Buffalo Triathlon Race Report

Buffalo Triathlon Race Report

June 6, 2015

I decided last fall when Graniteman announced the addition of Olympic distance events to their series that that would be part of my race schedule this season. Today was event 1 of 3.

I arrived early to check in and find that they had assigned me to a sprint wave & distance...over to another line to get that changed! Not the way I wanted to start my day! From there, I met up with Eric, Sara, Jacquelyn, and Mike along with some other familiar faces.

Before I knew it, it was go time! Eric & I headed into the corral for wave 4, saw my family just before the start, & we were underway. The first few hundred was parallel to shore. I fought waves from my left taking on water with about every 4th breath on that side. There was a runaway pontoon that we had to dodge as well! After the first corner, it got much better! With a triangular shape counter clockwise swim, the other two legs were not bad. I swam again in a full sleeve wetsuit (1st race in 2 years). I began to overheat & flooded the suit to cool off a couple times. From swim exit to the bike racks was a longer uphill run.

T1 was uneventful, but congested at bike out.

The first half of the bike, I fought the wind and hills...and the return of the water ingested on the swim. After the sprint/oly split, I finally started to find my rhythm. When we rejoined the sprint course, I felt like I was flying!

T2 bike dismount was again congested.... the dismount line was at the bottom of a hill followed by a run down another short, steep hill. Everything went smooth racking my bike & starting to transition until I reached down to tighten the quick pulls on my shoes. As I pulled on my left laces, they snapped in half! I quickly tried to adjust & ended up tying them together as tight as I could make the shoe...and off I went.

The run course was changed from previous years & followed the same course (and hills) of the first 3 miles of the bike. The 1st 2 miles didn't feel horrible, but I could feel it heating up. About 20 minutes in, I began a 5 min run/1 minute walk regiment for the remainder of the course. To my surprise, I finished 25 seconds/mile slower than my goal pace...that I was sliding behind when I switched strategy. It was hot, humid, & hilly.... not a great run combination for me!

While this day did not go as I had planned, there are always good things to take away! Despite my difficulties, I was only about 4 minutes slower than my Oly PR! No matter how bad you think your race is going, fight the mental battle to push through! If something isn't going the way you want it to, what can you do to change it? Can you change it now or something to remember/change for your next event? Keep evolving to the conditions in front of you at the moment!

Now on to recover! There is a 70.3 in a few days to focus on!!!