Cranberry Trifest - TriathlonOlympic

The time/ranking doesn't reflect it but this was a very good swim for me. I wanted to make sure I conserved as much energy on the swim and bike as possible, so I really took it very, very slow with this. The first 200 or so I got myself toward the front of the wave and then just took it nice and slow. I unfortunately got stuck in no-mans land for a while as I couldn't find any feet to draft off of for probably 80% of the race. It actually felt like a longer swim, probably because I'm used to the shorter, 1/3 mile swims in sprints. But I didn't feel winded at all, my heart rate was very low throughout and I came out of the water feeling very good.

If I properly trained for this distance (meaning if my run wasn't so abysmal) I would have gone out much faster and hung with the top of the AG. I could have easily shaved two minutes off my time without pushing it...however, that said in the current condition I'm in this is exactly what I wanted to do...long story short: I wouldn't have done anything different in the swim, it went perfect.

So once again my transitions were bad. As with the swim I wanted to control my HR so I took it pretty easy in transition but probably too easy.

Same as the Timberman: have the shoes clipped in beforehand (learn the jump-on-bike, strap in method), and I definitely could have been faster getting out of the wetsuit and going with the bike. Easily a minute lost here.

Once again, I took this rather easy, which was frustrating at times because I could have gone much faster on this course without killing myself for the run...but I knew my run would be bad to begin with so I really took it easy. It's a fast course throughout, very flat, and while I'm very happy with the results considering I didn't push it I also know that I could have been faster. As with the other tri's I've done I didn't get passed much and very, very few road bikes passed me so I'm happy with 21+ mph on the roadie. Next year, on what will hopefully be a new bike or, at minimum, with clip-ons, I should be at least another MPH faster, probably two--which would have gotten me top 10 in the AG.

I felt a twinge in my left knee, which was somewhat expected. I was having problems with the right knee for a while so I lowered the saddle a small amount and I think it's back to the left knee pain again...not terrible but I did feel it so a readjustment is in order. It was about mile 15 where I felt it and it was gone within a few minutes but I need to get that squared away before I start putting longer rides together in the fall.

See the swim...I'd have averaged another MPH or so if I was able to push this a bit harder but I'm happy with the results and actually didn't expect the avg. speed to be this high so I'm happy with the bike.

Nothing to report here, T2 was a little slow but again I was trying to keep myself calm and the HR down for the run so it was about as expected.

The only thing I'd have liked would have been getting the shoes off a bit faster before dismount and also doing the leg-over dismount (I came to a full stop then hopped off). So, as with everything else: practice, practice, practice!

I knew this was going to be bad...after Timberman it just was guaranteed to be a sufferfest throughout. That said, I felt alright for the first 4 miles, I kept a decent clip and actually had a few splits that I was satisfied with (7:54 for mile 1 and 8:14 on mile 3), the rest was just awful. I hadn't run this distance--let alone a longer distance to get acclimated to running when fully tired--in over a month and the run is by far my biggest limiter. I'm carrying too much weight to begin with and I haven't gotten in nearly enough runs to feel comfortable so I knew this would just be awful. I guess, in the end, I'm happy with the time considering my condition but I wish that wasn't an excuse, I wish my knee had felt better and I hadn't had so much planned for this summer so I could have trained up for this race but such is life.

The first 5K was decent (for me), I probably averaged just over 8 min/mi and felt alright. Even mile 4 was decent, I really didn't start falling apart until the 5th mile, which coincided with an slight uphill for just about the entire mile. I'm not gonna lie, there was walking involved...more jogging than walking, but there was walking. Nothing was fast, everything hurt and I tried to will myself to the finish line without slowing down but it just wasn't in the cards. I had set a goal of 2:40:XX and at mile 4 I started watching the clock. It actually might have slowed me down just a bit as I didn't see anyone in my AG around me--it was mostly stragglers from the M35-44 groups and some women coming up from behind--so as much as I pushed myself I think I could have gone slightly lower--no more than a minute or so, mind you, but slightly lower none the less.

In the end I'd say I'm happier with this run than Timberman: double the distance, coming off a longer swim and bike, and I almost matched my pace. It wasn't pretty but I knew it wouldn't be going into it so I'm happy with the way this turned out.

TRAIN! I'm excited as hell for this winter, getting into marathon shape is going to take alot but I think it'll really help me for next season, the run is by far the worst part about my race performances so getting comfortable with short-to-moderate distances will be huge for me. Not only will I be faster throughout the run but I won't have to limit my swim and bike to keep fresh for the run as much.

Standing in line for a massage for almost a half hour then seeing my buddy just before I was about to get on a table...so, nothing really (I know, I know...I'll be feeling it tomorrow). Food and water. That's about it.


I'm a broken record here but: my run. 2 min/mi faster is my goal for next year, there's no reason to be above 8:30, and it'll be a big motivating force during the winter.


Very good race...being the Northeast Team championship it was a stacked field, lots of great triathletes racing today and it was fun 'going up against' them (I put that in quotes becuase I didn't see any of the top guys after the gun went off). I'm already excited for next year to see how much time I can knock off, this is a fun race. The bike track is flat as hell and it's great to see a 20+ avg even if most everyone did that. Volunteer work, as with every tri I've done, was phenomenal, they do a great job at this race and I definitely enjoyed it. Now I'm ready for a nap!