I knew I was going to struggle with the swim, and I did. This was my "baptism by fire" into 1) swimming with others & 2) sighting. The bumping, rubbing and the kick to the face threw me off more than I thought they would, and it affected the rest of my swim. Once things spread out (i.e. I got passed) I was able to try to get back into my groove again.

1) I started late in the game with serious swimming (8 weeks or so) and finding my pace & stroke didn't really happen until 3 weeks before the event, so I wasn't able to build up as much endurance as I would have liked.
2) Definitely more OWS practice, specifically sighting & group swims. Anytime I got brushed or grazed, it threw my stroke off.

Having used only a wetsuit top, I removed it during the run up to the transition area, leaving the cap & goggles in the sleave. Clothing change went quickly.

The course was pretty easy, not much to it. Especially since I was so late out of the water that the road was pretty empty until I started catching up to people.

I would push a little harder. I wasn't sure how much gas to leave in the tank for the run.

This transition went ok, quick switch into running shoes (need some yankz)

Once again, I left too much in the tank. I didn't start hammering until I had made the turn into the park, I could have started picking up the pace further back.

walking, stretching & water


Inexperience, holding back due to not knowing how much energy to keep for next leg.


This was my 1st event as a racer, along with two others as support for my wife. Overall, I thought the event was decent for a 1st year event. It sounds like the race will change next year with the changes to the park. I've heard complaints about someone getting lost on the run and the timing clock getting unplugged for a brief period, but didn't see anything about it myself.