St. Anthony's Triathlon - TriathlonOlympic

Got in the water, ran until waist deep. A guy in front of me started dolphining, and I walked right past him. Heh.

Let's get something straight...I HATE the chop. First OWS in big surf, and I was freaked. By the first buoy, I sat up, looking for the kayak. I was ready to DNF right friggin there. Fortunately, one wasn't around.

So I slugged it out. I had no rhythm, resorted to just breathing right...because you'd breathe one stroke and get air, one stroke you might not. I lost all 4 minutes in the first 500 yards. I probably stopped, treading water, maybe 8 times. I breaststroked around buoy 1. And I flipped over and kicked a couple times just to avoid swimming, I suppose.

After rounding the first turn, the swim got MUCH better. I got into a set stroke. At the 2nd buoy, there's a crowd trying to round the corner...and lo and behold, Karl's in front of me. We're both breaststroking due to the traffic Jam, and I bellow out "Karl Kiss, YOU ARE AN IRONMAN". He turns, give me a "hey buddy", and we hammered home.

The swim in was sheer delight, and was easy. Heh.

Not freak out.

F'in wetsuit. It's always been a problem. But I wrestled with it for a good 2 minutes in transition. Always, always gets stuck on the ankles and calves.

Hack the legs off that sumbitch.

Great ride for me, considering I hadn't ridden outside - other than this weekend - in 8 months, and hadn't seen my bike in 2 months.

Excellent nutrition - drank just the right amount, never felt thirsty or out of energy. Cornering was awesome - I passed TONS of people that don't corner well.

Maybe practice riding my bike.
Get a tri-geometry bike (DONE) so I don't use so much hamstring.

I pushed hard on the bike...and my legs didn't want to run...I could barely run in transition. I was furious with myself, and was so furious I went down the wrong slot, killing 45 seconds because I needed to backtrack and go down the right rack (I had a horrible bike rack position, right near the fencing).

From there transition went fine. No issues. Fast.

Find my rack on the first go-round?

Smooth and easy. Straight out of transition, saw Shannon - thanks for Jockstrappin'!!!!

Ran with Karl for miles 1-3, then took off to the finish. Saw Chris at Mile 1 bringin' it home, then JamesReeves at about 2, and then all in a row - Gullah, Mike, Rich, and Jen DiCarlo. Very weird that in a sea of racers, the BT'ers were all lined up within 50 yards of one another. Hmmm.

Mile 4-6 I took off and dropped it to 8's, felt strong. Finished strong.

Hit the run harder. I left 3 minutes on the course; BUT I had never finished a tri's last mile without walking, so I went conservative. I need more confidence in my run.

Finished, Cold Towel, saw Denise at the end of the finishers' chute - YEAH BON BON!!! Bostic had been finished for a while, so he pointed out the massage tent, where I got worked on for 20 minutes...

Then back to the finishers' chute to watch for more BT'ers, then moseyed over to the BT Keg. Socialized. Drank. Didn't eat. Dumb.


* Chop in OWS (mental toughness)
* Poor bike fitness
* Confidence in the run (mental toughness)
* POOR TRANSITIONS (mental breakdown - this can be fixed)


Awesome race, fantastic to catch up with BT'ers. Special thanks to the fantastic Jockstraps and all the folks that coordinated various weekend events....what a great crew. Fun to race with, fun to party with, good times!!!