My first Olympic Triathlon

*Trying to keep this one short. Going into this race I wasn’t sure how my body would respond the week after a 70.3, but I welcomed the challenge. This was also my first Olympic, so I was excited to try a new distance. Sorry for the lack of pictures. Dad got to race with me!

Team Wattie Ink got some hardware

Pre-Race: The swim course looked like it was going to be short again. The bike course was quick with only 3 turns, a turnaround and 3 turns back. I didn’t scope out the run course because it was all trail paths.

Swim (20:39 – 6^th): The swim was very warm, so I didn’t bother with my swim skin. I started in the elite wave (maybe 10-15 people?), and it was a washing machine for the first 100 yards. Once we strung out, the swim was simple...2 straight out and backs. I was a little surprised to be 6^th out of the water and probably should have pushed a little harder. My watch only showed 1200 yards at 1:39/100, so the swim was almost 500 yards short.

T1 (0:26 – 1^st): I was the fastest T1 by 5s, so I’ll take that as a little win. I passed 1 person, took my time mounting the bike and used my hands more to get those cycling shoes on.

Bike (0:59:51 – 3^rd): The bike was quick with small rolling hills. I only passed 1 person because apparently 3^rd and 4^th place somehow took a wrong turn. I never saw them until after the turnaround, *but that’s what they get for forming a peloton. The guy even had the nerve to tell me he sucked wheel on the bike since “cycling isn’t his thing”. Sorry, just had to get that out =) I was very impressed with my pace of 24.8mph at 244W, and I kept my HR up averaging 165BPM. One of my personal goals is to hit a 40k in under an hour, so I was right there. Very happy with that split the week after a 70.3.

T2 (0:46 – 5^th): I was going to take a chance and race barefoot knowing I’d blister by mile 3, but 1^st place was way out of range and I didn’t think the extra 10s would cost me 2^nd. So, I rolled my socks on like last race and was on my way.

Run (34:35 – 2^nd): I was getting used to being the fastest runner in previous races, but not today! My plan was to go out at a 6:00 while staying under 170BPM for the first mile. I hit a 5:59 then pushed until my HR climbed to 175. Since 10K is not a distance I am familiar with, I wasn’t entirely sure what to expect. I ended up averaging 5:46 pace, and with the course 0.2 mi short, my actual* 10k would be around 35:50. I only missed the fastest split by 4s, so I’ll take that as another little win.

Post-Race (1:56:15 – 2^nd): After crossing the finish line in 2^nd place, I had the chance to meet and catch up with Ben Stone. He had been waiting a whole 6 minutes for me to cross, and it was very humbling to have raced against him. 3^rd place came in 3 minutes after me, so the podium was fairly spread out. 

Forgot to take a picture until we got home

Summary: Overall, I was the most disappointed with my swim since I lost the most time (4 minutes). For distances that are shorter, I need to work on pushing my pace more. Also open to suggestions! Transitions were short, and I posted 2 of the fastest splits. The bike course was fast, and I held 24.8mph. My bike was completely stripped down except for my flat kit and single bottle, so that helped as well (lost 2 more minutes). Starting the run, my brother told me I had a 6-minute gap and the guy was the fast. Rather than getting myself down, I set out to run the best 10k I was capable of and secured 2^nd place.

I put together my best race and came up way short. I was prepared and my body recovered, but Ben proved to be in a different league. My biggest takeaway is that, even though I’ve come an incredibly long way, there is still a lot more to do before I can claim my Kona slot.