Hammerhead Olympic Triathlon - TriathlonOlympic

Probably started back a little farther then I should have. Had a good start with some people around me, but was able to pass them quite easily. Only problem was I lose the group of people that were probably closer to my ability. I ended up swimming most of the swim in open water with no one to draft off. Got passed by 5 people from the wave that started after me. Waves were in 3min increments.

Start a little further up front. Overall this was probably my best swim ever.

Was probably close to 200yds from water exit to T1 enterance. Got to my spot which was closer to bike exit/enterance and put shoes on, gels in pocket, glasses on, helmet on and I was off. Missed the first clip in, but got it on the second try and was off.

Nothing

The course has a good amount of hills for what you would expect in Florida. We drove the course the day before and it was in pretty bad shape because of all the rain, so I decided against using my race wheels. They did a fantastic job of cleaning the course and could have used the race wheels easily. Never felt like I got into a true rymthm on the bike and started having some piriformis tightness in my right butt early on. Was able to stay aero on the flats and downhills, but had to come up on the uphills to stretch out.

Could have been a better bike, but overall not bad.

I think some of the volunteers were impressive with my flying dismount. Had a good clean dismount and never had to slow down, was off the bike well before the dismount line so they weren't yelling at me. :)

Had some problems getting my shoes on because I still don't have yankz or something similar. Probably could have been closer to, if not under a minute.

Yankz

The race lived up to its name, HOT, and I was hoping to hold about 9min/miles on the run. The piriformis was definitely hurting a bit, but don't think it held me up at all. Had a pretty good run. On the turn arounds I could see my friend Kirk coming up behind and I tried to hold him off. He started 9mins behing me so I didn't want him to actually pass me on the course. Also saw my friend Kellen, who I used as a rabbit and passed him at about mile 4.5. Was doing whatever I could to keep cool. They had ice cold sponges on the course, which was fantastic. Picked up the pace in the last 2 miles. Crossed the finish line at the exact same time as my friend Kirk. And no, we were not holding hands as we crossed. :)

Nothing.

Walked around a bit, talked to a few people, rehydrated and got a cold towel around my neck. Went over to the lake and got back in to cool down.


Right piriformis again. This is not the first time this hurt in an Olympic tri, so I need to figure out how to fix this.


This is a very well organized race with lots of great volunteers. It definitely lives up to its name of HOT, but what do you expect at the end of August in Florida.