For the first 50 yards or so there is alot of vegetation so that is always weird. Didn't really notice it as there was a ton of contact for the first 100 yards. Way more than you would expect for a small race. Went out pretty hard and HR, contact and breathing caught up with me at about 150 yards. Slowed down and everything finally settled in. Remainder of swim was fine. Seemed to sight better and stayed on course. 55 seconds better than 2013

Keep HR down, avoid contact? That's unavoidable if your goal is to get out front and swim hard hoping to come out toward the front end of the group. Just have to trust my training knowing that even after a hard start I will settle in and HR will adjust. First OWS of the season.

Things were going well until my suit got stuck on my right heel. Had to sit down and pull it off. Probably lost 15-20 seconds here. Also had trouble getting clipped in so a few more seconds lost.

Not have the problems listed above. Sometimes things just don't go as planned

So, my Garmin 500 would not move from the initial screen (no data). I train and race with power so I was riding blind. Fortunately, I left T1 with a team mate that is a really strong cyclist and another guy I know that is really strong. I figured if I could keep them close then I would probably be going plenty hard. Both would be strong competition for grandmasters but I felt I had a slight advantage over both on the run. Kept up with them with a few leap frogs all the way to T2 and finished just behind both. Probably ended up going harder without the data than if I had it and in the end it worked out well. Garmin popped on for about 15 minutes and my AP for that segment was 263. Approx 2.5 minutes faster bike split than 2013.

Have the Garmin work. It was fine prior to the race. Calibrated, plenty of power and ready to go. Learned that I can probably push harder than I think. Its a sprint....it's suppose to hurt.

Pretty solid

Felt pretty good heading out onto the run. Passed a couple of top 50+ AG guys in the first half mile and figured I was probably in the lead for grandmasters at that point. First mile was 6:45 which was right what I was hoping for. Faded during the second mile....combination of trails and fatigue for a 6:57/mile. Third mile was not much better at 6:50. Pushed hard over the last .10 to the finish.

Two seconds slower than last year. I was pleased with my run last year and figured heading into this race I was about a month behind last year's run fitness.r. Someday, hopefully this year, I will go sub 20 in a sprint 5K

Visited with friends and team mates. Went for an easy cool down run. Hung around for refreshments and awards.


Run isn't quite where I want it to be due to calf issue in Dec/Jan. But, my time this year was 4.5 minutes faster than 2013. Problem with the Garmin may have helped to open my eyes to what I need to be willing to do on the bike. Plenty of room for improvement in several areas but satisfied with the result. Maybe a 7.5/10 overall rating..


Race is very well done. Early season date draws alot of strong racers. Gulf Coast Tri Team showed well placing 8 in the top 20. Happy to get first in grandmasters and score some early season team points. Local pottery for awards is always a nice touch and the only race where made to order crepes are offered as part of the post race food.