This Week in Triathlon: The Olympic Distance Triathlon

First let me tell you that this was the longest training week for me ever, both in mileage and time

Swim- 2 hours 45 minutes, 4.46 miles
Bike- 4 hours 34 minutes, 82.59 miles
Run- 4 hours 10 minutes, 28.62 miles

Total 11 hours 29 minutes, 115.67 miles

The first part of the week was rough with long workouts early in the week with the hard workout being a 30 min swim, 40 mile ride, and 30 minute run. All in 97 degree heat. I was done after that. Later in the week eased up, with my last tune up race for Ironman 70.3 on Saturday. This race report does a great job of summing up where I am in this sport.

We stayed in Elberton, GA on Friday night and left the hotel at 6:30 am giving and hour to drive there, setup transition, and warm up. plenty of time seeing how it was 10 miles away right? WRONG. We were parked by 7:05 and then it took 15 minutes to get to transition. Line at body markup and potties, so set out to setup my transition. My warmup consisted of running every where to get ready, and I had forgot my water back in the car. Fortunatley they had plenty at transition. Luckily we were not the only ones behind so the race didn't start until 7:45. Took a gel 15 minutes before race start.

The Swim.

The course was setup in Richard Russell Lake. 1500 meter swim. The water was 85 degrees, and the course consistented of 2 laps of 750 meters wit a run of 200 feet on the beach between laps. I HATED this swim. Why the race organizers did this is confusing. the lake is plenty big to have a single lap setup. The water was crowded and choppy. I (and everyone elses) time suffered as a result. Rating- Poor

Distance: 1500m Time: 41:51 Time I wanted: 35:00 Place Total: 179/275

T1

I had been practicing getting into my bike shoes while on the bike. I ran into transition and did the following. Helmet on-> Grab Bike-> GO! Got into shoes withina minute on the bike. It worked perfectly. I had the 27th fastest T1 in the RACE. This was a real boost to pick off some of those fish while on the bike. Rating- FAST

Time: 00:52 Time I wanted: 1:00 Place Total: 27/275

The Bike

I drank water on the bike and took a gel 40 minutes in. The bike had a few steep inclines, but the course overall was fast. I started passing people at mile 1 and it continued the whole course. I could have been a little faster, but overall I rode the course like I wanted to. I was able to get out of my shoes in the last 1/2 mile on the bike and it worked perfectly. Into T2 barefoot. Rating- Darn Good

Time: 1:08:07 Time I wanted: 1:05:00 Place Total: 71/275

T2

T2 went as planned. here's what happened. Rack bike-> Helmet off-> Shoes-> Socks-> Race number-> RUN I did need to stop a few steps from the mat to get a rock out of my shoe. Rating- Good

Time: 1:20 Time I wanted: 1:00 Place Total: 121/275

Run

I took some Endurolytes and water on the start of the run. The run consisted of 2 5k laps on trails and on the road. Gel at mile 4. There was a fair amout of shade and water stations at every mile. The fnial .75 of the loop was a nice downhill. My plan was to get my legs under me and run by heartrate. Stayed in the high 150s the first lap and then turn it up, and that is what I did. I averaged 8:51 /mile for the run, and FINISHED strong! Rating- Good

Time: 54:50 Time I wanted: 55:00 Place Total: 107/275

Totals

As you see below I finished in the top 100! I PR'd in this distance by 34 minutes. My swim is below average, but my bike and run are cranking. I feel that of any event to have some speed issues in, I would prefer that to be the swim. I caught the strong swimmers (80 people) in the other 2 events. Will I break 6 hours in Augusta? Who knows, but all systems are GO! Thanks to Mary Ruth and Eyrleigh for being my support team. I love you guys! Rating- Happy PR!

Time: 02:47:00 Time I wanted: Sub 3:00:00 Place Total: 99/275