Rock Hall International Triathlon - Triathlon

Note my overall rank includes men, as these were not separated for this race. I felt pretty good, though had to stop a couple times either to make sure I was on the right track, or just to readjust around someone who wasn't swimming straight. They had 2 people go at a time, and it was actually a jump in, not a dive. I went around the middle of the pack, which I think was a good spot for me. I slipped jumping in and my tri suit unzipped so I probably had some extra drag thanks to that!

I felt fine overall. I didn't want to go too hard knowing this was a longer race than I really trained for. I felt steady throughout so am happy with my performance.

I felt pretty good and was passing a bunch of people on the run from the water to transition, and then again to the mount line. Probably could've saved a little time, but I was nervous about nutrition, so had a few almonds and swigs of Tailwind.

I would not have eaten almonds. My mouth was dry from the brackish water, and they only made it drier.

I felt pretty good on the bike, though as mentioned above, there were some slower parts on the first half or so. It was very flat and I tried to push pretty hard without overcooking my legs. The road was not always great, lots of cracks in the first 5-7 miles, so it was a bit bumpy, but evened out eventually.
The way back felt very fast, which is why I think there was probably a headwind on the way out, but not so horrible that I really noticed while in the moment. I had some Tailwind with me and drank it pretty regularly throughout. The almonds I had eaten did not feel good and a little may have come up at one point (TMI, sorry). I got passed by a lot of people on aero bikes (mostly guys though).

I think I need a faster bike. It's hard to justify b/c I don't ride it much other than racing, but man it's tough being passed by so many people on fancy bikes!

Not sure I could've gone much faster.

N/A

This is where I struggled. The first half of the run my left leg felt extremely tight/kept cramping up. I kept having to stop and stretch it. The pain went all the way down my leg. I finally started getting water and gatorade at each stop. I would drink the gatorade, and some of the water, and then pour the rest on my head to cool down. The second half of the run felt much better and I didn't have to stop and stretch/walk. I finished pretty strong!

I would have better nutrition. I think the Tailwind was fine but was not enough for the distance of this race. I needed more electrolytes throughout, so maybe also bringing some gatorade on my ride earlier would've helped.

They handed you ice cold washcloths at the end of the race and had a tent with a spinning sprinkler thing so I went in there for a little, then found a hammock in the shade and laid down for a couple minutes. I was wiped. Eventually I got up and found some gatorade in the food tent, so I drank that while I went and pulled my stuff together and took everything to my car. I came back and by then had more of an appetite, so I had some food. They had a pretty good spread. Rice and beans with a chicken concoction, pasta with bacon and tomatoes, a salad (but it had onions in it), and some snacks, including bananas, nature valley bars, and oreos. I stuck to the rice, chicken and pasta, as well as some watermelon and gatorade.


Nutrition - I could've done SO much better with nutrition, but haven't done many of these longer races so have been trying out different stuff. I didn't grocery shop prior to the race and had to deal with whatever I had available in my house, which was not much. I also stopped at Wawa on the way, which is where I got the almonds and apples with peanut butter.
Training - Obviously I just decided to do this a few days before the race, so wasn't quite training for an Oly, but overall I'm pretty happy with how my training prepared me.


This was a great race overall. It was well organized, lots of volunteers available, and a great announcer (I don't know how he still had a voice by the next day). The food after was delicious. I do wish there had been an aid station or two on the bike out, but also should have just brought my own stuff for between the bike and run.