Well maybe I should have warmed up because when I hit the water the surprise cold made me do that thing where you involuntarily suck in air. Luckily I didn't dive in, but rather bounded/waded away from the beach and just sort of flopped into the water. Swam about 5 seconds with my head above water until I got my breathing under control and then began swimming normally. The white caps/chop were only about 1 foot high but they were steep. Drank a lot of water. The HIM started right behind the sprint and oly so there was a lot of traffic on lap 1. I am sure glad this wasn't my first OWS because that would have been brutal!!!

Full sleeve wetsuit. Warm up.

I took it easy on the swim knowing I had a long day ahead of me, and my swim time was about 7 minutes off the same distance in the pool. Not great but i'm sure the water conditions were a factor.

The one thing everyone says not to do- Never try to put on clothes in T1 over a wet body!!! Well that was me. First time racing with a wetsuit, so of course it kind of bound up on my feet. I made the decision before the race that there was no way I was riding 56 miles in 37 deg weather in a wet tri top, so T1 for me was: wetsuit off, dry off with towel, tri top on, compression top on, fitted long sleeve top on, hat on under helmet, socks, gloves. Of course, all of my shirts rolled up on me as soon as they went over my head so I did a little dance around while I struggled to free myself.

If I was prepared, I would have used a fitted windproof cycling jacket with a full zipper instead of all the shirts. That alone would have cut down a few minutes of fiddling.

I was so glad to have my skullcap under my helmet and windstopper gloves! Upper body was fine with the 3 layers, but for the first 10 or so miles the evaporative cooling from my tri shorts was interesting. Overall road conditions were smooth, except for the .7 mile stretch of gravel road that we had to ride 3 times (3 lap course).

I wore a 70oz camelbak and carried a 20 oz bottle in my frame mounted cage. This is my standard setup for long rides, and I am comfortable with it. I knew that there was supposed to be a water bottle handoff every lap but without knowing how it would work I didn't want to chance it. I have heard about people missing the handoff. In hindsight it looked pretty simple and would have been a good idea. I would have carried a few less pounds of water with me on the ride.

I felt pretty good coming off the bike. Ate my fourth gel just a few minutes before T2, which I thought would work perfectly for 1 gel at the run halfway point if all went to plan. T2 time was much better than T1, but still about double my usual... had to shuck off camelbak, skullcap, and extra shirt. I also opted for regular laces instead of elastic due to the race distance (I prefer the fit and snugness without constriction).

I didn't set up my transition area in the morning as neatly as usual, and that cost me a little time.

My plan was to go out and settle in wherever I felt comfortable, with a "best case" scenario averaging 7:30 pace. Depending on which direction I ran, the wind vastly helped or hindered, but ran the first loop in an average 7:15. Walked for the first and only time at the aid station starting lap 2 in order to eat a gel and wash it down with 2 cups of water. Started to lose a little steam battling the wind on lap 2 and my average pace slowly crept up, but I finished at an average 7:29.x which I am very pleased with!

Run more in preparation for the HIM. I wasn't planning on this race until a little less than a month out, and previously had been training for oly distance runs with long runs at around 7-8 miles. Over the two weeks leading up to my taper week I put in roughly 40 miles per week but it was probably too little too late.

Put on a fleece, a jacket, long pants and winter hat. Walked it off!


I get little to no OWS practice in choppy water. I have been biking since May and have 800 and change miles on the bike so lots of room to improve there. I think my running base is pretty decent, but just hadn't been training at this distance.


Plenty of volunteers and police stopping traffic at intersections etc. The race was well organized, food and drink were easily attainable. I was slightly disappointed by the post-race food though... sides and snacks were good, but the "main" course was either PBJ or sloppy joe. Not bad but nothing to write home about.