympic distance and I loved it! Great competition, too... there were some fast mofos out there. The volunteers were awesome. I'd say this was a first-class race. I'd do it again in a heartbeat!