This was my first Olympic swim in a lake I normally train in. While that should have made it better, my training is usually just out and back a couple of hundred yards, rest, and repeat. The buoys looked impossibly far out! Still, I felt pretty good about the swim. Last year, this was by far my worst event and I feel like I'm at least not getting left way behind swimming now. I felt pretty great during it and am now confident I can tackle the 1.2 miles in a few weeks.

I could stand to sight a little more. I do a decent job of this approaching the buoys but not when they are far off. Also, next time I'll wear new goggles. I just bought some but they are smoke lenses and it was very cloudy out. I wore my old clear ones which were digging into my head in a painful way by the end. Also, despite Body Glide, I got some series rubbing just above my left armpit. Next time I might actually put some tape or something on there.

The wetsuit strippers were nice! Much, much faster than last week in T1. I tend to like the parking lot TA rather than grass. T1 was 88/183 overall, 13/21 in age group and 49/113 for men.

Nothing really.

Stupid bike continues to be my weakness. Overall, I'm not unhappy with my average speed given the hilly course, but there were some seriously fast people out there. I feel like I'm pushing hard, but just not able to turn effort into speed. From my what I've read, it just takes time. I think I'm going to start using the trainer exclusively for my mid-week workouts to see if that helps build power. Gender 85/113. Also, it was odd that at one point vehicle traffic was merged with bike traffic on a hill such that a car was following a cyclist but then was getting passed by other cyclists. Traffic control could have been better.

Continue training?

I wasn't messing around. Racked my bike, chucked my shoes and glasses, grabbed a hat and was off. 9 of 21 age group, 38/113 men, 51/183 overall. I was just happy to be off of the bike because I knew the run would be my best event.

nothing.

One advantage to being way better at the run than the bike is that anyone that was going to pass me had already done so. Literally no one passed me on the run and I passed more than I could count. I felt like the 70.3 training helped me more in this run than the sprint. I was really happy to be able to hold a < 8 min mile on a hilly course for 6 miles. I felt great and finished the downhill run to the finish line at a wide open sprint, rocketing past a final competitor on the way. 60/113 men

nothing. Run was very good.

Headed to the snack tent and was badly disappointed! One of the race sponsors was an excellent middle-eastern place that had provided food for an FS Series race last fall. This time, it was just cold pizza - boo!


Bike. Most of the race is on the bike, and it's really holding me back.


Beautiful location was a great run course (if hilly). Falls Lake was the perfect temperature for a wetsuit.