Race report: La Quinta 2025 — what went wrong and what didn't

I'm going to be honest with you about this one. La Quinta 2025 was not my best race. It wasn't my worst either. But it was the kind of race where you finish, sit in transition, and have a very direct conversation with yourself about what actually happened. Here's that conversation.

The good stuff first

My run is improving. Four-minute personal best off the bike, not bad. And for the first time in a while, I held my nutrition down the entire race. If you've ever bonked or puked mid-run at a 70.3, you know how much that matters. I also biked without power or heart rate data for most of the race (more on that in a second) and still put together a solid split. Normalized 291, avg 283, peak 20 at 308. There's more in the tank. I want to be at 315–320 for the next one.

Off the bike I felt the best I've had all year. The legs were there. The fitness is there. That's what I am most excited about going into the next few races.

The swim and T1 were not acceptable

I was too conservative in the water. I kept letting guys swim up beside me and then drafting off them instead of just racing. I'm still working out whether that's smart energy management or just me being timid. Right now it feels like the latter. I also wasn't sighting well enough, something I need to get back to practicing in the pool, not just open water sessions.

T1 was slow. I've said this before and I'll keep saying it until I fix it: the run from the water to transition is a completely unique physical feeling, and it is hard to replicate. I have dead legs, am moving fast, transition mat feels weird. The only way to get better at it is to practice it. Some local races this season are going on the calendar specifically for this reason.

The bike was technically solid, mentally rough

The data situation was a mess of my own making. I had connected my watch to my power meter a few weeks before for a workout and didn't realise running it in tri mode would pull data from my head unit. So I went into the bike essentially blind. I figured it out eventually and got lucky that my watch was recording HR in the background. I really like the numbers. I just couldn't see them live.

Spent the first hour sitting on a group of three doing as little work as possible. Chilled. Recovered. Then started contributing as they slowed. We got caught by a stronger pack, I latched on the back, and spent the rest of the ride managing the accordion effect as they played games trying to drop me. They weren't wrong to try, I wasn't as strong. But I stayed on.

The course was more technical than I expected. Lots of corners, loose sand on the turns, a back half that just kept killing momentum. Not a course where you can get into a rhythm and just go. I need more power, honestly about 30 watts more, so I stop getting caught by the fast groups and start catching the slow ones instead.

Rating: 8/10 on execution, but mentally I was struggling and couldn't find the right headspace. I don't have a clean fix for that other than racing more.

Nutrition was a real step forward

Close to 250g carbs on the bike, 60g on the run. No puking. This is progress. The flask was a bit fiddly and I want to look at an aero bottle setup for next season, something like a gel bottle that's easier to access at race pace. The goal for next season is more carbs on the bike and run. The engine is there, it just needs fuel.

The run: an honest assessment

Started at 6:08–6:12 and held it through mile four. Hit a rough patch at mile five and took a gel. Miles six and seven came back. Eight was bad. I wanted to be done.

The course has so many turns. So many tiny hills and pitch changes. For someone who likes to get into a power rhythm and move, it's a frustrating course. I genuinely believe on a flatter, more open course, maybe a Chattanooga, something like that, the numbers would look different. That's not an excuse, it's a note for race selection.

Miles nine through thirteen I emptied the tank. Back to 6:05–6:10, suffering properly. I wanted sub-4 and I couldn't hold sub-6 at the end to get there. Evan flew past me late and I didn't even respond. He was moving too fast and I had nothing left. My calves were rocks the whole run. Leg fatigue was manageable. No puking.

Four-minute PB. I'll take it and build on it.

What I'm changing

One thing stands out above everything else: I need to arrive Thursday, not Friday. Ten hours of travel the day before a race when you're 6'3" is not a warmup, it's damage. I can fake it through openers. I cannot fake it for a full race. The legs were never right and I think that explains most of my three biggest issues on the day: the mental flatness, the slow swim, the sluggish T1. Arriving Thursday costs more. It's worth it.

Beyond that: more local races to sharpen transitions and get comfortable racing aggressively in the first two legs. Better nutrition execution on the bike and run. And keep pushing the power up. The swim-bike combo I have can be elite. I'm not there yet but I know what I'm working toward.

Onwards.

Kael Penny is a professional triathlete and coach. Tossed & Trained works with athletes at every level, from first-timers to Ironman finishers.