When I warmed up, I knew problems were ahead. The water was cold and took my breath away when my head was submerged. It felt like I could not catch my breath. As I stood on shore listening to the prerace directions, my mind was flooded with negative thoughts about the swim. "I don't know if I can do this?"

When the gun went off I swam about 50 m then the panic set in. I could not breath. I started sidestroking and back floating, and the rear of the pack came into view. Here I am, my bike sitting in the transition area waiting to be rode, but I won't be able to even finish the swim. When the congestion cleared, I tried the front crawl. After struggling for about 50m, it began to click. In front of me I started seeing bubbles and feet, so I began drafting. From there on out it went well.

Swimming in the pool is not the same as open water. I am going to hit the lakes once a week until my 1/2 iron man in June.

My transition went pretty good, but I think seconds can be knocked off. I removed the top of the suit on the run to the transition area. When I was pulling of my suit, I almost fell over from being dizzy. The bike rack caught me.

Just be more confident.

I felt strong for the first half of the course. My stomach started cramping and had stomach acid problem. I never had sideaches on the bike. It was very uncomfortable and probably slowed me down on the second half.

I was a little suprised to have the FASTEST BIKE SPLIT OVERALL. YEAH!

Watch what I eat the night before - NO GARLIC CHICKEN FETTUCINE AT OLIVE GARDEN

My legs felt good but had major stomach cramping. If I could just vomit I would feel better; it never happened. My pace improved the last 2 miles.

Once again, dont eat spicy meals the night before.

None


Stomach problems/side aches


I completed my first TRI!

Great race! I hope to do it again next year.