The Austin Triathlon - TriathlonOlympic

All right, my swimming sucks - but I wanted the opportunity to prove it sucks. A couple of months ago I had trouble going even 50 meters and now I can say I swam a mile. Being a weak swimmer and having the traditional OWS it knocked off my breathing something fierce. I swear that there was a fish gang that would splash water into my mouth everytime I opened it for breath. Swallowing this much lake water can't be good. My stroke rate started out good but with the waterboarding I did most of the distance on my back. Sighting was poor because of this, but the Aqua Sphere goggles has better than average field of view and I could see the side of the lake most of the time. That inner voice woke up and is now gagging on water. That's what it gets for not warning me sooner.

Not swallow so much lake water. Of course, swim, swim, OWS, and swim some more. All the months of swim practice made loads of improvement but my swim time was still pathetic. If the saying of train like you race is true than I need to drink 3 liters of lake water with each swim practice. Did I mention I need more swimming practice?

T1 was a short run from the lower part of Auditorium Shores to the middle. This is evident in all the T1 times. Removed the wetsuit like I practiced, put on my helmet, race belt and looked at the gel I was going to eat. My stomach is extremely upset due to the lake water sloshing effect. Wow, look at that! My bike is the last on the rack and easy to find. There is SOME good in a slow swim time. Put on my running shoes and grabbed the bike. Since this is my first tri, I used what I have on the bike (cages) and ran out of T1 in running shoes. The race rules said that from the mount line to the main road (~200 meters) there is no passing. So I trudged slowly behind another cyclist until cleared for passing.

Not much. At this level I felt good about how everything was laid out and I didn't forget anything. How about not drink so much lake water.

The bike was playing catch-up from the swim. I felt weak and couldn't push as hard as I knew I could. This was were I wanted to take the 1991 Bridgestone X3 hybred bicycle (with cages) and make some carbon jealous. While I did my fair share of passing and getting passed, the speed just wasn't there. My stomach still was bloated from the swim and I couldn't eat or drink anything. I was cursing the overcast sky since full sun would have increased my sweat rate and emptied that nasty lake water. I wanted (needed) to throw-up but my pride wouldn't allow it. A little noxious emmisions didn't help increase my speed but the hurting was easing up toward the last lap.

Even though the hills were small in elevation one was a long slow climb. I need to get more hill work in. Did I mention not to drink so much lake water?

What can I say - the bike has cages and my running shoes are already on. The race belt was put on in T1. Rack the bike, helment off and take off running. For the first time this race I felt like a triathlete rather than a soggy wet turd.

It would hurt T2 but I would really like to have to change from bike shoes into running shoes. This was a great transition from my newbie point of view.

The run is where the lake water started become less of a hindrance. I'm not a strong runner but I did expect a 8" pace. The pain kept me from running to my expectations until the last couple of miles, by then it was obvious that I wasn't going to make my overall time. Bless those kids with super soakers.


Suck it up and run faster. Oh, also not drink so much lake water.

Walked around the venue for 5 minutes then got in line for the FREE pizza and free drinks. There was also free massage and free beer if one was so inclined. I seem to recall seeing it on BT: Do you know what they call the last place person in a triathlon - A triathlete. Today I am a triathlete (and not last place either).


My body betrayed me. Overall the swim was and will continue to be the killer. If the lake was filled with Accelerade, I would have been great! That is what I normally drink during training. I knew that an Oly distance for a first race was a lot to attempt but I HAD to do an OLY before my sister did.


The organization for a first year race seemed wonderful. There were plenty of volunteers (bless each and every one of them) to move the masses in the right direction. It started on time and the course was well thought out. This should be a classic race in the following years and should not be missed if you are near Austin.