Xterra Panther Creek - Triathlon

This was my first open water swim, and went really well. I was unconcerned with place or time, and just wanted to get the feel for a mass start. It turns out that I curve to the left when I don't have a stripe to follow on the bottom of the pool.

Push harder; I'm a much faster swimmer than I showed in this swim.

I discovered it is really hard to push wet hands into full-finger MTB gloves when you're in a hurry.

Take the time to suck down more calories before really getting started on the trail

Finished my camelbak and was still dehydrated. Didn't take in nearly enough calories, and this probably contributed to my negative attitude and discouragement by T2.

I still had enough strength left at this point to run/walk a 4.5 mile course, but mentally, I'd had enough. Took my free t-shirt, got in the car and went home.

I did not start the run course. I was unprepared, dehydrated, and had a horrible attitude.

Giant sandwich with lots of vegetables and a large diet soda. It's amazing how much better I felt


Good grief, it was HOT! I wasn't prepared for this race, but a better attitude would have carried me to the end.


The race was well organized and racers were wonderful. The only bad part was that the announcer made a mistake and said that the bike course was 10 miles instead of 15. I missed the part where he corrected himself, and I thought I was on a much shorter course than it was. I DNF, and learned a lot about how to eat and drink on a hot MTB course. Attitude is everything.