Memphis in May - TriathlonOlympic

What a great swim. I absolutely love the time trial start. Still some contact with other swimmers, but much less than in a wave start. I'm a slow and steay swimmer, but overall very happy with this swim. First time in a race that I did not have to flip over and back stroke - smooth and steady free style the entire way. No problems swimming in the wetsuit - loved the added buoyancy, which allowed me to minimize my kick and keep my legs for the rest of the race.
Only complaint was that the swim caps were close in color to the turn buoys, which made sighting a little more difficult.

Nothing - best swim I have ever had.

Looked down at my watch and saw that I was over a minute better than expected - so excited I had extra adrenaline to run through the transition. Of course with the run through transition I scaped my foot on the asphalt, which started to bleed. Decided to suck it up and keep going. No problems getting the wetsuit off or the socks and shoes on.

There is a hill coming right out of transition so I decided to put my shoes on in transition instead of trying to do it while riding. No problems getting on the bike. Still high on adrenaline from a good swim, jumped on the bike and started going, passing people on the road out of the park.
The ride was going smooth as I was actually maintaining speeds above 20 mph and at some points 24-25mph. And then it hit me. Turned the corner and hit a strong headwind. Speed fell to 13 mph and I was struggling to maintain that speed in the headwind. Worst winds I have ever rode in. The winds really took a toll on my legs, but overall I was happy with my ride.

More power/force work. A nice set of aerodynamic race wheels might help as well.

Had a little trouble getting my leg up and over the bike to get off. Kept cycling shoes on instead of trying to get out beforehand. Sat down, cycling shoes off, running shoes on, no problem.

Probably should have grabbed a gel in T2.

Legs were fried after fighting the winds on the bike and had to stop at the port-a-potties right outside of transition. Wasn't able to maintain the 8:00 min/mi pace I had hoped for, but was pleased that I ran the entire way without stopping to walk. Met a nice lady from New York that ran with me from mile 3-5. Talking to her took my mind off how sore my quads were (which made every step painful, especially the downhills) and let me pick up the pace a little. Overall disappointed with my run performance.

Need to do more brick work and work on running on sore legs. I think the biggest problem was mental - need to work on HTFU.

Picked up some food and sat and ate.

The pros started later than the AGers so I was able to get back in time to see the pros start. Watched the pros in T1 and with some interesting points. While most started with their shoes clipped in, two actually put their shoes on in T1, one actually put socks on. Wetsuits were not allowed for the pros, but they all wore speed suits - may need to look into getting one of these. All of them were better able to run with the bike then I am - need to practice this.


The wind!


Great race. Was very well organized.