Where to begin on this one

First tri on my new slice so I was excited. It actually felt a bit weird (and struggled a bit) at the beginning since it'd been an hour since I really warmed up and i didn't have a swim to get my HR going. I struggled to get going for the first mile. Once I got my rhythm down it felt good. Averaged a good pace to the turnaround, however after the first up hill I noticed some noise from the front and realized I had a flat.

First time changing a flat on my own so I knew it would be a struggle. After struggling to get the tube off and back on, I realized I had no idea how to do the C02 part. I tried to put it on but nothing happened. Another biker stopped by because his daughter had a flat and we tried to use his C02 valve but it didn't work. As I started to take it off it fired off and into the woods. Very scary the amount of power that has and I realized I was very lucky that no one got hurt. A few moments later the road mechanics found us and changed both of our tires. All in all I was stopped for 22 minutes. I knew that I was going to be ne of the last (if not the last sprint biker to finish). One more comedy of errors to top it off is that because I was the last sprinter on the course (elite olympic riders had passed and I didn't see any other bikers nearby) I missed the turn off on part of the course. I was lucky enough that I hit the main road that went back to transition but I probably added an additional 1/4 mile to the ride. However while doing that I notice that my left shifter became loose and it wouldn't stick on the big gear so I was only able to average about 20mph on the ride back (on the relatively flat part)

Make sure I learn how to change a tire with the c02 catridge. I also took my bike in to the shop to make sure the shifters are working correctly.

I was the only person returning at that time since the slowest sprinters had already finished and the fastest olympics had not quite finished yet. It was pretty depressing coming into transition

Run felt good. Some of the elite bikers came in after me so they passed me right away and I think I got caught up with their pace as I was going 7:30-8:00 for a good half a mile. At the first big hill I slowed way down to my normal 8:45 pace. After the first couple of hills the run felt good. As I was one of the last sprinters I just kept trying to keep the spirits up and finish strong. I would have liked to finish under 27 but I was happy with a sub 9 min /mile

Met my wife and walked to the food stand. Had a nice spread including quaker steak wings. Drank some water and then headed home


Flat tire - my garmin said my moving pace was 19mph. I have no doubt if I didn't get the flat I could've finished with 19.5mph or so which I would've been very happy with on a moderately hilly course. Couple that with the shifter problems.

I probably could've pushed the run a little more but I was happyw ith it.


Rain really spoiled the event but was happy they did not cancel it.