Turtleman Triathlon - TriathlonOlympic

Time trial start. Stood around with the family until about race number 400, then headed to the start to seed myself in order (#502). Got a good start and passed LOTS of people, but my swim background makes that pretty common. I stayed a bit wide to avoid slower swimmers and cut the corners without any problem. I felt great througout the swim, and stood up when I started raking the bottom with my fingers.

Nothing - settled into my pace nicely and continued to push.

Transition is a ride out, up a hill and onto the course. I was set to go, but when I grabbed my bike, my chain dropped off the small ring. I got it onto the big ring and rode away, but couldn't get it onto the small to climb the hill, so I just stood and hammered up the hill and didn't need the small ring again.

Have better luck with the chain dropping. I might have saved 20 seconds, which made a difference later on.

Very good bike leg. I like to hammer this bike course, because it's really flat, and going fast is fun. I passed a lot of people and didn't let up, and my HR was a bit high at the start, but it settled in as the ride went on, so that was good. I felt strong and got in enough fluid and a GU in preparation for the run. Got my feet on top of my shoes just before the turn back into the park, so I was able to get off and do T2 quickly.

Nothing. Keep cranking!

Took an extra moment to grab one more drink before heading out on the run.

Just grab the drink from the volunteers just outside transition! Another 10 seconds that I'd like to have back...

I felt great at the start. Legs weren't quite as dead as I expected, although they felt a little heavy. I started out pushing the pace, but decided to pull back just a bit, and got into a good, sustainable pace, and started to pick it up again. I started passing a lot of people, which is pretty unusual for me, so I knew I was having a good day. I pushed harder and was able to maintain it through the end, and was really happy with an overall time under 2:00.

I had some left at the end, so I might have been able to push it a little bit harder, but I was really happy with my overall, considering I'm planning a 100/6 brick tomorrow!

Walked around for several minutes after heading to the mist thingy. Met up with the family, and grabbed my results printout, and found out that I finished 6th in my age group. I looked at the listing on the table and found out that 5th was only 20 seconds in front of me, and 4th was exactly a minute. With a big age group, the podium went 5 deep. Bummer. No award for me.


I felt pretty fast, and maybe being somewhat tapered would have helped, but this wasn't an A race, so no real changes.


This is one of the best-run races around, and this was the fourth time I've competed. I really like the venue, the course, and the competition, so I'll keep coming back. A big thanks to the volunteers!