Northern Trust Triathlon - TriathlonOlympic

I had the fastest swim time out of the field, by about 2 minutes. I was 3 minutes ahead of Fred West (who won) coming out of the water. Still, I would rank the swim as a 6.5/10 as far as how I felt during and after.

Get more swims in the week prior!!

The transition area was grassy and wet, so I put the shoes on and ran to the mount line. Getting into the clips took about 5 seconds, no big deal. Smooth transition- Suit came right off with the help of some "suit juice", and I was off!

Nothing, it was as good of a transition as I could manage

The bike was atrocious. I went about 4 minutes slower than my goal, and I just felt tired and slow. Like the swim, I hadn't been on my bike for almost a full week prior to the race, due to traveling with work. I just didn't feel comfortable out there, and I got absolutely smoked my the competition on the bike. I came in 3 minutes ahead of the pack, and ended up in 2nd place, 3 minutes behind. God. Damn it.

Train properly before the race!

Again, transition was fast and smooth. I don't have an official time, but I'd bet my transition was within 5 seconds of the fastest time out there. I racked the bike, slipped on the racing flats, and was out the other end and running in no time.

Nothing- it was a textbook transition

I guess I can't complain about my time compared to the rest of the pack, but I felt like garbage out there. My form was sloppy, I couldn't turn on the speed until the last two miles or so, and my HR never got up to my goal level of 85% (170bpm). In all, I was disappointed in myself. I thought I would run sub-40min, and I did not. I dreamed of catching the leader and winning on the run, but I only gained 15 seconds on him and took 2nd place.

I don't know. I think by the time the run came around I had toasted myself on the bike (in spite of my slow-ass split). I think more trail training would have helped out on the first half of the run.

Pacing, talking, a couple of beers.


Lack of proper training the 2 weeks leading up to the race. I had to go to Seattle for 5 days and then to St. Marys for another 3, and I didn't get any good cycling or swimming in during that time. I felt very uncoordinated and awkward for much of the race, beginning with the swim.

In spite of this, I am pleased to say that there were no flat tires, no misnavigations, and otherwise no snafus on the course. I gave it my best, and came up on the podium. Can't complain. And if I do, nobody listens :)


Great post-race awards/raffles, good fun, in all a fantastic event- I really enjoyed it. The sun even came out for the run and it became a beautiful day.