Due to the logistics of 1000 people needing to swim a half mile in a pool, my start time was around 1:30pm. This was annoying and made for a warm, warm race ... but there's not much else you can do when limited by pool lanes. :)

I'm slow but consistent. I'm still very new to swimming, so was happy to swim the entire half mile freestyle. Eventually, once I get my endurance up, I will work on speed. This isn't my season for speed. :)

The transition was pretty quick, given there was no wetsuit to change out of. Just had to peel off cap and goggles and get socks/shoes/helmet/gloves on. Off I went! No idea of transition times; all times estimated by my watch.

I forgot my wee little ultra-high-absorbent towel. Would have liked to have that.

hillier than i'm used to! i was happy with my gear adjustments and my pace was comfortable enough to be able to take in good fluids and enjoy the scenery and the sunny afternoon. :)

i'm a little slower in this transition; i have to put patellar straps on both knees. overall felt pretty smooth, though. helmet off, visor on, into running shoes, gloves off, knee straps on, off we go!

i had new shoes (only wore twice prior to this race) and they felt like glorious cushions on my hot feet! :)

i probably could have picked it up a bit on the long hill, but didn't want to kill myself, as i was mostly treating this day as an intense training day for my big race at the end of august.

nice, friendly, small-town race. no chip timing makes things not-that-accurate (and surely increases their need for volunteer labor!) ... starting in the afternoon wasn't all that fun, but necessary, given the logistics of a smooth pool swim. given all the limitations of the race, the volunteers did an EXCELLENT job of helping the race staff keep things organized.

i had a LOT of fun. this was a great first triathlon. :)