Swim time includes a rather long run to T1. Interesting things... I only got clocked once, half-way through the first lap. Looked like there was a big gap ahead of me, and I saw no one else near me... Then suddenly there was a guy beside me who just swam right into me. Hit the back of my head on his recovery, and would NOT move away. And as I rounded the buoy for to start the second lap, the guy in front of me must have kicked the line, because the buoy started drifting along side me. FAST!

Not the smoothest transition, but it was okay. I had to stop one guy that started out the wrong direction. I need to trim off some of the bottom of my wetsuit to help with getting it off my feet. I'm not a "leave the shoes in the pedals" kind of rider, so I ran out in my bike shoes. Not a problem though.

Race distance was not 22 miles, and this is what I got for distance. Ride was kind of hilly. Add the winds (which never became a tail wind), and it was a hard ride. Stayed aero except for the steepest of the uphills, and came out on the corners as well. Only got passed by 2 people, and one of them was a sprint racer (passed me like I was standing still -- turned out to be the winner of the sprint).

I used some of my light training shoes this time, so no elastic laces -- had to TIE my shoes in transition. Yeah, slowed me down, but I knew I wasn't vying for the overall anyway.

This was an almost brutal run course. Not much in the way of flat road. In fact in one section, it seemed they added two turns JUST to get in another hill. But... I did well. Walked through the water stations (so I didn't end up wearing the water). About 2 miles in I realized I'd left my number in transition... Was passed by 3 others after the 5K course split off, and they were going smooth. I just kept within myself. Blister formed on my left foot, but I didn't let it bother me. Pushed hard the last 3/4 mile or so. Came through the chute yelling my number so the back-up systems could get me into results (though the chip worked fine).