Hi Melanie, so nice of you to offer up this site.

I have a question for you regarding racing.

Some background first. This is my second season of Tri's, I'm 45(new age group this year yipee!) and really prefer ORT to RT.

Last year I did 3 tri's, 2 road sprints and 1 xterra sport. I'd qualify myself as a good swimmer (came out of the water in the top 10% without a wet suit). I'd have to say cycling is my second strongest disciplne(this year I've got myself a Guru croalu no more mtb on the RT), and then there is running (i run 4:30 5k's, however my tri's are 4:50).

Last year I got 4th, 1st and 2nd in my age group. I plan to move up to a full Tri and perhaps one Olympic.

My question is how do i strategize my race?

In the past I have primarily just given it all I had for the swim and bike, and do my best on the run. At least that is what I did during the RT's.

During my ORT, i took a different tatic, not knowing the other competitors, i had my fan club let me know whether anyone came out of transition T1 and T2 ahead of me with an age group tatoo equal or greater than mine(is that cheating?), my goal was to chase down the speedster and stay in front.

On the other hand, being an age grouper perhaps I should not be concerned about my competitors and try for PB. In which case should i hold back on the swim and bike to conserve energy to help in the run?

I know this likely all sounds bizarre for an age grouper but do others strategize like this as well?