This was the "roughest" start I ever had in a triathlon with lots of contact between swimmers but it didn't really bother me. I was kind of surprised that it didn't bother me. I did about 20 strokes of backstroke at one point but managed to swim the rest of the time without stopping. Sighting was better than average for me - slightly below average for the "most" swimmers - and I only ended a little off course a couple of times.

Keep working on my swimming and sighting. I'm getting stronger but have a way to go! Leaving shoes at the exit point really helped me, I think because I was able to run almost the whole way to the transition point instead of having to walk gently over the rocks.

I felt like I had a pretty smooth transition other than having a bit of trouble getting my bike shoes on. I just bike in my running shoes on flatter courses and hadn't trained enough on putting my shoes on.

I tried something new (which you should never do) and just put my wet feet into my socks which had baby powder in them. A fellow competitor said that it would help the socks just slide on. It worked like a charm. But, by the time I got to the run my feet were really uncomfortable because of the baby powder. I think I'll skip that next time. I also need to practice more if I'm going to use my bike shoes.

I was able to do the whole route in my big ring although it was a struggle a few times to keep my pace up. I went a little too long between drinks and really bonked at about mile 8. (My pace dropped to about 8 mph after climbing a short hill that I should've been able to do in at least 10 mph.)

Force myself to drink a little sooner, other than that I had a really good ride.

I stumbled again getting my bike shoes off. I also had a little trouble racking my bike because the racks were too tall for me and my bike. Once I got my bike shoes off I rushed to jam my running shoes on and ended up tying the right one too tight. I also forgot to put on my race belt with my race bib pinned to it.

Keep practicing with my bike shoes if I'm going to wear them and remember to put on *all* my running gear.

I lost about 45 seconds about a quarter mile in when I realized I forgot to put on my running belt with my race number. I dithered going back and forth on whether to return to T2 to get it. Because this wasn't a USAT sanctioned race I decided eventually to forget it and plug on. About half a mile in my foot was going numb from the shoe being tied too tight. I decided that I would just push through since it was a sprint race. I ended up doing 30/1:30 run/walk intervals and struggled the whole time. I was wheezing after each run interval and felt like I was just barely hanging on. I was surprised when I saw my final results because this turned out to be a faster fun than I expected since my training paces are about a minute per mile slower.

Tie my shoes correctly in T2 and remember to wear my bib so I don't waste time and energy going back and forth trying to decide what to do. Other than that I pretty much ran this leg as I planned. I need to get better on running but I did the best I could for my fitness level.

First thing I did was change shoes and relieve my foot pain. Then I walked around and rehydrated and waited for my friend to finish. No other special cool down other than walking/biking back to the parking area.


The quickest improvement I can make is to practice with my bike shoes - on and off. The biggest improvement is that I need to get better at running. That's where I lost the most ground in the standings.


The swim instructions were a little confusing at the start, but we all figured it out before we actually got into the water. (The course was only laid out for the sprint, they were going to lay out for the Olympic after our wave, but no one told us that so we couldn't figure out ahead of time what the swim course looked like.) There was a mix-up in the medal delivery so some people had to wait to get their medals mailed to them but the organizers were straight up about it. I didn't come close to medaling so I didn't care too much. Overall I really liked this race and wouldn't mind driving back to do it again.