Elma Triathlon... First one of the season

You know the triathlon season has started when there are races in Elma (Olympia). Jessi, Natalie, Emma, Madison and I headed over on Saturday at 2:00pm after Emma’s soccer game. We loaded up the Excursion and headed out.

We made some pretty good time arriving in Lacey at the Quality Inn in 5 and half hours. We unloaded the rig and headed out for dinner. We dined in style at the local Arby’s. I personally like to stick to franchised fast food joints. Typically Wendy’s and Arby’s. I do this because I know their menu and I know what I can order and it will be safe. They both have salads and some lighter meals. And no matter where you go, you normally can find on of those.

Afterwards we headed back and Madison and Emma did some swimming and then we called it a night. I have to tell you that I snuck a couple chocolate chip cookies from the front desk that they put out every night. Just too good to pass up.

I slept like crap. I think the room was too hot for me. Not to mention Natalie’s phone going off in the middle of the night. But morning did come and I was up at 6:00am, right when the continental breakfast was starting. I had a Belgian waffle with yogurt on it, a banana and a couple hard boiled eggs. With a race start of 12:00, I had quite a bit of time for the food to settle. But I did not want to eat anything too crazy.

Eventually everyone else got up and we headed out the door at about 10:15am. The drive is only 25 or so miles. We arrived with a bit more than an hour to get set up. Normally that is a bit too close for me. But in Elma, you still can get a good position in transition. Initially I thought that there might only be a dozen people there to race the triathlon since they also had a duathlon as well. With the gloomy weather and the muddy 58 degree water temp, it would not have surprised me if people chose not to swim… even if it was 250 meters. But the cars started rolling in with about 1 hour prior to the race and the transition area was overflowing. Can’t say that I helped out with that since I took a bit more space than I needed to, but no one seemed to want to be near me for some reason. I had an ideal spot with some extra room… but I am not going to solicit people. I had the second ideal spot. There was someone at the end that had the best spot sporting a custom tri bike with Zipp 606s. But they were clinchers so I knew he must not be all that serious :).

I got the transition all set up with little confusion, which is always nice. I went out for a ride on my new Trek TTX and calibrated my SRM powermeter since this would be a great opportunity to get some good power data. I was going to be using some new equipment at this race and I wanted to make sure that it was all dialed in. I wore my new Rudy Project Syton helmet with the clear shield. I literally just pulled off the tags in transition and put it on my head for the first time. I normally race in Rudy Project glasses too, but I went with the clear shield since it was a tad overcast. But I did run with the new Zyons. Awesome coverage and so light on the face. It would also be the first swim in my B70 Helix. I sure love that suit. No matter how long it has been, they always fit like a glove. I love the new TIMEX heart rate monitor because it’s such a small timepiece for a heart rate monitor and the chest strap is not even noticeable. The functions are so simple to use. I did not ever miss a split.

I headed down to the swim start with about 2 minutes prior to the start. I thought I might be able to sneak in a warm up, but when I asked the race director, Bob Green, how much time we had, he said 30 seconds. Answered that question. I waded in and lost sight of my feet as soon as I felt the water… it was as clear as pudding.


The cannon went off… well, I think he might have just said go. I took off like a rocket. A rocket with very little fuel because I think I hit the turn around and felt like I could not breathe. I must have been going way too hard and was not thinking about anything but going as fast as I could. I know my stroke must have looked like crap… somewhat resembling a ferryboat with a paddlewheel. Not very smooth. Distance per stroke was about 3 inches. I think I spotted every other stroke since I could not see anything. I knew I was close to getting out, but still was not comfortable with anything. I felt the ground and I was up out of the water and running to T1.


T1 was a bit on the slow side because this was the 1st time in my new B70 Helix. But I kept my cool, got it off, put on my Rudy Project helmet, and I was off. Once the suit was off, I am always amazed how quickly I am on my bike.



Ah, now the bike. This is where I feel most comfortable. No matter how many people pass me, it is a safe and comfortable place. Fortunately no one passed me. I went out fast and maintained a pretty high effort. I felt that there was a slight tailwind and a net loss in elevation. Nothing crazy, but more down than up. But I would consider this dead flat. The road surface was a bit rough… not pot holes, but rough surface. A constant vibration seemed to be happening, but the carbon frame made it tolerable. With somewhat windy conditions, I am glad I chose my Bontrager Aeolus 6.5 wheels… tubular of course. I ended up negative splitting the bike. Which was odd because I thought it would have been slower coming back with more climbing and a headwind, but when I looked at my power, I saw that my avg. power was higher coming back… which is really good. My HR was lower too which is even better to produce more power with a lower heart rate. I just hope that I can do this in an Olympic race too. I will find out next week. On the way back on the bike I saw Jessi who was in 4th place overall moving into 3rd on the bike. Pretty impressive. Check out her blog to get a report on her amazing race. She even talks about this ‘flea’ that would not leave her alone.

I came off the bike quickly with my feet out of the shoes and ready to hop off. I racked my bike and laboriously put on my running shoes. I could not feel my toes and they were curling up in the shoes. But they eventually got in and I threw on my TIMEX visor and Rudy Project glasses. I headed out on the 5k run trying to settle into a high cadence and get my heart rate under control. I saw second place coming in on the bike, but I knew I had a comfortable lead since I had been running for 2:30 before I saw him. As long as I could maintain my pace, and he did not run 4 minute miles, I should be okay. But I still wanted to get an idea of what my thresholds are. I felt like I was running well, but my mile times seemed slow. But you never know if the distances are accurate. The bike mileage was, based on athlete computers, but the run I did not know. I saw Jessi on the run when I was coming back. She looked strong and was holding off some charging guys. I tried to push it in the last kilometer and I felt good. After I got my splits, I found out that I negative split the run too. Right when I finished I was able to run the first kilometer with Natalie. She looked like she took off well and had a good pace. I ran with her until I saw Jessi who was in her final kilometer. It was great to run with her and see her truly push herself and close on a guy in front of her. He looked back a couple times and elevated his pace in fear that this ‘girl’ was going to pass him. Amazing what motivates people. I know Jessi was at full throttle and it always impresses me when people push themselves that hard when there is no one behind them… it’s all for them wanting to do their best. It’s about their race, not the race against other.

Jessi ended up winning the women’s race overall which was neat. Not that this was her ‘A’ race or anything, I think she was able to get an idea as to what her training has done and now what she needs to do. Granted, not much was learned from the swim, but the rest of the race was a great measuring tool.


The first race is now under my belt. Next weekend I race my first Olympic distance race which should be an eye opener. It’s quite a bit different than a sprint… not just ‘twice as long.’ So I’m looking forward to mixing it up in Vegas and see where I am and where I am not.