Went out way too fast. I basically sprinting and was winded after 200 yards. I think the adrenaline got the best of me. That said, damn I didn't think I could swim that fast over that distance. I'm not sure what to think about it. The speed was great but I think it hurt the rest of my race.

Slow down and save something for the other two legs of the race.

An unmitigated disaster. When I got to my bike I found someone had racked their bike across from mine and looped their brake cable over my aerobars. While trying to unwrap the mess I knocked over the bike next to me (which was not racked but help up by a kickstand, the ground was soft so it fell easily) which in turn knocked the (very nice) bike next to it. Knowing that I couldn't leave a very expensive Cervelo laying on the ground, I put my bike on the ground and reracked the ten speed across from me, propped up the mountain bike and reracked the Cervelo before leaving the transition area. At some point during all of this I put on my shoues and had a berry Gu gel which made me gag. All things considered, I accomplished a lot in two and a half minutes.

Check transition area one last time before heading to the start.

When I finally got on the bike I was (a) still gasping from overexerting myself on the swim and (b) still irritated from my experience in the transition area. It took some time for my heart rate to calm down but I felt good after it did. I felt pretty strong on the flats. The uphill portions probably burned the legs a little more than they should have. I got to see a lot of very cool/expensive looking bikes wizz past me.

I recently switched from regular laces to EZ laces. Those things are pretty cool. Learn the whole riding with feet on top of shoes-jumping off moving bike thing.

Ouch. My legs were spaghetti from the moment I stood up from putting my shoes on. I kept telling myself that feeling would go away and it did, about 50 yards from the finish. At one point, a lady passing me reached out and gave me a pat on the back for encouragement. Moments like that are one of the reasons I like triathlons, the people are always great.

Jumped back in the lake for about 15 minutes. 16 oz. Oberon and 1/2 basket of chicken wings.


Swimming like a maniac and poor training habits in the weeks leading up to the race.


It's a good setting for a race, very scenic. Everyone is friendly. Plenty of post race food (although we had to go off site for the Oberon and chicken wings).