Generally OK swim. Had hoped for better - had hoped to beat 12 minutes - but my guess is the course was a little longer than 400m. Overall I swam, with minimal dog-paddle breaks. But I was kind of forcing it too, pushing too hard instead of relaxing and swimming with good form. As I swam I noticed some of the faster swimmers looking very relaxed with almost slow, languorous strokes. I was trying to push too hard, and that never seems to work.

The cold water had me gasping as I turned to breathe. Race director said before the race, "Wetsuits are allowable and, given the water temperature, recommended." With an air temp less than 50 when we started, the lake actually felt close to warm (even moreso when I peed in my wetsuit...and no way was I the only one to do that). But it was still cold when the water seeped in; one older guy, wearing only tri shorts, said, "OK, it just hit my nether regions, and this lake is cold." So, altogether, I'm not sure what I could've done on race day to make a difference

Slow T1, even though I was first rack in from water. Struggled to get the wetsuit off, but that shouldn't have made me this slow. Probably the run out, with bike shoes on and jogging in soft ground, made for the difference. Still, I was 103rd, pretty much middle of pack.

Not really anything.

Thought I was headed for a record, like i was a major biking stud, running generally over 20mph the whole way out. Thought, "I'm not only going to beat last year, I'm going to smash it completely." Secondary thought, a few minutes later, "Is there a wind? And is it maybe giving me a little push?" Didn't want to believe it, but when I turned around and immediately dropped below 17mph with similar effort levels, I knew it had been too good to be true. My Garmin measured this at just over 12.5 miles, with an average speed of 18.7mph; actual results reflect a 12 mile ride, with an average speed just under 18mph.

Not a whole lot. Felt pretty good about this bike ride and the effort level.

Pretty decent here.

Nothing to change really.

Managed fairly well here. Coming out of T2, took mincing little steps, probably looked like an arsehole, but a glance at the Garmin showed I was making sub 9:30 so I kept it up. Walked about 30 seconds after turning into the neighborhood, and again for 30 or so after getting water. Aside from that, tried to maintain a pace that kept my overall pace around 9:30 or so. At the end, in sight of the finish, I stepped it up a bit, to below a 7:00 pace for the last 200 yards.

This is tough. On one hand, I'd say nothing, since I was pleased with the overall effort here. On the other hand, I'm almost as slow running in relation to the pack, as I am swimming. Seems like making running improvements would be easier than swim improvements, and make for a more significant impact on race results. I'm just not sure what to do to make a difference. And given I'm in my mid-50s, I wonder if it's even possible.

Walked around with TSW to get water and over to the food and snack shelter. Rewarded myself with a banana...and half an iced Dunkin Donut...with multi-colored sprinkles. Come on...I deserved it...Garmin says I expended 1,000 calories! So what if we went to the Golden Coin Diner on the way home and I ate three scrambled eggs, bacon, and two pancakes?


Mediocre swim. Just recently starting into swimming this year, and I need to do more. But I'll say this: given I felt like I'd not trained enough, I managed to beat last year's time by about half a minute. So I must be doing something right, either through luck or time at it...which is approaching nine years now.


Another solid DQ effort. They have it down pretty good, and it's great to do their events. I'm going to miss these when we move, whether that's to MD, TX, or both.