Race Report: Blue Lake Olympic

Blue Lake Olympic Triathlon

Date: 6/16/2008
Swim distance: 1.5k
Bike distance: 40k
Run distance: 10k

So, I don't want to start out this report with excuses for my relative performance. I will say, now at the outset, I am please with my performance. I felt a little nervous at the beginning. I knew I was not going to have the legs for a great day, nonetheless it was a good day.

I started the swim right in the middle. This was probably my first mistake of the day. I should have started a lot closer to the front. I know I am not the fastest swimmer, but I am not the slowest either. I should have started closer to the front. I had to climb over several people to get into some open water. Pacing throughout was good, but possibly a little slow. I was able to get a good draft along the back stretch and after the second turn I pushed it around the guy I was drafting. Sighting wasn’t great, the turn buoys were the same color as all the others. This makes for some confusion. One guy, at the second to last buoy made the turn to home. I felt a little bad for him. Also, I have gotten a lot better at swimming straight. I know this sounds maybe insignificant, but swimming straight really helps. The quickest route between two points is that straight line.

Transition 1 was a little shaky. This was the first time I’ve had to take my own wetsuit off in a very long time. At Boise they had strippers (no, not those kind). So, I was a little nervous and it slowed me down. I didn’t have enough lube on ankles and the suit had a hard time coming off. I didn’t panic, but was slow.

I started off on the bike a little quick. I should have controlled myself a little better at the beginning. I did settle into a good pace, but my legs did not feel great. I pushed through it, but there was pain. The kind of pain were you know you are sacrificing some time on the run, but can’t help it. You still push through it. At the end, I pushed ahead of a couple people I was behind the whole time. I knew I wouldn’t see them on the run, but I didn’t know how many people I was going to be able to catch off the bike.

Transition 2 was not better than T1. I couldn’t get my shoes on. It slowed me down considerably. The preset laces were too tight, my feet were a little numb, the combination was problematic.

I really controlled my pace at the beginning of the run. I wanted to run fast, but I knew my legs were not going to be able to kick the whole time. I wanted to save what I had in the tank for the final miles. As bad as my legs hurt I did negative split the final 3 miles. Final mile was 5:45, best mile of the day. However, that was not good enough. I didn’t however, get passed once. For me this is a good measure of my run strength.

As I mentioned this was not the best day I have ever had. My bike was not the best. I just didn’t feel like I had the power I needed or can have on a good day. Because my bike was such a struggle mentally and physically, my run suffered. This is usually my greatest strength, but not today. However, I did learn some things in this race. I need to practice taking my wetsuit off. I need some new laces for my shoes to make the transitions better. I also learned that some days you just aren’t going to have it. The day was good, I don’t have a lot of complaints about my performance, but not great.

Time: 2:09:10
Overall: 21st
Age Group: 4th