Evergreen Olympic Triathlon -2:51:08.4

Last year I did the sprint at evergreen, this year was my first year doing the olympic distance. With my full attention on Steelhead, I didn't taper for this race, but rather treated it as my speedwork for the week.

To be honest, I didn't respect the distance and effort this would take. It was a very hot day, and in the end the distance got the best of me...but I learned some very valuable lessons. More on that below...

Age Group Place: 14/26
Overall: 198/426


Swim
The water was not wetsuit legal. There was a lot of congestion in the start, I think next time I'll try to keep more to the outside. Otherwise, the swim was unremarkable.

Distance: 1500m
Time: 34:22.3
100s: 2:06


T1

I made some major improvements on transition speed in this race. It was the first race I've done without socks, so that helped a lot. I also didn't have a wetsuit to take off.


Time: 1:34.9

Bike

The bike started very well for me, but I made some really stupid choices related to nutrition. It was very hot, with a high heat index. I only had 24 oz of fluid on the bike, and it wasn't enough. I found myself rationing it. By the end of the ride I saw my power dipping, but I wasn't completely sure why yet. I was dehydrated but I didn't know it...race stupidity.

Distance: 42K

Time: 1:12:08.9

Mph: 21.6

T2

At this point I was suspecting that I was low on water. I also knew I was low on calories. I had only put about 200 Kcal in, after an hour of biking and 34 minutes of swimming.

Time 1:45.5


Run

The first two miles of the run went great. I was running sub 9 and feeling good. I was working to take on water and gatoraid to get my hydration up, but it was too little, too late. By mile 3 my heart rate was steadily climbing. By mile 4, I couldn't slow it down, even walking, it was pegged. I was nauseous and in bad shape. I ended up walking about a mile total. In the end, I finished an otherwise good race with the worst 10k I've run all summer.

Distance: 10K
Time: 1:01:16.8

Pace 9:52

So what did I learn. Nutrition and hydration are important, and everyone has unique needs. My hydration needs are high, and I need to keep the fluid coming in. I'd find out the next day that I sweat about 38 oz / hour, which is much less than I had coming in.

It was a disappointing performance, but luckily it happened here, so I could learn my lesson before Steelhead.