Bluff Creek Triathlon - TriathlonOlympic

When the gun went off I
got right into the mix of the swim and got a lot of contact during the swim. I had
to make sure I didn’t panic even though I continually got trapped behind other
swimmers and would have to reroute my swim. I came out of the swim and
started moving up.

Be more aggressive possibly. Try not to get trapped. Learn to draft.

I burst through transition as fast as I could and got out of the
bike.

Nothing. It was great.

This was the part of the race I was excited for, the bike. I got out and got
going, pushing the speed. I knew right away the second half would be slower
with the wind pushing us out. I slowly started moving up until I could see the lead
group up ahead. When I reached the turnaround I was already in the top ten
racers, the place I was shooting for at the end of the race, not now. We turned
around and the wind hit us but I was ready. I started pushing it up, passing
people I had only dreamt of passing in years past. I settled into a group of about
five guys and we held the top ten spots and rode the rest of the course together.
When we got to about a mile left I made my move. I pushed up the hill and raced
to the end of the bike.

Nothing really. I did a good job. I may have backed off a little bit after I made a pass into about 5th instead of chasing the lead guys.

My mind was determined to make a gap so I pushed fast
through the second transition and took off on my strength, the run.

Nothing. Did a great job.

I saw two guys exiting before me on the run so I picked one off right off the
bat and saw the next pull away. My legs had really pushed it on the bike and the
thought of trying to hold of anybody for the run was terrifying. As I came around
the corner I asked one of the volunteers what place I was in and they said fourth.
At this point I got into rhythm and pondered whether I would rather finish in the
top three overall or win my age group for the first time. I didn’t have much time to
think when the second place racer started to fade and had to pass him, leaving
me in third. With second place still right in front of me I started to get excited. I
checked my speed since I didn’t feel like I was moving too fast but it was close to
a 6:00 mile, about what I was shooting for.
While we made it through the run it seemed as though first place was
pulling away. When we made our way up hills I would gain on second place up
to being right on his heels before he would make a gap again on the flats. With
the last hill about a mile away from the finish I told myself I wouldn’t wait for him
to set the pace and made my move. I got ahead and kept pushing, hoping a gap
would form. With a half-mile left I knew I had pulled it off. I finished the race with
a smile on my face happy with the performance I had done.

Not give up. I told myself the lead runner was getting away even though I was catching him.

The thing that impressed me the most was how my splits compared to
everyone else. My swim was the 16th fastest swim time, which I was very
surprised with. My transitions were solid with my transition one being the third
fastest and my transition two being the ninth fastest. My bike time had me listed
as the seventh fastest bike split of the day but it all came down to the run. I
posted the fastest run split of anyone in the race. I had 30 seconds on the next
faster runner even after hammering it through the bike. I set a goal to finish with
a top ten run split and run a sub 20 minute 5K in a race and I accomplished both
of these. I also posted the fourth fastest run split on the course of all time. Being
able to place in the top ten for four of the five parts of the race was extremely
exciting for me. For now it is time to start getting back out there to prep for my
next upcoming race.


Not too much. I need to improve my swim more.


Seemed like less volunteers than previous years. Otherwise I loved the new format of having two seperate transitions.