Mountain Man - TriathlonOlympic

This swim was a disaster and I thought about it a lot in the car on the way home yesteday! On paper it doesnt look too bad but it doesnt reflect the trouble I had out there. A year ago I would have been happy with that overall pace but I have been really working on my swim lately and I wasnted to have a GOOD swim. I started out slowly (I knew the altitude would be a factor), the first 200m were fine, we made a right at the first bouy and then it all fell apart- I got a cramp in my left calf that I just couldnt shake at all. I tried doing different strokes which helped but as soon as I kicked, it came back. So I tried swimming just with my arms but I guess that it made me tired and I couldnt catch my breath at all, which I knew was due to the altitude, anyways as I got to the next bouy I saw a kayak, so I held on for a couple of minutes and tried to shake and massage the cramp out, it seemed to work. After that i did a mixture of breast, back and crawl but I was still so out of breath! Finally after the turn back I was able to swim decent. I got out of the water so angry with myself!

I have to do better at the swim, and get comfortable in OW!

Things didnt get much better out of the water! When I got back to my rack somepone had dumped his wetsuit on top of my stuff so I had to move everything, I couldnt get my wetsuit off my wrist- my watch got tangled, then my timing chip came off too. Ugh! I was so frustrated- I never curse but I said a few choice words yesterday!

I've never had a problem getting my suit off before, I think I was just upset in general from the swim and not thinking clearly.

My race report has been very negative so far but this is where things get better! As soon as I left T1, I decided to put the bad swim behind me and hammer the bke course. It was a beautiful course past Lake mary and to Mormom lake. The hills were great and I passed a lot of people.

Nothing!

I felt great heading out on the run. The weather/temp was perfect- not like running down here lately. At the turn around for the sprint copurse, it got interesting, we started up this huge hill with kind of switchbacks. I had not checked out the course in advance which is probably a good thing, I just kept jogging up. I could see Fitzy in front of me so I had someone to follow! At the turn around, it was great to know that you get to run DOWN that hill. I saw so many of the BTers/Cool kids out on the course, it was awesome! I felt the altitude on the run, it just felt like I was working harder to keep a decent pace.

After the race I had a blast watching everyone finish. My friend took 1st in her AG in her first tri in many years! The Cool Kids had set up a tent to hang out in. I rode my bikeout on to the HIM run course to see my friends out there, then the rain started and it didnt stop. The HIM runners got drenched! It was great to see Paulette, Jen and Josh finish the Half- Jen's first-woot!


The swim- I cant be competitive in my AG with a swim like that!


I was surprised that my overall time was only a minute slower than the Tempe OLY. I would love to do this race again, the weather was great (until the rain) and it was a fun weekend away! I didnt have my camera but I know there will be many fun pictures circulating!