Tri-Fest Olympic Event Report

Heading into the event, my goal was to break 3 hours.  However, I also knew that the course was going to be harsh.  Luckily the weather was nice and cool so the main adversary was going to be the hills.

Going in, my goal was to beat these times: 32 minute swim; 1:28 bike (or 17 mph); 1 hour run.  That would put me at sub-3 hours and leave a little room for transitions. 

The swim was in Taylorsville Lake in my sleeveless wetsuit.  Swim went well, with the only odd part being some minor swells toward the end.  Not sure if the wind kicked up for a few minutes or a bigger boat went near us but definitely odd.  I guess this is part of open water swimming but not used to it locally in our normally flat water.  Ended up with a 33:37.5 swim.

Transition went well, with the hardest part being the removal of the wetsuit.  Luckily, we had help from a wetsuit "stripper" who helped us get out of them.  T1:  2:16.8.  This doesn't seem fast, but in my last wetsuit race, in Detroit, my T1 time was over 5 minutes!

On to my bike.  The first quarter mile or so is completely heinous.  The grade is so steep coming out of the boat ramp area that at times I was under 5 mph and nearly fell over I was going so slow.  At least you knew you got to descend it later.  The course was as hilly as advertised but at least the climbs were nice steady ones instead of slow steep, holy cow, I want to die climbs.  Ended up with a 1:30:44 or 16.4 mph.  Not quite the 17 I wanted but the hills....  I also was having a touch of stomach upset, which was made evident with a trip to the bathroom after the event.

T2 was 1:24.9, right on target. Although I'd like to get this closer to 1 minute in the future for shorter events.

The run was again hilly but uneventful.  Averaged 10:49, which I'll take on a hilly course. I indeed beat an hour but the run was a touch short.  Only 5.52 miles instead of the advertised 6.2.  Total was 59:53.4.

Grand total was 3:07:56.6, which given the course and other factors, I'll take.  In lieu of a normal medal, here is what we received:

Different but nice.  They were made by a member of my local tri club.

Next event is in the middle of June. Another Olympic but this time on a super flat course.  3 hours is definitely in the cards! 

Back to the Ironman training this week.  Next update when I have something interesting to say!

It's Event Week

Had a pretty good week of training last week.  The post-marathon massage I had on Sunday helped immensely and luckily the twisted knee also cleared up pretty quickly.  The massage therapist also brought up an interesting question:  do I take any joint supplements, such as glucosamine?  I hadn't really thought about it but I'm not getting any younger and I am indeed putting a pretty good pounding on my body so there was no harm in at least investigating the idea.  I found these at Costco.  They were also on sale, only $12, and that covers a bit more than 6 months. 

The event this week is an Olympic tri.  That's a 1500 meters swim (.9 miles); a 40 km bike (24.6 miles); and a 10 km run (6.2 miles).  My goal for these is to break 3 hours.  Might be tough as the course is pretty hilly and the event starts at 10:00 am, which could mean some heat.

Race report coming on Saturday!