Was disappointed with the swim even though, at 2:42/100, it was in line with expectations. Perceived exertion is what bothered me. Got close to gasping early on and never really got over that. Swam according to plan by sighting every 11-12 strokes, but I'd intended to alternate quick looks with breathing looks (taking 4-5 deep breaths); instead, all I did were breathing looks and they were for more like 9-10 breaths because of the gasping effect I got into. Bottom line is, although time was fine, I don't feel like it was a very good swim for me, technically.

Stay more focused on calm, smooth swimming and exhaling underwater. I'm guessing the coldness - which seems to exacerbate my lack of exhale - caused me problems here such that when I turned to breathe I wasn't getting good breaths and that eventually led to gasping. An open water phenomenon.

Love having wetsuit strippers. I'm always afraid getting on the ground for them to rip off the suit will slow me down but it probably leads to a faster T1. I jogged all the way in, despite being out of breath (again, an impact of my gasping during the swim), but i kept it going by just slowing down. Ended up with a better T1 than last year.

Nothing for transition. Had a good one, with length mostly due to the distance from water's edge to transition entrance. Also due to being out of breathe from swim, which led to an out of breath slow jog.

Felt comfortable overall on the bike, ended up a couple minutes slower than last year, which surprised me. Handled the hills well enough, trying not to overdo it and burn too much energy. Butt really got sore on the saddle after about 12 miles, which is worrisome. Have to confess I didn't notice my surroundings too much as I was fairly zoned in. Got passed a few times and passed a few myself. Played leapfrog with Number 74 a bit, with her passing me going uphill and gravity contributing to my passing her on the downs. Very pleasant day for a ride but the road was really rough.

Maybe take in a little more energy...only ate one Clif Block. Drank plenty, though. Aside from that, nothing. Good ride for me.

Good T2. Got all the bike stuff off pretty quick, racked easily; none of the folks around me had returned yet. Struggled a little with right shoe, as always. Guess I should practice on that one. Maybe took a little more time to put on my belt.

Practice right shoe entrance. Run while putting on hat and belt.

Pretty typical run for me these days. Overall effort level pretty good. Did walk briefly through the water stops and, I think, one other occasion but for no more than 30 seconds or so. That's probably what cost me a sub-10 minute mile. Gotta remember that. But at the finish I was pretty blown so it's not like I took a dive.

I'd love to get through one without any walking breaks at all, save for maybe brief ones at the water stops.

Walked around until I got my breath back, watched some early results and checked out race times.


Gasping during the swim might've slowed me down a little. Run training, although I felt like I made a good effort on the run overall.


Great job, again, by Dallas Athletes Racing. I think I will forever associate triathlon with the voice of Tom Ryan, who does the pre-race shtick and the finish line announcing at DAR races, and does it with flair and gusto.