TRI for Real Triathlon #3 - TriathlonOlympic

Started out a bit rough as I was shut out in the first 50 by a couple of guys that swam into one another right in front of me. Pulled up briefly and then moved in behind a faster swimmer for a good draft to the first buoy at 500 yds. Once past the first turn started passing most of the wave that went out too hard and several moved in behind and kept touching my toes. My sighting was good down the long back stretch although I got a bit shallow and swam through some weeds at the mid point. Made a good turn home and having watched the swim several times from the finish I knew to stay right and had clear water all the way home. Stopped my watch when I stood in knee deep water and finished in 27:38...official clock up the hill was 28:19. Not a bad swim but knew once again that I could have pushed a bit more.

Started further to the side to avoid the guys that started front/center and said they were fast but were gassed at 500.

RD adds T1 and T2 to the bike. So I'm generalizing this at 3min. It was fairly fast but my calf always cramps when removing my wetsuit leg.

Drank a bit more before leaving

First time I've ridden the course which is rolling hills and felt uphill both ways as we had a headwind on the return.

Ride or drive the course prior to the race as it was all new and wasn't sure how hard to ride the hills not knowing what was next.

This was probably shorter but they don't track T time and add it into the bike/run...not sure which so I split it into both.

My quads were cramping after mi 2. This is a constant battle for me in every race and is not an issue of overall fitness. Stopped to help a woman who stumbled and took a spill on the trail only to be passed by her later.

My two boys ran with me for the last 100 which made the pain from cramps disappear and had a strong finish.

Should have taken in more electrolyts on the bike.

Lots of fluids


Cramps


Good race for my first one back after surgery. Thought I had a handle on the cramps until mi 2 of the run. Need to visit with my doctor and do some research on cramps as they only seem to appear in races even though I'm not pushing a pace harder than training.