Health First Triathlon - TriathlonOlympic

I've never started a race treading water before so it was awkward. I bumped a bunch of people as everyone started going. After the first 200yds I got into my rhythm and swam my race. Heading back south after the first turn it was difficult to see the course buoys; combined with the river chop, I veered off course a bit making the actual distance I swam closer to 1 mile, if it was truly .9/mile to begin with.

All in all I am really happy with my time. I can go faster with more interval training and a lot more endurance swimming too. Swimming around buoys during swim practice would help a lot.

For some reason when I reached transition I was unsure of what to do with my gels I wanted to take on the bike. Then I had indecision on choosing socks or nothing; I chose nothing. After that I ran pretty good to the mounting point. I did almost drop my bike trying to avoid another racer. I only had one hand on the stem and should have had two hands.

practice transitions more. Plan out all of my actions, order of gear transition, decide if I'm going with socks or not. Switch water bottles to insulated ones to keep the fluids cold.

What I would do again....
Pre-open my first gel and prepare my rolaids in my bento box. This helped out a LOT on the bike.

I had a really good bike ride considering the wind. I maintained an 18-19 pace heading north up US1. Once I hit the causeway it was into the headwind and my speed up the bridge was slow. I was able to recover and maintain a good speed heading south down Patrick blvd. Heading back north on Tropical trail was also pretty good, averaging 17-18mph. Again, heading south on Patrick Blvd. I was able to pick up my speed to 21-22. Over the Eau Gallie causeway I reached 34mph and that was a bit wicked.

More core strength training and more cycling. I have a bike trainer I must employ more too.

At the end of the bike I started to have some hamstring cramping so I didn't run very fast from the dismount to the bike rack. Another thing I tried was some catalyst. This was not a good decision because it's too strong for my system and made me a bit nauseous, forcing me to walk twice.

Practice unclipping my shoes and swinging my leg over the bike like a horse, coasting to the dismount area and running to the bike rack. Skip the catalyst unless I have food in my stomach.

Where to start...My run started out good. For the first 10 minutes I ran good and then cramping started to hamper me. My quads were sore but I was able to push though it. When my right hamstring cramped I had to walk to let the muscle relax. I continued to run after my hamstring relaxed and then I felt nausea and had to walk. Once that passed I continued on. Again cramping hit me and late in the run more nausea. I was very hot too.

More run training. Better use of supplements.

preparation. I focused on my swim and that paid off but my run suffered. Little training on the bike also showed; however, I hit my goal of 18mph on the bike.


Overall a very good race. 17 seconds slower than my fastest time for this "race". It should be much faster considering the run course change removing the causeway bridge. The additional swim buoys were greatly appreciated although they could use 2 more along the south bound leg of the coat hanger. Next year I'll be back and faster than ever!!!