Tri Without Borders - TriathlonOlympic

The water was salty, freezing, and shallow, so we all just started running through it when the gun went off. The people swimming got left in the dust. Eventually I started dolphin diving, but the shock of the cold water wasn't real fun. So I swam. The swimmers got scattered everywhere, but I did find this trudgeon kicker to draft off of for about half a mile (those guys make nice big easy-to-follow bubbles). An age-group competitor was just off my shoulder for most of the swim, so eventually I decided to stop drafting and leave these suckers behind. I didn't want the age-grouper to outsprint me at the end. So, one rival was taken care of. The swim distance was good, because it gave me a chance to use these little tricks. Sprint tri's are just too short for this.

Dolphin dive for a long time. I could have been at the front of the pack if I did that. I would also learn the course, because without the guy I was drafting I wouldn't have known where to go. I'm pretty sure he swam zigzaggedly too.

My feet were numb after the cold swim. I had no trouble with my race belt this time, but my wetsuit didn't come off so easily (I forgot my bodyglide). I had some grassy, sandy feet too, but I couldn't get them clean.

I have to find a way to do these things faster. My transition time was 100th out of 160. Maybe if I get a smaller wetsuit or something...

My plan was to go 18 mph, because I didn't think I was trained for the bike. There was a huge uphill right at the beginning, which made my saltwatery stomach hurt. People were yelling and crying and stuff going up that thing. The rest of the course was rolling. Very few people passed me, and after most passes I passed 'em back. I made a lot of ground on the downhills, but I'm not sure why that happened. I must be aerodynamic. At about mile 15 I caught another guy in my age group on a 40-mph downhill and left him in the dust for the rest of the race. This one lady kept exchanging place with me, and I was annoyed by her. Near the end she was 1/4-mile ahead of me and it looked like I would have to take her down in the run (which I was sure I could do), but during the last downhill (which was a huge uphill before) I caught and passed her along with 6 or 7 other people. So I beat the whole pack of them :)

Nothin'.

Pretty standard transition. I picked up my bike and carried it instead of running with it. That made things a little quicker than usual.

Apparently this is a 10K PR. The course may have been short. I can't tell. I'll call it a PR with an asterisk since it was in a triathlon.

Anyway, I passed tons of people. No one passed me. I caught a 3rd person in my age group, but the other 3 were too far ahead for me to spot. It turns out that #3 was only 30 seconds ahead, and I didn't quite get to him. I blame my T1 time.

Go faster. I felt too comfortable. Usually I feel like puking, but I didn't this time. That's one reason that I suspect the course was short.

I hopped back into the ocean for some leg icing. It was nice.


I didn't do any intel on the course. I shoulda done that.


The start was 30 minutes late, but I don't care. There was apparently a big shortage of volunteers, and the race directors got a lot of crap from other athletes. Considering the logistical challenge inherent in a 2-country race, I thought it went fine, and I hope it's there next year (it might not be).