I had smoked the bike segment so there weren't too many people in the pool. The first lane was empty. I had clear swimming, but this wouldn't last very long. I felt comfortable swimming the first lap, but after that I caught up to a guy doing breast stroke down the middle of the lane, then other swimmers started backing up behind me. We were all trying to pass the guy doing breast stroke and trying not to get kicked in the face. Also my goggles fogged up after the first lap. This made navigating around other swimmers difficult.

I didn't swim aggressively enough. This was my first ever swim with other people in the same area. The other swimmers were definitely aggressive and passed me without hesitating. Also, I don't feel like I swam to my potential. I think I could have swam harder.

Finally, take time in transition to spray anti fog in the goggles. It was unnerving not being able to see well.

This transition was from bike to swim (tri was run in reverse). Easy transition; just strip every thing off and head to the pool.

Anti-fog the goggles.

I knew the bike would be my best event. I passed many other participants on the bike course and made up a lot of time. My wife was surprised how quickly I made it back to the transition area. When I arrived at transition there were about 20 bikes there. The course had more hills than I exepected. The hills weren't extremely steep, but one was fairly long. The course was a constant up and down.

Not much. I did notice that I tend to loose focus and my speed drops. I need to concentrate on the task at hand and maintain focus.

This transition was from the run to the bike. I had trouble putting my bike shoes on. The straps weren't loosened.

Loosen the straps on my bike shoes when setting up transition area.

I started slow off the starting line. I was trying to keep my HR in z2 and gradually build it up. But, the run is only 3 miles so what's the use. I ended up BOP. I tried to make up some time after the trunaround and did pass a few people.

Since this is a sprint, I need to start faster and not worry about HR zones.

Walked around, ate oranges, drank Gatoraid.


Running and swimming.


This was my first triathlon. It was a fun event. Las Cruces is a really neat city and the NMSU campus is beautiful. The Organ Mountains on the horizon make for unique scenery. We turned this into a weekend get-away and stayed in Las Cruces for a few days. The race was well organized, on time and the campus police did a great job controlling traffic.