I did better than I thought I would. There was a 10 minute cut-off and I was worried about making that but I came in just over 9 minutes. I was really happy with my swim time (even though it didn't help my over standing that much).

Stay a little better focused. Not look at or worry about other people. Just make sure my form stays good all the time.

T1 seemed to go slowly. It was raining so everything was wet. My socks were like sponges but I decided to wear them (I haven't trained without socks on the bike -- nothing new on race day, remember?). I put the straps on my shoes into the clicker up to the first click and shoved my feet in. I think that worked well. Gear: glasses, head/earband, helmet, shirt, bike shorts, shoes. The head/earband was good to have but I initially put it on upside down (doesn't help the ears much that way). The shirt went on easily (surprisingly). I also vaselined my nipples at this point, although that didn't end up solving the bloody nipple problem. I had a little problem putting my shoes in the pedals (I just went clipless a few weeks ago).

To save a little time I also didn't put on my jacket (the weather had cleared up at that moment) or my gloves. Both those decisions ended up working great.

Make sure head/earband is not upside down. I need more practice getting onto my bike with clipless shoes/pedals at race pace.

Time is approximate (but close). The split time on my watch includes T2 (47:28), but T2 was really quick.

I thank the almighty tire and tube gods for not getting a flat as I just got this bike and have yet to change a flat on it. I didn't want to learn on the race course.

Keeping race pace took some discipline. Because of how the race was structured, I think there were probably 9 or 10 people in my wave. That meant that I was riding alone for most of the time. I passed 4 people, which felt good, but it's not the same as riding neck and neck with someone else. There were a few times that I slacked off because my focus waned and I wasn't pushing myself as hard as I could have.

Stay more focused so I can push myself harder to go faster more consistently. Tighten my pedals so my feet don't clip out so easily.

Time is approximate because I forgot to mark the split. This split seemed to go really fast. I think my transitions could be more organized overall, but it was relatively good.

Clip out of both pedals before getting off the bike. I almost fell over! I also got my bike shorts caught on the seat. I don't know how to avoid that. Probably if I hadn't almost fallen over, it wouldn't have happened.

I had a hard time at the beginning. It took me about a mile to recover and get up to where I was feeling OK. I think I could have pushed myself more. I took a fuel belt with me which was good but I had more than I needed. I also didn't re-vaseline my nipples in T2 and ended up with some blood on my jersey.

Push myself more, give it all I've got.

Stretches, walking around.


Not pushing myself hard enough


This was an informal race put on the the university triathlon club. I didn't have high expectations so it was OK. It was a bit of a pain to arrive at 7:30 and not start until 11am, but at least I knew the course well! It's OK. I enjoyed the race, getting to practice, and supporting the local kids.

There were no drink or fuel stations and I didn't expect any (hence the fuel belt). They could have had a few more volunteers, but it was adequate.

As long as you don't expect a lot, except to challenge yourself and have fun, this was a decent race.