Buffalo Olympic

Buffalo Triathlon Race Report

June 5, 2016

Today was event 1 of 3 of the Graniteman Olympic Distance Race Series.

The first few hundred of the swim was parallel to shore. I fought waves from my left taking on water with about every other breath on that side. With a triangular shape counter clockwise swim, the first two legs were the worst, and the home stretch was not bad, but the sun made it difficult to sight the swim exit. From swim exit to the bike racks was a longer uphill run with the timing mat about half way to the sprint transition area.

T1 was uneventful until I pulled a "McConkey" and hit the ground with my bike (lost style points for not drawing much blood). As I ran out, my front wheel turned with a change in the road and I couldn't react. Down I went! After collecting my shoe and dusting myself off, I hit the mount line and away I went.  Time to refocus!

The first half of the bike, I fought the wind and hills. It seemed like no matter what way I turned, it was into the wind.  Sufferfest's Power Station probably wasn't the ideal workout yesterday!  After the turn around I finally started to find my rhythm. I did notice that my shifting was not as smooth as it was in the warm up. When we rejoined                                                        the sprint course, I felt like I was flying....and dodging around others!

T2 Everything went smooth racking my bike & transitioning to the run.

The run course was the same as last year & followed the same course (and hills) of the first 3 miles of the bike. The 1st 2 miles didn't feel horrible, but I also couldn't hold the pace I wanted. I settled in and just maintained my rhythm. Once we were clear of the sprint turn, traffic lightened up and it felt like I could pace better. Thankfully the wind kept things feeling cooler out there! As I turned toward the park, I saw the guy just ahead was in my division. I picked up the pace a little. As the downhill leveled out, I made my move. I kicked it a little to early & he was able to react and beat me at the line. 1 second.....but a great way to finish!  It's always great to receive a shout out at the finish when Jerry is announcing!

After finishing, I knew I had a new course PR (by 9:16), but later realized I also have a new Olympic Distance PR (by 4 seconds)!    Analyzing the numbers, I was 1:30 slower on the bike this year (most of that came with the fumble exiting T1), but faster in every other stage.  Don't stop pushing forward!!!

Now on to recover, fix my bike, and rest up! There is a 70.3 in a few days to focus on!!!